On Jan. 29, 2008, the Mets acquired Johan Santana from the Twins for Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, Deolis Guerrera and Philip Humber, and according to this article, that was the best Mets trade ever.
Wrong.
I’ll give them one thing. It was probably the best trade Omar Minaya made in his tenure, but it’s a far cry to say it’s the best deal they ever made. I can think of two better ones right off the top of my head.
On June 5, 1983, Keith Hernandez was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Mets for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. One could say Keith had a pretty important role in securing the Mets’ World Series Championship. He’s one of the most well-rounded players the Mets have ever had.
On May 22, 1998, a little less than 15 years after Keith Hernandez was acquired, the Mets made probably their biggest deal ever. They acquired Mike Piazza from the then Florida Marlins for Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz and Ed Yarnall. Piazza went on to hit .296 with 220 homers as a New York Met. He’ll be in the Hall of Fame as the first Mets offensive player in due time.
Adam Rubin of ESPN had his top 10 Mets trades ever list here and here, and Johan didn’t even make the cut. I tend to agree with him. While Santana was great at times, the Mets never even made the playoffs during his tenure in Queens. That’s not necessarily 100 percent his fault, but as an ace, it’s your job to lead the team to the promise land.
So as for Johan Santana being the best trade in Mets history…no…not even close.
Speaking of Johan, he’s once again attempting a comeback. He was clocked at 90 MPH recently, and there’s some speculation the Yankees could be interested. With the young core of guys the Mets have coming, along with veterans like Jonathan Niese, Bartolo Colon and Dillon Gee (for now), Johan will not be wearing a Mets’ jersey next season. That ship has sailed.
We can’t have a Johan post without showing his most memorable moment as a Met. Enjoy:
