5 former Mets players the team gave up on and traded too early in their career

It’s one thing to trade a prospect. It’s another to deal away a veteran who just isn’t working out. It’s a whole new ballgame when a team deals away a guy who immediately becomes an impact on his ball club. The New York Mets have been savvy enough to avoid this in their history, right? We wish.

Looking exclusively at younger players who had much more to offer, the Mets ended up sending these five packing too soon. In fact, all of them showed marked improvement immediately upon joining their new ball club.

Which of these trades was the most devastatingly bad example of trading a player too early in his career?

1) NY Mets traded Nolan Ryan too early in his career

The Nolan Ryan trade is a great contender for the worst deal the Mets have ever made. Only the Tom Seaver trade trumps it because of what he meant to the ball club and how senseless it was. We can look at Ryan’s performance and understand the logic behind trading him. He was averaging over 6 walks per 9 innings during his time in New York. Compared to his 8.7 strikeouts per 9, they almost canceled each other out.

Ryan was a wild thing long before Ricky Vaughn was a thought in a screenplay. The potential was always there. Unfortunately, the Mets saw the need to send the future all-time strikeout king to the California Angels on December 10, 1971, in a four for one deal which landed them Jim Fregosi.

Take away the symbolism of what Seaver meant to the Mets and this trade easily tops it. Fregosi was the ultimate Mets bust. Ryan, only one year after leaving the Mets, went 19-16 with a 2.28 ERA.

The Ryan Express never looked back after leaving the Mets. Although he was known for his strikeouts, the man deserves a ton of credit for run prevention. Even with the Mets, it wasn’t until his final season in 1993 when he had an ERA over 4.00. He was already 46. Imagine if he had stuck around in New York and got the coaching he needed. There’d be a 1973 World Series Championship pennant waving at Citi Field and maybe more.

3) NY Mets traded Kevin Mitchell too early in his career

Kevin Mitchell was one of those players who helped take down the Astros in the 1986 NLCS. He was an impressive young utility player for the Mets in 1986. He batted .277/.344/.466 with 12 home runs in only 364 plate appearances. It was looking like Mitchell could become a regular in the lineup.

A poor reputation which by many accounts now seems false and overblown led to Mitchell getting traded to the San Diego Padres in the offseason. There were a lot of moving parts in the deal. The two biggest players to swap uniforms were Mitchell and the new starting left fielder for the Mets, Kevin McReynolds.

McReynolds was a really good addition for the Mets lineup. He gave them power and run production for the remainder of the decade as players like Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez went on the decline. Mitchell ended up getting traded again by the Padres in the middle of the 1987 season. His new destination put him on the San Francisco Giants roster. They were glad to make the move. 

Mitchell led the league with 47 home runs and 125 RBI in 1989. The potent display of power helped win him the MVP.

The good times were over quickly. After playing in 113 games in 1991, he never again reached triple-digits due to injury. He spent a year playing in Japan during the player’s strike. Unfortunately, after hitting 30 home runs in 95 games during the 1994 season while slashing .326/.429/.681, his MLB career was virtually over.

Mitchell, along with Jeff Kent, are the only two future MVPs the Mets have traded for as of 2023.

4) NY Mets traded Melvin Mora too early in his career

Melvin Mora never did win an MVP. Trading him away may have somehow still been a bigger blunder. It started in the middle of the 2000 season when the Mets were looking for someone to replace the injured Rey Ordonez at shortstop. Mora started 40 games at the position, but poor defense had the team pivot to the Baltimore Orioles for some help. Mora and three others were sent to the O’s for their impending free agent shortstop, Mike Bordick.

Bordick didn’t end up being the solution the Mets needed. His offensive performance went downhill. He was nothing special on defense either. Mora definitely didn’t belong as a major league shortstop. His inclusion in this deal isn’t any better with that known fact.

Mora had already flamed out as a legitimate prospect by the time he joined the Mets for the 1998 season. His career began way back in 1992 with the Houston Astros. He had a few good years on the farm yet nothing to ever convince Houston he should be fast-tracked to the majors.

His career still managed to extend until 2011. It included nine and a half years with the Orioles where he’d blast 158 home runs while slashing .280/.355/.438. There were definitely ways the Mets could have used Mora in the coming years. They didn’t see enough to hold onto him.

5) NY Mets traded Heath Bell too early in his career

Sometimes the talent is obvious. In other cases it isn’t. Heath Bell was just another guy on the Mets from 2004-2006. Going 1-5 with a 4.92 ERA in 81 relief appearances, the trade with the San Diego Padres prior to the 2007 season didn’t seem like it would have much meaning. This assumption couldn’t have been more wrong.

Bell was 6-4 with a 2.02 ERA in 2007 for the Padres where he somehow managed to make 81 appearances in a single season. It didn’t take long at all for the Mets to realize they may have given up a gem.

The trade itself also sent Royce Ring to the Padres while bringing back Jon Adkins and Ben Johnson. Bell was easily the most accomplished major leaguer of the four. In 2009, the Padres moved him to the closer spot where he saved a league-best 42 games for them. He’d have another year of 47 and a third with 43 before they traded him to the Miami Marlins and his career was officially headed in a nosedive as many will.

There were a lot of good years left in Bell at the time of this trade. Chalk this one up as one of those deals where both teams thought they were getting a more minor piece and one ended up with a three-time All-Star.