NY Mets trade retrospective: 1 left fielder out, a nearly 40-year-old one in

Left field isn’t a rich position in New York Mets history. There are good ones, like Cleon Jones, Kevin McReynolds, and Yoenis Cespedes. None have ever measured up in the most elite of company. The same could even be said of Brandon Nimmo who, while beloved, fell short of being that franchise-altering player.

The 1998 season was no exception. The season began with a rapidly aging Bernard Gilkey out there. An underperformance at the plate plus nowhere to put Todd Hundley with the presence of MIke Piazza, the Mets made some fascinating decisions at the position including two separate trades on July 31, 1998.

How the Mets tried to solve their left field problem to end their playoff drought

Fading fast, Gilkey was batting .227/.317/.330 with the Mets at the time of the trade. Just 4 home runs in 305 plate appearances, it was a big difference from his monstrous 1996 season where he posted some of the best offensive numbers in Mets history.

Unsatisfied, the Mets unloaded Gilkey plus prospect Nelson Figueroa (who’d return later on in his career) to the Arizona Diamondbacks for catcher Jorge Fabregas and reliever Willie Blair. Cash changed hands as well with both teams apparently sending money.

Fabregas was a forgettable backup to Piazza with only 20 games played for the Mets and a .188 batting average. The Mets moved on from him in the offseason with a trade with the Miami Marlins for Omar Henriquez, a pitcher who never logged a major league game for the Amazins.

Blair, on the other hand, pitched well for the Mets. In 28.2 innings through 11 games he had a 3.14 ERA. He was struggling mightily with the Diamondbacks as starter with an ERA over 5.00. The move to the bullpen to be a longman worked out well. The Mets ended up trading him away in the offseason as well, this time for Joe Randa. Randa never played a game for the Mets either, getting shipped away to the Kansas City Royals less than a week later for someone named Juan LeBron, a career minor leaguer.

This 4-player trade with Arizona created a hole in left field. The Mets needed another trade. They chose Tony Phillips of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Phillips was hitting well in his 13 games with the Blue Jays prior to the trade. The issue here might’ve been trading for a guy in 1998 who debuted in 1982. Phillips was 39-years-old and would hit only .223 for the Mets while playing below-average defense in left field. The Mets failed to make the playoffs this year, not because of this trade necessarily.

Ironically, the Mets weren’t turned off by aging left fielders. To replace Phillips in left field the following year, they signed Rickey Henderson in his age 40 campaign. He rewarded them for their truth with an outrageous .315 batting average and 37 stolen bases while playing in 121 games.

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