2 of the greatest Mets trades went down as the worst nightmare for other teams

What is the greatest New York Mets trade of all-time? A couple of deals in the early 1980s helped put them on a path to the World Series. Whether it’s the Keith Hernandez or Gary Carter move or even something older (Donn Clendenon) or newer (Yoenis Cespedes), there’s a strong case for many of them.

Two superb trades the Mets have made in their history are, however, thought of far differently according to other fan bases.

When writing about the worst trade every MLB team has ever made, I came across more Mets deals than expected. Twice the Mets were on the winning side of a team’s worst ever trade. And a third contender nearly made its way onto the list and at least deserves an honorable mention.

NY Mets trade for Ron Darling deserves an honorable mention as the worst Texas Rangers deal

The worst trade the Texas Rangers ever made (thanks to some help from the good people over at Nolan Writin) was the infamous Alex Rodriguez deal with the New York Yankees. I understood the argument. As much of a salary dump as it was, the Rangers needed to get far more in return than a mediocre Alfonso Soriano and a prospect.

If not for that trade, the 1982 deal with the Mets may have been the worst Texas ever completed. In exchange for Lee Mazzilli, the Rangers gave up Walt Terrell and Ron Darling.

Terrell would have a decent career for the Mets, eventually getting flipped in another all-time great move for a young Howard Johnson. Darling would have the more direct impact on the team from this move, joining the Mets rotation full-time by 1984. One of the pitchers in club history, Darling is now a guy a whole generation knows well for his work in the booth.

The Darling trade was an all-time great Mets deal and the exact opposite in the eyes of Texans. While not quite the worst, these other two, as Chris Jericho would say, made the list.

NY Mets trade with the Minnesota Twins for Johan Santana is their franchise’s worst

I reached out to the good people over at Puckett’s Pond for some clarification on this. The Minnesota Twins haven’t had a particularly brutal history of trades. Concerned of some bias on my part, I pitched them a different deal only for them to hand me back this one with the Mets.

You know it and you love it. It’s the 2008 trade for Johan Santana.

Santana was nearing free agency and the Twins weren’t going to pay the price to keep him. So, moving on from the two-time Cy Young winner was a necessity. The Mets were willing to buy and extend Santana immediately. With his resume, the trade should have cost a lot more than it did.

The Mets gave up Carlos Gomez (well before he got good), Deolis Guerra, Phillip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey in the deal. This package appeared to be more about quantity than quality—at least when we look at the final results of the move.

Meanwhile, even if Santana didn’t sign an extension with the Mets, this goes down as such a bad move for the Twins. Santana’s best year with the Mets was in his first season. The Twins franchise should be left wondering a few “what ifs” with this deal. The very least of which, “what if we had actually gotten any good prospects at all?”