3) No NY Mets trade will ever compare to the Tom Seaver deal
Even if you weren’t alive for the Tom Seaver trade, it’s still possible to understand why this would have torn social media apart when it happened. Trading Seaver away for anything would have enraged fans back in 1977. For it to bring back four average players at best only made things worse.
Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman, and Pat Zachry will forever remain tied to the Seaver deal. Despite different levels of success from the foursome during their time with the Mets, they didn’t compare to The Franchise.
Trading a big league star for younger players works less than it does. Remember how mad fans were when the Mets traded Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson for Marcus Stroman? Before many of us digested the deal, many pounced to criticize the move.
The Seaver deal was much different and came during a time period when prospects were much less known by the fans. The Cincinnati Reds could have sent the Mets their four most promising prospects and this would have been a trade with a bad feeling behind it.
There was no chance of salvaging this trade in the eyes of the fans. The Mets were undergoing a major rebuild with no intention of winning. The Seaver deal was a money-saving move. It accomplished that while alienating the fans.