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.

The Mets couldn’t have believed what they were getting when they traded for Ron Darling

The Texas Rangers turned out to be the fool’s when on April 1, 1982, they struck a deal with the Mets for Lee Mazzilli. One of the better Mets players in the post-Tom Seaver era in New York, the Mets managed to flip Mazzilli for Walt Terrell and pitcher Ron Darling. They would later trade Terrell for Howard Johnson, the move I mentioned earlier that didn’t quite make this list of seven.

Darling’s trade, however, does make it.

By 1986, Darling had established himself as a key member of the club’s starting rotation. He was an All-Star in 1985 for the first and only time in his career. He would go on to win double-digit games multiple times for the Mets and become one of the best pitchers in franchise history.

The 1986 season included a regular season record of 15-6 and an ERA of 2.81. He would finish fifth in the Cy Young race and start three of the seven World Series games.

Against the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, Darling would go 1-1 with a 1.53 ERA. None of it would have been possible if not for the trade that first brought him to New York.

Years later, a whole generation knows him best for his work in the booth and not so much for his heroics in 1986.

The Keith Hernandez trade took the Mets to a new level

While the Orosco trade helped solidify the bullpen and Darling gave them a starting pitcher they could count on, it wasn’t until the 1983 trade for Keith Hernandez when fans began to realize how much better this club was becoming. Hernandez had already won a batting title and MVP. One of the game’s best fielders at first base as well, he was a much different kind of player than fans had seen wear the club’s uniform in recent years. He was a star about to become a leader on a team in desperate need of one.

Hernandez’s impact on the Mets was huge. Like Darling, he would be embraced by the franchise for his work broadcasting games. First, he had the 1986 season to take care of.

The fourth-place finisher in the MVP race, Hernandez hit .310/.413/.446 in the regular season with a league-leading 94 walks. He won another Gold Glove for the team, too.

Hernandez, amazingly, didn’t have any truly incredibly postseason moment for the Mets. He hit just .231/.344/.231 in the World Series but that shouldn’t take away from exactly how important he was to the cause.

Without Hernandez’s leadership, defensive abilities, and heart, the Mets of 1986 just wouldn’t have been the same.

History rhymes when the Mets make a trade for Ray Knight

Acquired from the Houston Astros in August of 1984, history rhymed when the Mets landed Ray Knight. They just didn’t know it yet. It would take three players to be named later to land him. Each would be worth it considering the outcome.

A good 27 games in 1984 led into a very poor season for Knight in 1985. A high average, low power third baseman, he had a season to remember in 1986.

Knight would go on to hit .298/.351/.424 in 541 regular season plate appearances. This, however, wouldn’t be what he was known for.

Knight’s World Series performance included a slash line of .391/.440/.565. He hit a home run and drove in 5. You probably also remember him crossing the plate for the game-winning run after the ball went right through Bill Buckner’s legs in Game 6.

For his efforts, Knight was awarded the World Series MVP. In an odd twist of familiarity, he was the second player in Mets history acquired in a midseason trade that wore number 22 to accomplish this. Back in 1969, Donn Clendenon was the World Series MVP with number 22 between his shoulders. Although Knight landed in Queens a few seasons earlier than the 1986 trade, his addition was a must for the team to schedule their second parade.

Maybe the best trade of all for the Mets brought them Gary Carter

A finishing touch for the Mets, Gary Carter came to the team before the 1985 season. They had already brought in Orosco for the bullpen, Darling and Fernandez for the pitching staff, and had Hernandez and Knight at the corners. It wasn’t enough. They needed a general behind the plate. Who better than the well-respect man known as “The Kid?”

Carter would have his best statistical season for the Mets in 1985 but it was in 1986 when he went from sixth in the MVP to third. Carter blasted 24 regular season home runs and knocked in 105.

Although his slash numbers all dipped, he still hit a solid .255/.337/.439. And in the postseason, he was clutch in the World Series.

Carter hit two home runs against the Red Sox in the series. His biggest moment, however, would come with a single with two outs in the bottom of the tenth in Game 6. It was this hit that would keep the Mets alive and allow them to come back and defeat Boston.

There’s no question Carter was a much-needed addition to the Mets. The longtime Montreal Expos catcher would end up making the Hall of Fame many years later. Even if it’s those Montreal seasons when he was at his best, Carter’s greatest impact on the game came as a member of the 1986 Mets.

The Bob Ojeda trade would come back to bite the Red Sox

Bob Ojeda wasn’t with the Mets for long. In his case, timing was everything.

Ojeda joined the Mets after the 1985 season in a trade with, of all teams, the Red Sox! The same team the Mets would face in the World Series only months later sent Ojeda to them as part of a massive deal which included four players going from each team to the other.

By far, Ojeda would be the best.

The regular season was a brilliant one for Ojeda. After some struggles with Boston, he excelled immediately with the Mets. Maybe he just didn’t like big green walls.

Ojeda’s 1986 regular season included an 18-5 record and league-best .783 winning percentage. He finished fourth in the Cy Young vote and led all Mets pitchers with a 4.7 WAR.

His success continued into the postseason with a 1-0 record against the Astros and again against the Red Sox. He would go on to pitch a total of 27 postseason innings for the Mets in 1986, giving them a 2.33 ERA performance.

It’s rare for one team to make another with a team and see it directly impact the two clubs months later in the World Series. This was a rare one that did. In fact, dig a little deeper, you see Calvin Schiraldi went from the Mets to the Red Sox in this Ojeda deal. Schiraldi was the man who lost Game 6 and 7 for Boston. As sweet as this deal was to acquire Ojeda, it was equally as bitter for Boston.