NY Mets trade retrospective: Longtime NL East foe comes to Flushing then hits .195

August trades seem to have two extremes. Because of the limited time a player can have to adjust to the new city, team, and situation they’re in, massive success or failure is usually the result. In 2007, the New York Mets attempted to add a veteran and longtime NL East rival via trade to help fortify the roster and make it to the playoffs again.

In exchange for two minor leaguers who’d never crack the big leagues, the Mets added 41-year-old Jeff Conine. It was August 20 and Conine’s Cincinnati Reds were well out of the playoff picture. Batting .265/.320/.409 in a part-time role mostly at first base, Conine’s age was about to show as soon as he joined the Mets.

Jeff Conine didn’t cost the Mets much, but was a failed trade acquisition nonetheless

Aside from making 2 errors at first base in limited action, Conine fell off dramatically as an offensive player. A longtime member of the Florida Marlins and one year removed from representing the Philadelphia Phillies after a trade deadline deal, he was about to come to the Mets and hit .195.

An RBI single in his first plate appearance, Conine’s offensive production stagnated. Largely used as a pinch hitter, he got a lot of playing time at first base when Carlos Delgado went down with an injury in September. Delgado would also leave game 162 early after a hit by pitch, but the game was already out-of-hand with the Marlins scoring 7 times in the first inning on their way to an 8-1 victory.

On a team where six players suited up in their age 40+ season including Julio Franco at 48, the Mets looked past Conine’s age when acquiring him. All of the signs were there in Cincinnati that there was no fork stuck in him.

In such a short period of time, Conine managed to compile a career-worst -0.8 bWAR. He was already at a -0.2 bWAR with the Reds largely because of defense. The lack of hitting sunk him even lower with the Mets.

Offense was actually one of the strong points of the Mets in September 2007 with several regulars batting over .300 and a few even over .400. Pitching did them in. Only Aaron Heilman and Pedro Martinez had ERAs below 3.50.

Conine wasn’t meant to be a solution nor did he become the team’s reason for collapsing. His place in Mets history probably falls more in line with the “when do we get to steal a division rival?” file.

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