Mets, Yankees Trade Partners? Why Not?
Stop the world. The Yankees and Mets may actually consider doing business with one another at the trade deadline. Even thinking of such a transaction has the feel of blasphemy. Much as any deal between the Yankees and Red Sox.
The Yankees and the Red Sox
The Yankees rarely do business with the Boston Red Sox. The last trade between the two teams saw the Yankees trade Kelly Johnson to the Red Sox for Stephen Drew in 2014. The prior consequential trade between the teams occurred 28 years earlier in 1986 when the Yankees sent Don Baylor to the Red Sox for Mike Easler.
The most significant trade between these two teams goes back to 1972 when the Yankees stole Sparky Lyle from the Red Sox for Danny Cater.
Other than these trades, one would have to go back to the early 1920s when the Yankees acquired many of the best Red Sox players of the time, including the infamous Babe Ruth purchase in 1919. Those were the trades and purchases that directly led to several Yankee World Series triumphs in the 1920s, and established the heated rivalry between the two teams.
The Yankees and the Mets
The Yankees and Mets have concluded 15 trades over the past 53 years, dating back to 1966. Most of the trades involved no-name players who were either career minor leaguers or at the end of their careers like Bob Friend, Hal Reniff, Tim Burke and Frank Tanana.
In December 2001, the teams exchanged aging stars. David Justice was sent to the Mets, and Robin Ventura headed to the Yankees. A year and a half later, the Mets traded an over-the-hill Armando Benitez to the Yankees for three nobodies.
Their last trade was in April 2018 when the Yankees acquired Lee Mazilli Jr. for Kendall Coleman. Neither player has appeared in the major leagues yet.
(See Oliver Macklin’s article about the history of Yankee-Mets trades at https://www.mlb.com/news/ )
The Day the World May Stop
That’s the day Brian Cashman and Brodie Van Wagenen verbally shake hands on a deal.
So, why would the Mets want to transact a consequential deal with the Yankees now? Because Van Wagenen needs to hit one out of the park to show the Wilpon’s he’s not as much of a fool as he appears to be.
Another good reason is the Yankees talent that could fill many of the Mets’ needs. Some of these players, like Clint Frazier and Thairo Estrada, already showed what they could do earlier in the season during the Yankees’ rash of injuries. They could step in and add oomph to a feeble Mets lineup.
Some of the Yankees young pitchers could fit into a revamped Mets pitching staff without Noah Syndergaard. Pitchers like Jonathan Loaisiga. Jordan Montgomery. Deivi Garcia. Or even Jonathan Holder, who would add experience to the Mets bullpen.
Besides Noah Syndergaard, who else would the Yankees ask for if they offered the Mets Frazier, Estrada, Losisiga, Garcia and Holder?
With Frazier and Garcia in the deal, the Yankees might want one of the Mets top prospects in A ball. Perhaps the Yankees might consider the Port St. Lucie lefthander Thomas Szapucki, despite his injury history, as a hard-throwing lefty who could dominate out of the bullpen?
So, the elements for a deal are there should the teams decide their needs dovetail. The Mets shouldn’t want major-league ready talent because they’re going nowhere this year, next year or maybe any year soon if left to their own devices until they (after they come to their senses and fire Brodie Van Wagenen) find a new executive to restock the shelves. It’ll be nice to know there’s something to build on.
So, if the pieces make sense, the Mets should trade Syndergaard to the Yankees. Since a trade is not made to please fans, it’s made to improve the team. Not today, but in a year or two. The Yankees waited two seasons for Gleyber Torres to blossom. Shouldn’t the Mets show the same patience?
And while the track record between the Yankees and Mets is there is no track record of exchanging top prospects or players in their prime, maybe it’s time to start. Chances are the world will still be here even if Syndergaard helps the Yankees win the World Series this year. The Mets will take a deep breath and smile. Because soon enough they will have winning players in their dugout.
