Remember 1969: Who Won? Mets trades through the years: 2014-2015

 

Mets Trades:   Who Won?

Year 7:  November 2014 through October 2015

If the definition of a good trade is one that obtains players to help win now, 2015 was arguably (well maybe not so arguably) the best year of trades the Mets ever had.  

They did not complete any hot-stove trades, finally getting started by pulling off a couple at the end of spring training, then two more at the July trading deadline before completing the year by making two waiver deals in August.

The first two on March 30, 2015:  

(1)  New York Mets traded Cory Mazzoni to the San Diego Padres for Alex Torres  (Mar 30, 2015)

(2)  New York Mets traded Matt den Dekker to the Washington Nationals for Jerry Blevins  (Mar 30, 2015)

 Once late July came, they proved to be buyer as the deadline and go for it that year

(3)  New York Mets traded John Gant and Robert Whalen to the Atlanta Braves for Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe  (Jul 24, 2015)

(4)  New York Mets traded Casey Meisner to the Oakland Athletics for Tyler Clippard  (Jul 27, 2015)

(5)  New York Mets traded Luis Cessa and Michael Fulmer to the Detroit Tigers for Yeonis Cespedes  (Jul 31, 2015)

(6)  New York Mets traded Dawrin Frias to the Oakland Athletics for Eric O’Flaherty.

(7)  New York Mets traded Matt Koch and Miller Diaz to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Addison Reed.

Alex Torres, as I recall, was probably most famous for wearing the protective oversize baseball cap while pitching.   He actually had a 3.15 ERA in 39 games in the first part of the year before being DFA'ed to make room for Eric O'Flaherty (see below).  

Jerry Blevins got off to a great start in April, not allowing a baserunner in 7 games before breaking his left arm and not pitching again all year, although he did have a couple of very good years in 2016 and 17.  

Tyler Clippard was a solid pickup.  Along with Reed, they stabilized the pen for the World Series run. 

We had a short discussion about Kelly Johnson last week following the piece on his second trade to the Mets in two years in mid-year 2016.   It seems that we, as fans, remember him being a key pick up in the 2015 run to the top, but he actually put up better numbers for the Mets in his second stint in 2016.  Without looking at the individual game stats, I suspect he had some big hits and along with Juan Uribe, was a good clubhouse influence.   

Luis Cessa is a a little bit of an interesting case.  He was a low minor leaguer when traded to Detroit.   He later was in a trade for Justin Wilson, and five and a half year later was included in a trade with Justin Wilson.   He actually compiled a 2.1 WAR in 2021 with a 2.53 ERA and a 1.144 WHIP in 53 games combined with the Yankees and Reds.   

Michael Fulmer went on to win the AL Rookie of the Year award for the Tiger in 2016, but hasn't matched that potential as a starter since.  He had a fairly successful year as a reliever for the Tigers in 2021.  

We all know what Cespedes did for the Mets down the stretch in 2015, and his story after that, so I won't boar you with the details.   It is a pretty good bet is last MLB at-bat is in the past.  

The trade for O'Flaherty seemed like a good idea at the time to put a side-armer in the bullpen, but it did not work out at all as he pitched to a 13.5 ERA with a WHIP north of 2.5 down the stretch.   Nothing lost though as Frias never made it out of level A.  

Addison Reed was the best bullpen pickup in 2015, pitching to a 1.17 ERA in August and September. 

Overall, the trades made in 2015 to put a winning team on the field worked well.  There were no terribly poor trades.   The Mets definitely won the trades this year.