The 2004 New York Mets were in absolute denial. This was the year Kris Benson came over at the trade deadline only for the club to finish a ridiculously poor 71-91. It was a turning point for the franchise that fired its manager and made significant roster changes heading into the following season.
At the 2004 trade deadline, the Mets came up well short of what they needed to accomplish. However, one trade with the Baltimore Orioles was a midseason theft.
On July 19, 2004, the Mets sent the O’s outfielder Karim Garcia in exchange for reliever Mike DeJean. A pitcher with a 6.13 ERA on the season was joining the Mets and about to post some ridiculous numbers.
The Mets were the runaway winners in this trade with the Orioles
Garcia was no longer needed by the Mets because they had already acquired Richard Hidalgo a few days earlier. The new right fielder bumped Garcia onto the trade block. Batting just .234/.272/.401 with 7 home runs in 202 trips to the plate, the Mets were looking for a much greater impact at the plate than what they were getting.
DeJean had good years prior, but things weren’t going well. Along with the poor ERA, he was walking batters at a 6.4 BB/9 rate. Upon joining the Mets, things turned around.
In 17 games and 21.1 innings, DeJean had a 1.69 ERA. He suddenly found the strike zone. He had a 2.1 BB/9 rate and an especially ridiculous-for-the-era 10.1 K/9 rate. He didn’t give up a single home run. The veteran hurler turned out to be a very useful bullpen piece for the Mets even if they didn’t go anywhere.
Garcia, on the other hand, got worse. He hit .212/.247/.348 with 3 home runs in 73 plate appearances. In just his age 28 season, he never played Major League Baseball again.
His career did last a lot longer, though. Garcia played in Japan, Korea, and his home country of Mexico. He stayed active until 2016. It did little to help the Orioles feel any better about this trade. They, just like the 2004 Mets, missed the playoffs.
It was an incredibly aggressive trade deadline for the Mets in 2004. Things didn’t work out well with the exception of maybe this one less-remembered deal.
