NY Mets trade retrospective: A double-agent to the Phillies to spoil their run

Trade deadline deals between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies are uncommon. Rarer is when the two teams strike a deal when each is vying for a postseason spot. In 2019, we saw the Haley’s Comet of MLB trades when both the Mets and Phillies bought at the trade deadline and struck a deal before the deadline on July 29, 2019.

A suddenly overcrowded Mets rotation had a surplus arm in the rotation. Jason Vargas, whose second year in New York was going much better with a 4.01 ERA through 18 starts and a relief appearance, ended up as the casualty. The Mets already added Marcus Stroman and with the Phillies in need of a starter, they bought him for minor leaguer Austin Bossart.

The Phillies didn’t receive a revitalized rotation solution. They nabbed a veteran who’d never pitch in the majors again after starting 11 games for them after this trade.

The Mets destroyed the Phillies’ playoff hopes with this trade

The Mets ended up fighting hard in the final two months of the season in 2019. At the end of the day on July 29, the standings looked much different.

Philadelphia was 55-50 and in third place in the division. The Mets were 50-55 and in fourth place. They had every reason to exclusively sell at the deadline, not buy.

Mets fans won’t remember or believe how Vargas led the American League with 18 wins for the Kansas City Royals in 2017. A preseason injury delayed his debut in 2018 and when he was on the mound he wasn’t very good. In 20 starts, Vargas was 7-9 with a 5.77 ERA. This was closer to the version the Phillies ended up with.

In those 11 starts, Vargas would go 1-4 with a 5.37 ERA for Philadelphia. They’d end up 81-81 and in fourth place in the NL East. The Mets passed them at 86-76. An expanded playoffs away from making it to the postseason, this trade between NL East rivals is one of several explanations as to why the Phillies had a quiet collapse.

It’s a shame this move couldn’t have more directly helped the Mets. New York had the sixth-best record in the NL which means if the current 2026 playoff format existed they would have been postseason bound. Instead, it was just a good way to implant a trade deadline bust.

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