Thursday Trade Tracker: Arizona Diamondbacks. El Duque, Reeder, and the Phamtastic Man

The Mets and the Diamondbacks may not have the most history as trade partners over the relatively few years, but they have had impactful players change sides.

Their history came to a boil when they met in the 1999 Division Series, which the Mets won in four games. The first game of that series was given an 11:00 PM starting time! And since this was the first Mets playoff appearance since the 1988 Orel Hershisers, we were all going to stay up late. It was tied going to the top of the 9th inning before Edgardo Alfonzo hit a towering grand slam off Bobby Choinard, who had just entered the game in relief of the then indestructable Randy Johnson. Who was the Mets starting pitcher? Masato Yoshii, but you knew that. The second game was all Arizona, with two much Todd Stottlemyre for them and too little Kenny Rogers for New York.

Game three at Shea was all Mets, keyed by a 6 run sixth inning. John Olerud drove in three runs and Darryl Hamilton drove in two in the contest. By the way, who mopped up for the Mets in the 9th of this 9-2 victory? Don't you just love baseball? It was previously mentioned Orel Hershiser. The final game of the series was decided by a series ending walk off home run by backup catcher Todd Pratt! (Mike Piazza was injured). Did centerfielder Steve Finley catch the ball? Your friendly neighborhood writer, Gump of the Mets, knew from his seat in the left field Mezzanine that Finley didn't even come close!

Don't forget to thank Arizona manager, old friend Buck Showalter, for double switching out of the game, his cleanup hitter and best player, Matt Williams, in the 8th inning. Showalter left his closer, Matt Mantei, in for a third inning. That's when Pratt walloped his forever Met moment over the wall. By the way, (again) it was former Met and then to become future Met again Lenny Harris that took over at third for Williams. (Williams - gold glove. Harris - stone glove. Thanks again, Buck).

I hope you don't remember that Armando Benitez blew the save in the 8th inning for the Mets. Armando, heavenly in May against the Pirates or the Brewers. Not so much in October.

August 1, 2023. Mets trade OF Tommy Pham for minor leaguer Jeremy Rodriguez.

In 12 years, Pham has played for 10 teams, with seven of those teams employing him for a year or less. It's not me, it's you? Tommy, it's you.

Maybe best known for getting into a pre-game scuffle with Joc Pederson over a fantasy football disagreement over a year ago. Let's say Pham was known to be wound a little tight. Pham kept being employed because he could hit and he did play hard. He only played 79 games with the Mets before he was discarded to Arizona. What makes this trade impactful was that Pham started every World Series game for Arizona that year, and he hit fifth! Even though the Texas Rangers won it all, Pham hit a very respectable .279 in the World Series, including a 4-4 performance in Arizona's only victory.

Pham has a very interesting background. He was born to teen parents with his twin sister. His father, born in Vietnam, was incarcerated at the time. By the time Tommy was two, doctors thought he had rickets and wore leg braces for a few years. His mother later remarried. Pham has said that when he was 25, he was stabbed by his stepfather during a fight! Pham was stabbed again during a fight outside a San Diego Gentleman's Club in 2020. (Doesn't sound very gentlemanly).

TEACHER SAYS C. Mets got as much as they could for the well-traveled Phamtastic Man. Which wasn't anything at all. Pham is a free agent as of this writing. Don't you ever count out Tommy Pham! He will resurface, like the Loch Ness Monster.

August 30, 2015 Mets get RHP Addison Reed for RHP Matt Koch.

Two of the most underrated pitchers in Mets history were both named Reed. Rick and Addison. After 29, 40, and 32 save seasons for the Chicago White Sox and Arizona, the Mets obtained Addison Reed for a playoff run, and they made the playoffs in back-to-back years for the second time in their history (2015 and 2016). Reed immediately showed his mettle (not a donkey joke), sporting a microscopic 1.17 ERA in 2015, followed by a 1.97 ERA in 80 games in 2016. Quite a trade! Cool customer and gunslinger Reed was a trusted bullpen weapon.

His obvious low point as a Met was being the losing pitcher in the final game of the 2015 World Series. He gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in a third of an inning of that fateful 12th inning.

TEACHER SAYS A. Two playoff seasons and a star in the pen.

August 22, 2006. Mets get OF Shawn Green for LHP Evan MacLane.

The Mets thought they were getting the final piece for the 2006 playoff run. But Shawn Green (no relation!) was at the end of the line. After 4 seasons of at least 35 homers, including a then team record 49 with the Dodgers in 2001, the Mets had reason to believe. Green was also a former Gold Glove winner in rightfield. What went wrong? He had little left. He hit only 4 homers for the rest of 2006. He did go 10-32 (.313) in the post season, albeit without a homer. His trouble handling a deep fly ball in the 2006 playoffs against the Cardinals was a key turning point in that series.

He finished his career with over 2,000 hits, 328 home runs and 1,070 RBI.

MacLane pitched in only 2 major league games in his career.

TEACHER SAYS D. What could have been!

May 24, 2006. Mets get RHP Orlando Hernandez for RHP Jorge Julio.

El Duque first made his name in MLB with some other team in New York. His first three years in the Bronx resulted in three seasons with double digit victories and three World Series rings. (Oh, the pain). After unsuccessful stops with the White Sox and Diamondbacks, he was picked up by Mets GM Omar Minaya. (Note: His White Sox pitching was unsuccessful, but the team won a World Series ring with him in 2005).

With the Magic Touch of Minaya, picking up Duque resulted in 9 victories in only 20 starts in 2006. The then 40 year old Hernandez, however, was injured and did not appear in the post-season. Was Duque 40? 50? 60? Who knows? He even came back to the Mets in 2007 at 41 (I can't even type that with a straight face) and won another 9 games!

Orlando's half brother Livan pitched 17 years in the big leagues, including part of 2009 with the Mets. Livan was NLCS MVP and World Series MVP during the incredible Florida Marlins World Championship of 1997.

The only brothers who played for the Mets were the Alomars (Roberto and Sandy Jr.), the Glavines (Mike and Tom) and the Hernandez brothers (Livan and Orlando....not Keith!). Can you think of any others?

TEACHER SAYS A. Julio had some excellent years with Baltimore, but was a disaster as a Met and didn't do much after he left. El Duque helped the Mets get to the 2006 playoffs.

Other names in Mets-Diamondbacks transaction history: Scott Schoeneweis, Trot Nixon, Lenny Harris, Nelson Figueroa, and Willie Blair. Minor leaguer P.J. Bevis was also once traded to the Mets, and his name was BEVIS for goodness sake!