by Because the Mets are the Mets, they have one of the most interesting player to be named stories in Major League history. Back in 1962, the Mets acquired Harry Chiti from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later. With the Mets and Indians unable to figure out who that player would be, the Mets sent Chiti back to the Indians. Essentially, Chiti was traded for himself.
If you are following this offseason, you will have noticed the Mets have followed the Indians lead. Like the Indians, the Mets are now the ones holding onto every player that was part of the deal.
The first such instance of this occurrence came when the Mets signed Jay Bruce. Last year, the Mets traded Bruce to the Indians for Ryder Ryan. In eight appearances for Columbia, Ryan showed why the Mets were interested with his going 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA and a 0.846 WHIP. Even if you were not impressed with the return of Ryan’s performance, take heart in the fact Bruce has returned giving thereby giving the Mets a free minor league reliever for their efforts.
While Mets fans may not have been impressed with Ryan, they have loved the return for former outfield prospect Matt den Dekker. On the eve of the 2015 season, the Mets sent den Dekker to the Nationals for LOOGY Jerry Blevins. So far in his Mets career, Blevins is 11-2 with a 2.72 ERA and a 1.229 WHIP. In fact, he’s been even better than advertised with his faring much better against right-handed batters.
Unfortunately, den Dekker has not experienced the same success as Blevins. He has mostly struggled in his limited MLB opportunities over the past three years. However, he has remained the good defender which made many Mets fans take notice of him. He’s now back with the Mets organization with the hope he can once again be the Endy Chavez type of player we all once imagined he could be.
Overall, it is quite fortuitous the Mets have been able to re-acquire the players they had sent away in trades. Seeing how it has all panned out, it could start to make you a little greedy. Considering how the Tigers are in a rebuilding stage, one cannot help but wonder what is would take to get Michael Fulmer back in the fold. On second thought, that would only complicate things as we would then have to find a way for the Mets to re-acquire those players as well.
