The best Mets trade with the Rays

The New York Mets haven’t had all that much success when making trades with the Tampa Bay Rays. Who does these days?

One of baseball’s youngest teams, the two clubs have only made seven actual swaps. You probably remember a good number of them, too.

The best should be at the front of your memory because it happened in 2021. It was the deal for Rich Hill.

The best Mets trade with the Rays was the one for Rich Hill

Did the Mets march onto victory on the veteran back of Hill? Certainly not. But at the low cost of injured reliever Tommy Hunter and minor leaguer Matthew Dyer, it was a deal worth making.

The Mets needed starting pitching help in the worst way. Hill came to the club in late July and would deliver a quality stretch of 63.1 innings.

Hill would go 1-4 for the Mets but with a 3.84 ERA. Under different circumstances, we might have looked at this deal a lot more favorably. But because the team began to tailspin shortly after the acquisition, it’ll be an after all thought in history.

Honorable mention Mets trades with the Rays

We can go back to 2017 and have continued high expectations for the Lucas Duda for Drew Smith deal. Smith is still with the Mets as of 2022 and growing into a fine relief pitcher. But because he hasn’t put it all together and stayed healthy just yet, I’m going to hold off on naming this the best deal with the Rays. A superb year in 2022 and maybe it's time to reconsider already.

The only other positive trade of note was the first. In July of 2000, outfielder Bubba Trammell and reliever Rick White were acquired in exchange for Jason Tyner and Paul Wilson. Trammell and White would have moderate success with the Mets.

There has yet to be that one outstanding trade on behalf of the Mets made with Tampa Bay. To make it happen anytime soon, they’re going to need some wool to pull over the always attentive front office’s eyes.