Most recent Mets trade with each of their 4 division rivals

Trades within the division are rare but this year is different. The New York Mets managed to do something rarer than strike a deal with another National League East club. They made a trade with their geographical rival New York Yankees!

It was a notable deal, too. Righty reliever Miguel Castro was sent to the Yankees for lefty bullpen arm Joely Rodriguez. This wouldn’t be the kind of deal the Mets would make midseason in 2022 with any of their division rivals. Instead, they’d be looking for veterans and only giving up prospects.

As uncommon as trades between the Mets and their division rivals are, they have happened plenty in the past. For each of the other four teams, these are the most recent.

Mets most recent trade with the Braves was on June 8, 2016, when Kelly Johnson was reacquired

Kelly Johnson was traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Mets in back-to-back seasons. First acquired on July 24, 2015, along with Juan Uribe, the most recent deal between these two clubs took place on June 8, 2016, with Johnson involved yet again.

This time, Johnson and some cash went to Atlanta for Akeel Morris.

Johnson was hitting poorly for the Braves at the time. When he joined the Mets for his final 82 big league games, he began to hit again. Johnson would finish the 2016 season with a .268/.328/.459 slash line as a member of the Mets in 201 plate appearances. He added 9 home runs and drove in 24. As always, he also played a ton of position.

Morris had only pitched 0.2 of an inning for the Mets and had allowed 5 earned runs in the game. For Atlanta, he would give them 7.1 innings in 2017 and allow just a single earned run. Unfortunately, he’d only get 14 more big league innings—all taking place in 2018 as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.

An obvious win for the Mets, it’s the most recent time they have done business with the Braves. Considering Johnson was involved, it just feels right.

Mets most recent trade with the Marlins was on February 1, 2021, when they acquired Jordan Yamamoto

The Mets and Florida/Miami Marlins have made a lot of major trades over the years. Al Leiter, Mike Piazza, Carlos Delgado, and Paul Lo Duca were all acquired from the Fish in separate deals. Each clear wins for New York, the two clubs had already done business prior, in between, and even since.

The most recent trade was on February 1, 2021, when the Mets picked up pitcher Jordan Yamamoto in exchange for minor leaguer Federico Polanco. A lighter move to give the Mets a little bit of starting pitching depth, this is one of those deals where the ending has yet to be written.

Yamamoto is still with the Mets but a future with the big league team is unclear. After just 6.2 innings of work for them in 2021, he suffered an injury and wouldn’t see big league action again for the rest of the year. This season, with no current spot on the 40-man roster, it could be tough for him to get back to the big leagues in any capacity.

For his services, the Mets traded Miami a low-level infielder prospect—the aforementioned Polanco. A longshot at this point to make it to the major leagues, it’s a much different trade for these two clubs than some of the ones they have made in the past.

Mets most recent trade with the Phillies was on July 29, 2019, when they sent Jason Vargas there

There was a huge gap between trades between the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. After making two different deals in July of 2001, these two rivals wouldn’t make another swap until exactly 17 years after Adam Walker and Bruce Chen were traded for Dennis Cook and Turk Wendell.

In mid-2018, the Mets would end up sending Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Bautista to Philadelphia in separate trades. However, they would strike one more deal a year later. On July 29, 2019, Jason Vargas was traded to the Phillies.

Mets fans remember Vargas for two main things. One was how much he’d implode on the mound. The other was when he challenged Newsday’s Tim Healey to a fight after a loss to the Chicago Cubs. Vargas was nobody’s favorite Mets player and with the addition of Marcus Stroman to their roster in 2019, they thought it was fine to trade him to Philly for minor leaguer Austin Bossart.

Vargas was worse in Philadelphia than he was with the Mets that year. In 11 starts, he was 1-4 with a 5.37 ERA compared to the 6-5 with a 4.01 ERA performance he gave the Mets. Although the Mets didn’t get Bossart beyond Double-A, Vargas worked well as a Trojan Horse for the Phillies.