Thursday Trade Tracker: Minnesota Twins. Pitchers Galore! Kooz, Sweet Music, and No-han.

While they play their home games 1,200 miles apart and haven't played an earth-shattering game against each other, the Mets and Twins have shared a trade pipeline that has fundamentally reshaped both franchises at critical junctures.

From Shea to Citi, these two clubs have exchanged legendary aces with retired numbers, World Series heroes, and beloved scrappers - often leaving fans of both sides still debating who truly got the best of the deal. These teams didn't even find each other as trade partners for the first 14 years of Mets history!

December 8, 1978. Mets get LHP Jesse Orosco and minor leaguer Greg Field for LHP Jerry Koosman.

Most Mets Maniacs already know the two men to get the final out in the two World Championships were indeed traded for each other!

Koosman, whose number 36 hangs from the rafters at CitiField, was discovered by the son of a Shea Stadium usher. John Lucchese saw Kooz pitch for the US Army in Texas. The Mets legendary scout Red Murff signed him after his discharge. The story goes that the Mets wanted to cut him in 1966, but the Mets loaned him money to fix his car and they waited until his next payday to get their money back. Kooz pitched great in his next start, he wasn't cut, and the rest is history.

Koosman's 1968 rookie season saw him break Tom Seaver's year old team records with 19 wins, seven shutouts, and 2.08 ERA. Koosman appeared in the 1968 All-Star Game. It was the only All-Star Game to finish 1-0. MVP Willie Mays scored the only run in the first inning. Rookie Koosman got the save by striking out Carl Yastrzemski. (Remember Yaz was coming off his miracle Triple Crown season).

Kooz was the pitching hero of the 1969 World Series, pitching 8.2 innings in Game 2 and a complete game in the clinching Game 5, jumping into Jerry Grote's arms as soon as Davey Johnson's fly to left calmly settled into Cleon Jones's glove in left field. You can bet that performance in today's game would have won him the World Series MVP Award. (Your friendly neighborhood writer was about a mile away in a Parsons Boulevard apartment as a five year old.)

Koosman probably had his best season in 1976, setting career highs with 21 victories and 200 strikeouts. He finished second to future Met Randy Jones in the Cy Young voting, and even received MVP down ballot support. As the Mets of the Seaver era were separated from the team, Koosman still pitched well, as ERAs of 3.49 and 3.75 show. However, little offensive and defensive backup left Koosman with records of 8-20 and 3-15. For you statheads, try and find a 20 game loser with a 2.9 WAR.

Jerry asked for a trade to his hometown Twins and the Mets honored the request. He won 20 games in his first year in Minnesota. Even though he was 36 in his first season in Minnesota, he won 86 more games in his career with three teams.

With all that, the Mets might have won that trade! Orosco wound up pitching FOREVER, pitching 24 years with 9 teams! He holds the Major League record for games pitched with 1,252. His highlight was 1983. He won 13 games out of the pen with 17 saves. Mets interim manager Frank Howard seemed to pitch him 3 innings every time the Mets smelled a victory. He had a 1.47 ERA and finished third in Cy Young voting! Side note - in his book, Ron Darling absolutely trashes Howard. Supposedly Howard wore the same thing everyday so he didn't need luggage. His outfit was washed everyday with the uniforms. I guess no one was brave enough to bring it to the attention of the 6 foot 8 inch behemoth.

Orosco's only All-Star appearance in all those years found him striking out his only batter, Milwaukee's Ben Oglivie, in 1983.

On July 31, 1983 Orosco became the last Mets pitcher to record two wins in one day. During two extra inning wins vs the Pirates, Orosco pitched four innings of the first game and the last inning of the second to win both! Can you imagine a closer doing that today? Mike Torrez threw 11 shutout innings in the nightcap. Yes, I was there.

TEACHER SAYS B. Good trade for both teams. I was lucky enough to also be there when Jesse flung his glove in the air to close out the 1986 World Series. Have two pitchers ever been traded for each other who both closed out Championships?

July 31, 1989. Mets get LHP Frank Viola for pitchers Rick Aguilera, Tim Drummond, Kevin Tapani, David West, and Jack Savage.

"Sweet Music" Viola was born in Queens and pitched for St. John's, so he was close to Shea already. In 1981, Viola faced Darling of Yale and they pitched what is often credited to be the best pitched game in college history. I hope you are a fan of the late author Roger Angell. His essay on that game needs to be required reading. Darling threw 11 innings of no-hit ball before allowing the only run of the game. Viola threw 11 shutout innings himself. Viola won 17 games with the Twins in 1987 and was named MVP of that World Series. His 1988 was even better, winning 24 games and a Cy Young Award.

Frankie V won 20 for the Mets in 1990, but they let him go in free agency after 1991. Tapani was an excellent starter for the Twins and Cubs, winning 143 games in his career. Were you surprised to hear that? He was a top starter for the 1991 Champion Twins, winning 16 games during the season and one in the Series.

Aguilera was a 1986 World Champion Met and was the winning pitcher when Mookie's grounder performed it's miracle. Aguilera wound up being one of the best closers of all-time with 318 career saves. He saved two games and won one in the memorable 1991 Series vs Atlanta .

There is no truth to the rumor that Jack Savage is related to Randy "Macho Man" Savage. He didn't seem to be the cream of the crop, either.

TEACHER SAYS C. The Mets didn't win much during two and a half years with Viola. Tapani and Aguilera showed much more value during the rest of their careers.

February 2, 2008. Mets get LHP Johan Santana OF Carlos Gomez and pitchers Deolis Guerra, Phillip Humber, Kevin Mulvey.

Santana had the league's most devastating changeup and a competitive fire that outpaced his own anatomy. Between the 134 pitch masterpiece that ended a 8,019 game drought, and a gutsy three hit shutout on three days rest in the next to last game in 2008, Santana proved to Met fans that when reasonably healthy, he was willing to leave it all out on the field. This was one of the most important trades in Mets history, as it cemented the team with a new winning attitude.

His first year as a Met resulted in an ERA crown (2.53). He had previously won two Cy Youngs in Minnesota. As soon as he finished his first year in New York, a year that Sports Illustrated picked the Mets to win it all, he started breaking down. The smallish lefty had averaged around 230 innings pitched a year. In one of the final starts of his career on June 1, 2012 Johan did what no Met fan thought could be done. Thanks to a circus catch by another Queens boy, Mike Baxter, and a missed call on what was a fair ball scorched down the line by new Hall of Famer Carlos Beltran, Santana threw the first no-hitter in Mets history! Third base umpire Adrian Johnson was a rookie umpire call up as he blew that play and is still in the league.

Mets fans of all ages would grumble, "There goes the no-hitter"....after a leadoff single. Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, Cone, Gooden, Darling, etc, could not accomplish what Santana did. Manager Terry Collins still says he should have taken him out, but the fans wouldn't have let Collins get to his car!

Carlos Gomez had two All-Star seasons in Milwaukee and hung around for 13 years, eventually returning to end his career in Flushing. Humber pitched for parts of 8 years with 5 teams, but threw the most out-of-nowhere game in history. The journeyman threw his first and only career complete game in 2012 and it was a PERFECT GAME! He won 16 games his entire career.

TEACHER SAYS A. Would you rather have had Santana for a few years or Gomez? Santana gave the Mets some hope, but that no-hitter seals the A.

January 16, 1986. Mets get 2B Tim Teufel and minor leaguer Pat Crosby for pitchers Joe Klink and Bill Latham and OF Billy Beane.

Let's start with the most game changing person in this trade. Billy Beane, at the time a failed first round pick, developed into the "Moneyball" GM. Beane's time with the Mets is mentioned in a terrific movie starring Brad Pitt as Beane. You're not doing too bad if Brad Pitt is starring as you in a movie. Oakland had the highest payroll in baseball in 1991, right after the A's made three consecutive World Series appearances. After owner Walter Haas passed away in 1995, the new owners ordered A's GM (future Mets GM) Sandy Alderson to cut payroll. Alderson asked his assistant Beane to look for ways to slash funds. Beane and Alderson used research and analysis to look for ways to build teams without massive spending. These changes, for better or worse, are how the game is run today. David Stearns and his "run prevention" and deciding Jorge Polanco would be an excellent replacement for Pete Alonso are based on these findings. Under Beane's long GM tenure, the A's have appeared in the post season 8 times, but only won a post season series once, the ALDS in 2006.

Teufel was the right-handed half of the 1986 Champion second base platoon with Wally Backman. Teufel could always hit, highlighted by a .308 season in 1987. He went 4-9 (.444) in the 86 World Series. The popular second baseman might have been most well known for the "Teufel Shuffle" as he wiggled as he stood at the plate.

Do you remember when he was hit by a pitch in Spring Training by Jim Gott? Translated in German, God hit the Devil with a pitch!

TEACHER SAYS A. The Twins got nothing out of their haul while the Mets won a Championship with theirs.

July 31, 2001. Mets get OF Matt Lawton for RHP Rick Reed.

Put Lawton, a 2000 All-Star with the Twins, onto the list of Bay, Burnitz, Baerga, Alomar , Bichette (oops, too soon?) of players who forget their talent when adorning the Orange and Blue. After his 48 forgettable games with the Mets, he went on to being an All-Star again with Cleveland. Who did the Mets get for Lawton? That was the Alomar trade.

Reed is one of the most underrated players in Mets history! Reed started as a replacement player during the 1995 player strike with Cincinnati. The story goes that he was paying his mother's diabetes bills and she wasn't insured, so he needed his baseball salary. When he got back to the majors after the strike, he was not treated well for breaking the picket line and did not pitch well either. Starting in 1997, Reed was often called the "Poor Man's Greg Maddux" because of his control and ability to change speeds. His surgical precision on the mound led the Mets during one of their best eras. Reed spent the next four years winning in double figures as a Met and was named to two All-Star games. He averaged about 200 innings a season during his Mets tenure with an extremely low walk rate. In 1998, for example, he only walked 29 in 212 innings! He was part of the 2000 NL Champions and in his only start in the World Series, he pitched 6 innings, giving up 2 runs and striking out 8. That start in Game 3 led to their only victory in the Series. (Darn you, Benitez, for walking O'Neill!)

TEACHER SAYS F. Reed wound up having a 15 game win season for the Twins. Lawton became a Vince Coleman and Bo Bichette (did I say that again?).

Other key names in Mets- Twins trade history: Ron Gardenhire, Rich Becker, Wally Backman and Luis Castillo. I didn't include Castillo because I would have had to show the dropped pop-up and it's still too soon. I can't see it again, with the Yankees mobbing "hero" Alex Rodriguez.

I'd love to hear your memories of the great pitchers named today. You must have Kooz and Orosco memories to share. Were you at the no-hitter? Please tell us at Kiner's Korner!