How one bad NY Mets trade somehow evolved into two more potentially worse ones

July 1, 2003, marked the end of Roberto Alomar’s New York Mets tenure. Traded to the Chicago White Sox, it was the meat around the bread of two other notable deals.

First was the original trade which brought Alomar to the Mets. Taking place on December 11, 2001, it didn’t end up being outrageously costly even if it should be considered one of the worst trades the franchise has ever made. The Mets ended up picking up two other players while surrendering Matt Lawton plus a bunch of prospects who didn’t pan out.

The Alomar to the White Sox deal brought the Mets three players, including Royce Ring. Ring had a 3.47 ERA in drips of appearances for the Mets in 2005 and 2006. You may remember his name best as the cohort in a Mets trade possibly worse than anything the team gave up for Alomar.

The Roberto Alomar trade was bad, this one was worse

On November 15, 2006, Ring was paired with Heath Bell in a deal with the San Diego Padres. Bell had two straight seasons of ERAs over 5.00. Already in his late 20s, the Mets willingly sent him out for Jon Adkins and Ben Johnson.

Adkins pitched 1 game for the Mets in 2007. Johnson, an outfielder, had 9 games that same year and hit .185.

The steal in this trade was Bell. In 81 games and 93.2 innings for the Padres in 2007, he had a 2.02 ERA. Far from one-and-done, two years later he led the National League with 42 saves. He’d save 47 the following year and 43 to extend a three-year streak of 40+ saves. He was an All-Star in all three seasons, too.

A temporary star reliever during a time when the Mets already had future Hall of Famer Billy Wagner on the roster, Bell was probably never going to become the shutdown closer he developed into had he stayed in New York. He flamed out quickly immediately after hitting free agency, signing with the Miami Marlins then getting traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks and once more to the Tampa Bay Rays. He wasn’t successful at either spot, posting a negative WAR for all three clubs.

Most frustrating might be how Bell began as an amateur free agent signing by the Mets in 1998 only to have his best years somewhere else starting almost a full decade later.  Was it bad coaching or did this guy just take longer to bloom?

The acquisition of Alomar was a bad one for the Mets and its link to the Bell deal is connected only through the presence of Ring. It begs the question of what hurts more: the pain of having a disappointing player or how it feels to see someone you traded away for nothing thrive elsewhere?

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