Thursday Trade Tracker: Tampa Bay Rays. Bubba, Kazmir, and Petersen's Five Minute Fix.

If you walk through the annals of Mets trade history, you'll find deals that built dynasties and others that still make the Shea faithful reach for the antacid. The Tampa Bay Rays, despite only joining the league in 1998, have managed to supply a surprising amount of both. It began with the quest for veteran stability during the 2000 World Series run and hit a fever pitch with the 2004 deadline disaster that still haunts many today.

July 28, 2000. Mets get OF Bubba Trammell and RHP Rick White for OF Jason Tyner and RHP Paul Wilson.

This is the first trade in Mets - Rays history. Paul Wilson was the Number One pick in the nation in 1994. Along with Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher, they were destined to be the Seaver-Koosman-Matlack of the future. "Generation K."After only a year and a half in the minors, Wilson made 26 starts for the 1996 Mets. He finished 5-12 with a 5.38 ERA. Due to injuries, he missed most of the next THREE seasons. He eventually resurfaced with the Reds in 2004 and won 11 games. His last year in the majors was 2005, where he went 1-5 with a 7.77 ERA. On May 6, 2005, he started vs the Dodgers and didn't retire any of his first 8 batters. He is one of only 6 starting pitchers in MLB history to not retire any of the first 8 batters. Sorry, Paul, but you were the only one to do it twice! His inning from hell went hit by pitch-homer-single-homer-walk-hit by pitch-double-double.

Jason Tyner was the Mets first round draft pick in 1998. He made his Met debut in 2000, hitting .195 in 13 games. After his Tampa trade, the stick-like Tyner showed the one thing he could do on a major laegue field, run. He set a then Tampa record with 31 stolen bases in 2001. In 2002, there was a bobblehead promotion for the speedy Tyner, but he couldn't outrun a trip to the minors five days before the promotion. The dolls were never handed out at the stadium. I'll give you a dollar if you see it on Ebay.

The Mets were fighting for the NL Pennant in 2000, and Bubba appeared to be a bat that could help. In three partial seasons with Tampa, he hit .286, .290, and .275 with double digit homer seasons. The 6 ft 3, 215 lb outfielder even hit a home run in his first Mets at bat, becoming only the seventh Met at the time to do so. By the way, Bubba was really his middle name. Thomas Bubba Trammell was named after Tennessee quarterback Bubba Wyche. Yes! Sam Wyche, Super Bowl coach of the Bengals, was his brother.

Bubba went 2-5 (.400) with 3 RBI in the World Series that shall not be named. Of course, as soon as he left the Mets, he signed with San Diego and hit 25 homers with 92 RBI in 2001.

Rick White, looking like a right handed David Wells (not a compliment), pitched to a 3.86 ERA through 77 games as a Met in two years. The 6 ft 4, 215 lb (yeah right, 215) White pitched for 11 teams during his 12 years career! He pitched in 4 games in the 2000 post season, winning one vs San Francisco.

TEACHER SAYS B-. Wilson, Tyner, White, and Trammell didn't set the stat lines on fire, but the Mets won the NL pennant.

July 30, 2004. Mets get pitchers Bartolome Fortunato and Victor Zambrano for pitchers Jose Diaz and Scott Kazmir.

On this day, the Mets were three games under .500 and six games out of the playoff hunt. GM Jim Duquette decided to mortgage the future for the present. Zambrano went 12-10 and 9-7 in his first two seasons starting for Tampa, although his ERA was over 4 both years. Mets pitching coach Rick Petersen said he could fix Zambrano's control problems in 10 minutes. WE ARE STILL WAITING! Zambrano broke down almost immediately, throwing only 3 games for the Mets in 2004. His 2005 wasn't much better, going 7-12 with a 4.17 ERA. He made brief appearances for three teams in the next few years before he was done.

Kazmir was a first round draft pick of the Mets in 2002 and started to dominate the minors. As an 18 year old in Brooklyn, he gave up one earned run in 18 innings (0.50 ERA. That's Aaron Loup territory!) He had 5 double digit win seasons, was an All-Star twice, led the league with 239 strikeouts in 2007, and was a featured starter in the Tampa 2008 World Series run. It was the first time the Devil Rays had any kind of success. Injuries followed Kazmir (other than a 15 win season in Oakland in 2014). But it was those five good years in Tampa that made you wonder, why would the Mets have traded this left handed fire baller for so little? I found rumors that the Texas Rangers would have considered trading a young Mark Teixeira for him! I'm going to ruin your breakfast even more...The Phillies had future Hall of Famer Jim Thome at first base and were thinking of trading minor league slugger Ryan Howard for Kazmir!

So what was happening behind the scenes of this trade? Evidently, Duquette was not really in charge. It seems owner Jeff Wilpon was calling the shots. Little Jeffy knew as much about baseball as I do about brain surgery. It was said that the Mets didn't like his mechanics and thought Kazmir was about to blow his arm out. It was also rumored that Al Leiter and John Franco, close buddies with the boy owner, didn't like the cocky ways of Kazmir and didn't approve of the music Kazmir played. So it was demanded he be traded!

Think back in time, does an arm like Kazmir's help the 83-79 2005 Mets get to the playoffs? How about the 2006 Mets? Do they get past that darn Wainwright curveball? How about those sickening collapses in 2007 and 2008? Does Scott somehow win a game or so for those forelorn teams? Maybe he starts those last two games in each year vs the Marlins?

TEACHER SAYS F. Thanks, Al. Thanks, Johnny. Could Kazmir's music have been worth trips to the World Series?

July 27, 2017. Mets get RHP Drew Smith for 1B Lucas Duda.

Duda finished his Mets career with the 11th most homers in franchise history with 125. He played mostly outfield for the Mets at the beginning of his career, as Ike Davis was getting most of the turns at first base. After Davis's injuries, manager Terry Collins named Duda the starter at first and Lucas didn't disappoint. He played 153 games in 2014 with 30 homers and 92 RBI. in the 2015 NL Championship season, he hit 27 homers with 73 RBI. His grand slam in the first inning on September 26th, keyed the Mets win to clinch the NL East title. That season he had both the highest fly ball rate and the lowest graound ball rate of anyone in the majors. I guess that's exactly what you want your slugger doing.

His 5 RBI in Game 4 of the NLCS in Chicago tied the Met record for RBI in a post season game (Granderson, Delgado, Alfonzo, and Rusty). Duda, like many other Mets, had a poor World Series vs the Royals, going 5-19 with no extra-base hits and 7 strikeouts. But it was his terrible throw with two outs in the ninth of the final game 5, with the Mets leading at the time, that allowed KC to tie the game and eventually win it in extra innings.

As of this writing, Drew has pitched in 191 games, all with the Mets. Only two pitchers who have ONLY pitched with the Mets have appeared in more games. They are Perpetual Pedro Feliciano and Jeff Innis (RIP to both). Smith hasn't pitched in the majors since 2024, but last week signed a minor league deal with the Twins, so he may not be done yet. He might be best known as one of the five pitchers to appear in the April 29, 2022 no-hitter. He has had two Tommy John surgeries.

TEACHER SAYS B. Smith has pitched some decent games for the Mets, although he has been stung by the home run ball (29 homers in 196 innings).

December 7, 2022. Mets get LHP Brooks Raley for minor leaguer Keyshawn Askew.

While not exactly a day that will live in Mets infamy, Raley has been an excellent addition when healthy. In his two healthy Mets years, (parts of 4, including 2026), he has pitched 105 games to a 2.45 ERA. It is rare for him to pitch in back-to-back games due to his injury history. But Mets fans can breathe easy when Brooks enters the games. The 37 year old might just be one of those leftys that can pitch successfully forever.

TEACHER SAYS A. Would you rather see Dicky Lovelady coming in?

Other names in Mets - Rays trade history: Phil Maton, Rich Hill, Wilmer Font, and Rey Ordonez.

What is your opinion on the Kazmir trade? Did you hear any rumors about Leiter and Franco? Please let me know in the comments. And if you want to keep the conversation going join our Kiner’s Korner Facebook group. It’s the perfect place to share stories, photos, and of course, a little healthy Mets debate.