3 worst Mets trades with a division rival the team has ever made

Trades between the New York Mets and their division rivals have tended to be either good or bad in a more minor way. With some exceptions, the Mets have cut a deal with a team in the National League East and suffered the consequences.

The Mets have been present in the NL East from the beginning with only the 1962-1968 seasons including no split between East and West. None of the trades the Mets made early on in those days quite qualified for this list of the worst ones made with a division rival.

Something to note is that prior to 1995, the NL East included a few teams now in the NL Central. None of those trades quite measured up to these three baddies. Most of the worst Mets trades involved a club in the American League, NL Central, or NL West. Not these.

3) Worst NY Mets trade with a division rival: David Segui to the Expos

Maybe this doesn’t quite raise your blood pressure as much as some other notoriously bad Mets trades will. Unless you had an insane amount of baseball cards from the 1990s still in your bedroom closet you really should just give away (guilty) then you might not even recall Segui playing for the 1994 Mets and 33 more games in 1995.

Segui combined to hit .257/.330/.403 in his 467 plate appearances. In the middle of the 1995 season, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for reliever Reid Cornelius. He was off to a fantastic start in New York armed with a .329/.420/.479 slash line in his first 92 plate appearances. He thrived over the next few seasons in Montreal. He’d go on to hit .300/.371/.470 for the Expos and knock 42 home runs in his 1419 plate appearances for the Mets’ division rival.

While Segui was becoming a threat at the plate in Montreal and led the league in forearm size plus strangeness of batting stance, Cornelius was an unaccomplished pitcher for the Mets. He made 10 starts in 1995 and pitched to a 5.15 ERA. He’d end up being dealt on March 31, 1996 alongside Ryan Thompson for Mark Clark. A somewhat underrated and good move for the Mets, at least they were able to turn this into something.

2) Worst NY Mets trade with a division rival: Rico Brogna to the Phillies

There is a young redheaded Evan Roberts sobbing right now. In November of 1996, the Mets traded first baseman Rico Brogna to the Philadelphia Phillies for Toby Borland and Ricardo Jordan. They could spare him because the 1997 season was John Olerud’s first in New York.

It doesn’t help make the trade much better. In parts of three seasons with the Mets, Brogna slashed .291/.342/.495. They should have gotten more for him. Brogna would end up having three straight years of 20+ home runs for the Phillies. In 1998 and 1999, he surpassed the 100 RBI mark.

Borland made only 13 appearances for the Mets in 1997 and pitched to a 6.08 ERA. He was traded in May to the Boston Red Sox for Rick Trilcek. He’d make only 9 appearances and deliver an 8.00 ERA for the Mets that same season.

What about Jordan? Could he salvage this trade?

After pitching to a 1.80 ERA in 25 innings for the lowly 1996 Phillies, Jordan regressed in 1997. He’d get 27 innings and give his new ball club a 5.33 ERA performance. He became a free agent after the season and made less than a handful of appearances for the Cincinnati Reds in 1998.

The trade for Brogna was a sweeping success for the Phillies even if they wore cement shoes throughout his stay. One other trade with a division rival does beat it.