1) Worst NY Mets trade or free agent signing since Steve Cohen took over: Darin Ruf trade
Sorry Francisco Lindor haters. If you were hoping to see the trade for him on this list, you’re out of luck. Plus, this doesn’t include extensions or waiver claims. This list is reserved only for trades (even if it was a swap of money for a player). You had to know this one was coming. There is no defending the Darin Ruf trade.
It feels like it’s impossible to mention the Mets and bad moves without seeing Ruf deliver another hitless performance. Nothing about this trade with the San Francisco Giants made much sense. The Mets gave up a quality MLB bat, J.D. Davis, plus three prospects. When trades are first reported, sometimes information is incorrect. This one was very right and it felt incredibly wrong before the plane tickets for the players involved were booked.
Ruf hit .152/.215/.197 without a single home run for the Mets in 2022. He completely deflated the lineup whenever they faced a lefty. The limitations of Daniel Vogelbach were partly to blame, however, Ruf’s performance deserves the ridicule.
For those keeping score at home, Ruf didn’t hit a home run in any of his 57 plate appearances this season for the Giants or Milwaukee Brewers. He’s currently on the 60-day IL. It could be over for him and his big league career.
What’s not over is how well Davis has done with the Giants. Plus we have Carson Seymour and Nick Zwack to worry about becoming big league arms that could’ve worked for the Mets. Even Thomas Szapucki had a 1.98 ERA in 13.2 innings for the Giants last year.
From beginning to end, this trade has stink all over it. Let’s hope it never gets surpassed by any trade or free agent signing.