The worst NY Mets trade deadline deal in recent memory is throbbing with pain again

Is there anything worse than a throbbing headache? The 2022 trade deadline deal which brought Darin Ruf to the New York Mets gave plenty of us grief. The sting of sacrificing anything at all for a player who seemed like an ill-fit from the onset of his arrival lingered for the remainder of 2022. It wasn’t until a late spring release in 2023 when we finally began to heal.

That’s the thing about trades. Just when you thought it was safe to offer a final grade of some kind, one of the chips lost in the deal goes and starts to play really well again.

Pitching prospect Carson Seymour might not have been an immensely regarded farmhand at the time of the deal. However, since leaving the Mets, he has worked his way into becoming a more legitimate minor leaguer than Billy Eppler ever wanted. Coming off of a productive albeit unspectacular 7-10 season with a 4.82 ERA spent all in Triple-A, it was easy to overlook Seymour. Stop it if you have. Seymour is off to the races this season, well on his way to becoming one of the next former Mets prospects to bring back those headaches caused by Ruf but in a whole different way.

Former Mets prospect Carson Seymour may have finally arrived to rip our hearts out

In Triple-A for the San Francisco Giants representing the Sacramento River Cats, Seymour has started off his season with 9 shutout innings. Spanning two starts, Seymour has walked a pair (1 in each game) and allowed only 5 hits. As if it wasn’t good enough, he has fanned 13 batters.

We know better than to get too caught up in two starts that essentially equate to a single game. Any minor leaguer can catch a lineup on a bad day—twice even in Seymour’s case.

Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the number 20 prospect in the Giants’ system, he could very well be headed to the majors sooner rather than later. His challenge will be to differentiate himself from several other pitchers currently on the 40-man roster. San Francisco is loaded with starting pitching depth, both with ones who have appeared in the majors like Kyle Harrison and Mason Black as well as a fellow Carson—Carson Ragsdale.

Of all the prospects the Mets have traded away in recent years, none have managed to completely amputate any general manager’s reputation. The Ruf trade was terrible even if he came over from the Giants for free because of how little he accomplished at the plate.

It would be nice to have Seymour back in the Mets system again, even occupying a 40-man roster spot and ready to go. The team has had difficulty getting any of their pitching prospects over the Triple-A hump in recent seasons. One more prospective talent to contribute this year where the Mets starting staff has already dealt with multiple injuries would be welcomed.

Seymour’s performance didn’t go unnoticed by the league. Named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week, more than Mets fans still perturbed about the Ruf trade recognized his spectacular early beginnings to 2025.