NY Mets trade retrospective: 3 prospects for a 6.00 ERA and it worked out well

The 1984 New York Mets don’t get talked about much. They were bad the year prior, much better the year after, and champions by 1986. The 90-72 record is easy to overlook even if they were one of only four of the 12 National League teams with a winning record. Finishing 6.5 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs didn’t help them establish their place in the pantheon of good Mets teams that didn’t make the playoffs.

The year was best remembered for the introduction of 19-year-old Dwight Gooden to Major League Baseball. A remarkable season that would get even better the following year, he was the unquestioned ace of the staff. The Mets did, however, have a hole in the back of the rotation. They tried to solve it at the June 15 trade deadline when they struck a deal with the Cincinnati Reds for former third overall pick Bruce Berenyi.

Berenyi was in his fifth season with the Reds, pitching to a 6.00 ERA in 51 innings mostly as a starter. A tough-luck 18-game loser in 1982 despite a 3.36 ERA, the Mets were buying low on a player who had been much better in the recent past. They’d be rewarded for the decision.

The Mets gambled on Bruce Berenyi and won in this trade

Berenyi succeeded with the Mets in 1984. A major turnaround took place for the struggling starter. In 19 games, Berenyi went 9-6 with a 3.76 ERA. He’d remain with the Mets through 1986, making only 3 starts in 1985 due to injury. Upon his return in 1986, Berenyi looked cooked. He made 7 starts and just as many relief appearances. His ERA crept up to 6.35. He’d end up released after the season.

But before it came crashing down, the Mets had to give up three players for Berenyi. Matt Bullinger, who never made it out of the minor leagues, Jay Tibbs, and the fourth overall pick from the 1983 draft, Eddie Williams, were all handed over to Cincinnati in the deal. It was bold to include Williams. He’d never live up to his high draft placement, batting .252 in his 1281 plate appearances spread out over 10 seasons. He never made it to the Reds, taken away in the 1985 Rule 5 Draft.

Tibbs was the most useful to Cincinnati. He was 6-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 1984 and 10-16 with a 3.92 ERA the following season. Low strikeout numbers that nearly matched his walk totals, he was less a pitcher and more of a thrower every team’s roster seemed to be filled with in those days. By 1986, he was with the Montreal Expos.

It was a bold and somewhat underappreciated move by the Mets in 1984 to try to improve their rotation. Veteran Mike Torrez was released to make room for Berenyi and the results couldn’t have been any better. If not for the injury in 1985, there’s a good chance Berenyi would’ve been front and center as one of the secondary pieces of the championship roster from 1986. Instead, he’s a savvy trade addition added to the Mets exactly one year after the far notable Keith Hernandez trade deadline deal.