3 Mets trades that turned out better than expected

3) NY Mets traded Shawn Estes at the right time for Pedro Feliciano and more

Shawn Estes only ended up staying for 23 starts in 2002. The 4-9 record and 4.55 ERA was enough for the Mets to start shopping him at that year’s trade deadline. It didn’t matter if they had just traded for him in December. It was time for the Mets to move on from the soon-to-be free agent. Getting back anything they could in return was the mission.

The Cincinnati Reds were the ones who nibbled on this deal. They sent the Mets four players. Raul Gonzalez, Brady Clark, Elvin Beltre, and a lefty we all got to know well, Pedro Feliciano, made up this package.

The trade already became a pretty good one for the Mets based on what Estes was able to do with the Reds. In his 6 starts for them, Estes posted a 7.71 ERA.

The real story for New York was how valuable Feliciano became later on. He somewhat lost within the organization until 2006 when he appeared in 64 games and gave them a 2.09 ERA effort. From then on, Feliciano was the ultimate lefty specialist. He led the league in games pitched every season from 2008-2010, capping it off with 92 games in the final year of the streak. Unfortunately, we can probably blame all of those appearances on the injuries that sidelined him for 2011 and 2012 and ultimately ended his career after the 2013 campaign.

The goal when the Mets traded Estes to the Reds was to get anything back. It took a few years. They got a gem reliever.