It takes 12 letters to spell the name Bobby Bonilla. For many, it incites four-letter words. Bonilla is a lot of things in New York Mets history. One of their first major free agent signings when free agency was growing into a bigger deal, he represented the team’s failings in the early 1990s even if he wasn’t always close to being the team’s largest problem.
Later recognized for the deferred contract that’s paying him through the Apocalypse, the Mets ended their relationship with him for the first time on July 28, 1995.
Baseball was back after the 1994 strike and with the Mets out of the running for a playoff spot in 1995, it was time to sell. In the middle of a strong 80 games with a .333 batting average and 18 home runs, Bonilla was sent to the Baltimore Orioles with a player to be named later. The Mets got back two younger outfielders. How’d that work out?
Following the Mets-Orioles trade tree of Bobby Bonilla
Bonilla stayed in Baltimore through 1996 and was really good. Overall Orioles numbers include a .300/.371/.506 slash line with 38 home runs and 162 RBI spanning 220 games.
The player to be named later in the deal never made the majors for the Orioles or anyone else. The Mets picked up a pair of outfielders that fans of 1990s baseball will appreciate.
Damon Buford was the first. He played for the Mets only through the 1995 season. An okay career that lasted through 2001, his time in New York ended the following January when he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Terrell Lowery. Lowery never did make it to the majors with the Mets, selected in the 1996 Rule 5 Draft by the Chicago Cubs. He’d only ever play in 123 big league games. Despite hitting .282 and having good career numbers in Triple-A, no one ever gave him a long look.
The other player the Mets got for Bonilla was Alex Ochoa. He’d stick around through 1997, hitting .273/.320/.386. Another well-traveled veteran outfielder who was constantly changing teams like Buford, Ochoa was a December 1997 trade casualty when the Mets sent him to the Minnesota Twins for Rich Becker. Becker hit .190 in 49 games for the Mets that year. In June of 1998, they waived him. He was taken by, to take things full circle, the Orioles.
