7 Mets trades that won the 1986 World Series

The 1986 New York Mets remain beloved even more than 30 years after they won it all. It was a unique team built differently from many other championship squads.

Although the roster included notable first-round draft picks such as Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden at its core, there were seven trades the team made prior that played a huge role in them winning it all. In fact, I found seven!

I won’t even include the 1984 Howard Johnson for Walt Terrell deal because HoJo’s impact on the 1986 season was much lesser than what it would become. Even eliminating him, the 1986 Mets were a club built through savvy deals.

It all began in 1978 when the Mets acquired Jesse Orosco for Jerry Koosman

There’s too much irony in the fact that the man who threw the final pitch of the 1969 World Series for the Mets would end up traded for the man who would throw the final pitch for the 1986 team. This is exactly what happened with the Mets when in December of 1978 they traded longtime starter Jerry Koosman to the Minnesota Twins for Greg Field and Jesse Orosco.

Orosco’s role on the Mets over the next several seasons would turn into an important one. He would work his way into a part-time closer for the club, often going multiple innings in his save opportunities as many closers did in those days.

In 1983, Orosco threw 110 innings of relief, won 13 games, and had a 1.47 ERA. He finished third in the Cy Young vote for a team on the rise.

In 1986, his impact was larger because of how much the team around him had grown. He didn’t allow a single run in any of his 5.2 World Series innings and he was the victory in three games of the NLCS versus the Houston Astros.

Without him, the Mets might not get to the World Series.