The best Mets trade with the Athletics

One of baseball’s oldest and most traveled franchises, the Oakland Athletics have made numerous trades with the New York Mets over the years. Unfirmly parked in Oakland for the time being, the best trade the Mets eve completed with them was one of their 2015 midseason additions.

The Mets made many savvy moves on their way to capturing a National League pennant. Among them was the addition of relief pitcher Tyler Clippard.

For as short of a stint as he had with the club, Clippard had a pretty nice regular season before a not-so-great postseason in all three rounds. Despite this, it’s the best deal New York has made with Oakland.

The best Mets trade with the Athletics was another 2015 trade deadline maneuver

In exchange for Casey Meisner, a minor leaguer, the Mets were able to pick up Clippard’s services for their stretch run in 2015. He was exactly what you would expect to get dealt midseason. A reliever pitching well about to hit free agency, the Athletics had every reason to trade him. Meanwhile, the Mets had many to buy in.

Clippard had a 2.79 ERA and 17 saves for the Athletics at the time of the deal. With Jeurys Familia pitching well as the closer for the Mets, Clippard would fall in line as one of the setup men.

He pitched plenty for the club in those final two months. Clippard made 32 appearances and managed to accrue 32.1 innings of work. He even picked up a pair of saves and had a 3.06 ERA for the club.

As much as wins don’t matter for starters, they matter even less for relievers who are often in the right place at the right time. Regardless, he went 4-1 and even managed to earn the victory in the team’s 1-0 victory over the Washington Nationals in game 162.

Honorable mention Mets trade with the Athletics

The Mets and Athletics have done a lot of their business midseason with one team buying and the other selling. In July of 1999, the Mets bought from the Athletics twice.

First, there was the July 23 trade for Kenny Rogers. It cost them Leo Vasquez and Terrence Long—a player who would go on to have a short successful stint with the A’s. Rogers had a very Clippard-like time with the Mets. He pitched well in the regular season but managed to throw the final ball four of the year in the playoffs.

A few days later, Jason Isringhausen and Greg McMichael were swapped with Oakland for Billy Taylor. This had the complete opposite effect. Taylor was horrific. Isringhausen began his path to becoming one of the game’s best closers.

Many other trades between these two teams had the same result. Almost by default, the Clippard deal reigns supreme.