Worst Mets trade for a third baseman in team history

Finding the worst New York Mets trade for a third baseman in team history isn’t much of a challenge. Considered the second worst trade the team has ever made, our time machine takes us to December 10, 1971.

In an effort to improve the hot corner, the Mets reached out to the California Angels for their star shortstop Jim Fregosi. A position change would occur when he arrived in New York. A regular MVP candidate throughout the 1960s, he was coming off of a down season in 1971 when the trade occurred. The Mets must’ve missed it.

You know what happened next. The Mets sent Frank Estrada, Don Rose, Leroy Stanton, and Nolan Ryan to California. It still aches.

The worst Mets trade for a third baseman cost them Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan

As bad as the Tom Seaver trade was in 1977, at least the guys the Mets got back performed well. Seaver’s best years were behind him even though he did remain productive for several more.

The Fregosi for Ryan trade is different. Fregosi batted .233/.319/.328 with 5 home runs in his 146 games for the Mets. He was often hurt and offered very little when he was able to take the field. His run in New York ended when the Texas Rangers purchased him midway through the 1973 season.

Meanwhile, Ryan reached a whole new level when he got to the Angels. Signs were already there that something was special about this very much alive right arm of his. It was when he arrived in California that he became even better. Ryan was an All-Star in his first year with the Angels and received an eighth-place finish in the Cy Young race. His career was taking off. The future all-time leader in strikeouts had slipped away from the Mets for a third baseman who didn’t even make it through two seasons.

Plenty of bad Mets trades over the years have tried to outduel this now 50+ year deal. Only the Seaver trade is in the same class.