The best Mets trade with the Mariners is still waiting to happen

The best trade the New York Mets have ever made with the Seattle Mariners will not be the deal for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz. Ask enough Mets fans, you’ll find someone who claims this is already the worst the club has ever made.

Searching through the archive of deals these two clubs have made, I’m surprised by the lack of good moves by the Mets and the short list of even notable trades between the two clubs.

For the best deal, you really have to stretch your imagination. In my opinion, we’re still waiting for it to happen.

The best Mets trade with the Mariners has yet to occur

I thought the 2008 three-team deal also involving the Cleveland Indians might have had a chance. The Mets received Sean Green, J.J. Putz, and Jeremy Reed in the deal. But after reviewing their Mets numbers, I couldn’t bear to call this a good deal even if it didn’t cost them all that much.

Well, it did cost them seven players. Most of them were past their best days or weren’t quite ready to begin contributing on a big league level. Losing Joe Smith in the deal helped nix this as a possibility. He would have several good years in Cleveland.

I then tried to justify the 1998 Leslie Brea for Butch Huskey trade. Brea wouldn’t pitch a game for the Mets but he was used in the 2000 trade deadline deal for Mike Bordick. Because that trade did cost the team Melvin Mora, can we even spin the Brea for Huskey deal favorably?

For the most part, trades between the Mets and Mariners included minor players swapping uniforms. Many were, quite literally, minor. A lot never would see big league action.

As devastating as the 2018 trade with the Mariners might be, at least they did get something in return. It may have cost them a lot more. In the history of these two teams, the winning deal for the Mets has yet to come.