3 recent Mets trade deadline deals that aged well, 3 getting worse each day

NY Mets trade deadline deal looking worse each day: Darin Ruf from the Giants

You can’t discuss recent Mets trade deadline disasters without the name Darin Ruf popping up. I won’t blame you for wanting to ignore this trade. It has been beaten to death in our minds. Our hearts have yet to mend.

There might not be a Mets trade that was an attempted buyer move met with more controversy. There was outrage when the Mets gave up two prospects for Marcus Stroman. People freaked out in the one-for-one swap to land Daniel Vogelbach. This deal, on the other hand, felt forced and a bit unnecessary.

For Ruf, the Mets gave up J.D. Davis plus three minor league pitchers. It doesn’t matter if the pitchers were named Larry, Curly, and Moe. That’s a lot to give up for one player having a lousy year; something Ruf was doing at the time of the deal.

The Mets never got a single home run from Ruf which is astonishing to think about. The whole point of landing him was to have a player drive the ball a long way versus lefties. He was the missing piece for the roster after acquiring Vogelbach. As it turns out, neither was a very good fit for the Mets. Worst of all, they waited a long time to hit the eject button. The Mets could have easily non-tendered Vogelbach and looked toward a DH upgrade. Ruf came within days of making the Mets Opening Day roster. Even some semblance of production in the preseason and we might not have seen him DFA’d.

The legend of the Ruf trade will only get worse as it goes on.