How a failed NY Mets-Padres trade from 2022 helped unlock an MLB star elsewhere

It was some time before the 2022 season when the New York Mets and San Diego Padres were discussing the possibility of a trade. The deal would have sent Dominic Smith, coming off of a disappointing 2021 season, to the Padres in exchange for high-priced first baseman Eric Hosmer, reliever Emilio Pagan, and starting pitcher Chris Paddack. Additionally, the Padres would pitch in $30 million.

It’s amazing how things have changed in a couple of years. The Mets balked at the trade, which based on the results from the 2022 season, was probably for the better. 

The Padres ended up making a similar trade that included Pagan and Paddack, sending the pair to the Minnesota Twins. In doing so, a struggling outfielder in his mid-20s who had once been taken 35th overall in the draft was set free. Traded again in August and picked up on waivers in November, the failed Mets-Padres deal gave Brent Rooker the opening he needed to join the Athletics and grow into a big league slugger who has now hammered 30+ home runs in three straight seasons.

A major trade between the Mets and Padres never happened, resulting in a separate deal to set the wheels in motion for Brent Rooker

Rooker is a bit unique. Firstly, he is one of the few Athletics players who has actually gotten paid. The team extended him through 2029 with a vesting option for 2030. Primarily a DH, he’s sitting on 99 home runs through 444 games with the Athletics.

All-Star appearances in 2023 and 2025, he had his best season in 2024. A career-high 39 home runs and 112 RBI helped him finish 10th in the AL MVP race.

Rooker seemed like a minor throw-in between the deal that actually did happen between the Padres and Twins. Paddack has been injury-prone for several years. Pagan has been a quintessential reliever with really good years and not so great ones. Now a closer for the Cincinnati Reds, he can safely make all of his mortgage payments.

As for the players who didn’t move, Smith was non-tendered by the Mets after the 2022 season and has bounced around the league ever since. Hosmer ended up traded to the Boston Red Sox in late 2022 and spent a few games with the Chicago Cubs in 2023.

A lot would change for the Mets if they had made this trade. Rooker, however, might be the individual whose career differs the most. If he doesn’t end up with the Athletics when he did, we might not have a clue who he is.