NY Mets: 3 good trade deadline moves that failed in the postseason

I think it was Shakespeare who famously wrote, “What’s in a trade? Would a trade deadline move by any other name help the New York Mets rally and make it to the postseason?”

I am of course referring to Trevor Shakespeare, a Mets blogger who only writes in iambic pentameter.

Not all trade deadline moves work out exactly the way we envisioned. There are three moves that stand out specifically to me as effective in the regular season but not so much in the playoffs. To varying degrees, each of these players helped get the Mets to the postseason. Unfortunately, in October, they weren’t nearly as effective.

Kenny Rogers is best remembered for one bad Mets appearance in October

Kenny Rogers joined the Mets in mid-1999 following a trade with the Oakland Athletics. The veteran starter managed to go 5-1 with a 4.03 ERA in 12 starts with the Amazins. It wasn’t epic, but it did help the team clinch their first playoff berth in more than a decade.

Unfortunately, Rogers wasn’t nearly as effective in the postseason. He made one start against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS and took the loss. Rogers allowed 4 earned runs in 4.1 innings of work.

Hoping for a rebound the next time he took the hill, Rogers lost again. This time it was to the Atlanta Braves. In this outing, Rogers allowed another 4 earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched.

Rogers would get a few more innings in relief. He tossed two shutout frames in Game 5 but wasn’t so lucky in Game 6. On to pitch the 11th, Rogers gave up a leadoff double. A sacrifice bunt and two intentional walks later, the bases were loaded for Andruw Jones.

And, well, he threw one of the most infamous pitches in club history.

Rogers walked Jones with the bases loaded to send Atlanta to the 1999 World Series.

Addison Reed was the reliever the Mets needed in the regular season but not in the playoffs

The 2015 trade for Addison Reed couldn’t have gone much better for the Mets. In his 15.1 regular season innings, Reed had a 1.17 ERA. Even better in 2016 with a full year to pitch to a 1.97 ERA with the addition of becoming the team’s closer in 2017, if you didn’t look at his playoff statistics you might think he was an absolute Mets legend.

Reed’s Mets story, unfortunately, must include his playoff performance. Sadly, it wasn’t so great.

Reed began the 2015 postseason with 1.1 innings of work against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Surrendering a run, it was a not-so-superb start but a limited enough sample size to look over. A single run allowed shouldn’t ruin a player’s reputation.

Two shutout frames in the NLCS against the Chicago Cubs seemed to get him on track. However, this wasn’t the case. When the World Series began, the Kansas City Royals had Reed’s number.

Overall totals for Reed in the 2015 World Series include 3.2 innings pitched, 5 runs (4 earned), and a loss. The loss was a big one, too. In only one-third of an inning, Reed allowed all of his World Series runs in Game 5. This was the clincher that would end the season for New York. In this particular outing, he left with one out and the bases juiced. Lorenzo Cain would go on to knock a bases-clearing double versus Bartolo Colon to bury the Mets.

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All three of these trades had good to awesome results in the regular season. Unfortunately, when the team needed them most, they folded.