Trade Tracker Thursday: Texas Rangers. Mr. Perfect, The Toddfather, and The Man who Punched out his Manager!

Whether they are exchanging Cy Young winners or participating in chaotic 4-team blockbusters, the Mets and Texas Rangers have a long history as trade partners - even though the Mets rarely seem to come out ahead. Either a salary dump or a prospect haul, the Mets-Rangers pipeline remains one of the most fascinating inter-league relationships in baseball.

Some of the most well-loved and famous players might not have been involved in trades, but have played for both of these teams. Look at this list! Nolan Ryan, Carlos Beltran, Jacob deGrom, Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey, Kevin Elster, Doug Flynn, Buddy Harrelson, Rusty Staub, Del Unser, and Todd Zeile all played for both franchises! Add Jon Matlack, Roger McDowell, and Claudell Washington! I still haven't mentioned one player involved in a direct trade.

The most recent trade, Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien, is still too fresh to review. But, as of this writing, it's not looking very pretty for our Mets fandom at this time.

April 26, 1977. Mets get 3B Lenny Randle for INF Rick Auerbach.

Has anyone ever arrived as a Met under more controversial circumstances than Leonard Shenoff Randle? He wasn't traded to the Mets; he was essentially exiled.

During spring training in 1977, Rangers first round draft choice Bump Wills (son of Dodgers MVP Maury Wills), was given the starting second base job over Randle. Randle approached Texas manager Frank Lucchesi before a game and punched him in the face three times! Randle insisted he was called a punk and attacked his manager. The then 49-year-old Lucchesi was hospitalized for a week with a fractured cheekbone, broken in three places. Randle was suspended 30 days with a fine of $10,000. Randle was traded to the Mets before the suspension was over. He was charged with assault and received a $1,000 fine. Lucchesi sued him for $200,000. It was settled out of court for $20,000.

Lenny started as a second baseman under Mets manager "Cobra" Joe Frazier, but as third baseman Roy Staiger showed his lack of hitting skill could find him a place on the 2026 team, new Mets Manager, Joe Torre moved Lenny to third as soon as the future Hall of Famer took over. Torre was the only player-manager in Mets history. (They should have given Terry Collins a Major League at-bat!).

In a game I attented, Randle hit a game winning home run in the bottom of the 17th off Will McEnaney of the Expos on July 9. A few days later, he was at the plate waiting for a pitch from Chicago's Ray Burris. Randle never saw it , as the lights went out in New York City for over 24 hours. The Mets drove their cars to the outfield to try and give the fans some light so they can leave safely.

In the year of the Midnight Massacre (for you youngsters, it was the night the Mets traded Seaver and Kingman), Randle became the bright spot of the season. He hit .304 with 33 stolen bases and 156 hits. He had a tremendous year fielding at third, diving all over the place with a handkerchief jutting out of his back pocket. Lenny still holds the Met record for caught stealing with 21. That's a ton with only 33 successful swipes.

TEACHER SAYS A. Some bias here, as Lenny was a favorite of this 13-year-old Met fan. But he gave the Shea faithful some excitement in a sad season.

April 1, 1982. Mets get pitchers Ron Darling and Walt Terrell for OF Lee Mazzilli.

The Mets traded their most popular player for two minor leaguers. Bad trade? It simply led to the Mets winning the World Series! With enormous help from the returning Maz, whose two pinch hits helped save them in Games 6 and 7.

Darling is considered one of the most cerebral figures in baseball. Yale's finest was the cornerstone of the 1980's Mets pitching staff, playing Gehrig to Doc Gooden's Ruth. Darling is the only Mets pitcher to win a Gold Glove Award, winning in 1989. Greg Madux then proceeded to win the next 18 of 19 awards! (Who was the only pitcher to win one during that streak? Former Met Mike Hampton, who was with Atlanta when he won it in 2003. Darling is a Mets Hall of Famer. He has 99 wins with the team and a 3.50 ERA. From 1984 to 1988 he had records of 12-9, 16-6, 15-6, 12-8, and 17-9. He kept winning and rarely losing. His innings high was 248 in 1985. League leaders today barely scratch 200. The Met who did modeling was dubbed "Mr. Perfect" and Keith still says "Mr. P" at times.

On July 4th, 1985, Darling made his only relief appearance in the marathon 19-inning 16-13 Mets win. Darling finished the game in which 13 runs were scored in extra innngs! Of the 14 hurlers in that game, 12 gave up runs! Darling gave up two unearned in the 19th, but held on to strike out the Ruthian, Judgian, Kingmanian Rick Camp.

Darling was terrific in the 86 World Series. He was the losing pitcher in Game 1 (Yes, guess who was there), although he gave up only one unearned run in 7 innings. He pitched 7 shutout innings in Game 4 and was the winning pitcher. The Mets were on their way! Game 7 didn't go as well for him, but read his book about Game 7 (Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life).

As you know, he has been a staple on Mets broadcasts for 21 years.

Walt Terrell pitched two solid years for the Mets before he was traded for Howard Johnson. Terrell's claim to fame was hitting two home runs in one game. The only other Mets pitcher to do that was Noah Syndergaard. Sorry, Bartolo only hit one.

Lee Mazzilli will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame later this season. The son of a welterweight boxer in Brooklyn was a champion speed skater in his youth. Maz used the basket catch in centerfield where he had his best season in 1979, with 181 hits, 79 runs scored, 93 walks and only 74 strikeouts. His All-Star Game heroics are part of history. His opposite field home run off Jim Kern tied the game in the 8th, and his bases loaded walk off Yankee rival Ron Guidry (surely one of the best pitchers at the time), gave the NL a lead they would hold when the game still really meant something. He is still one of only three Mets to homer in the game (Wright, Alonso) and one of only two to have more than one RBI in an All-Star game (with Alonso).

The Mets actually tried to get Maz from Pittsburgh at the start of 1986, offering Ray Knight! Phew, glad the Bucs turned that down. After Maz was released in July of 1986, the Mets signed him and released George Foster.

Around town, Maz later acted off-Broadway in a production of "Tony and Tina's Wedding", owned a bar on the Upper West Side "Lee Mazzilli's Sports Cafe", and married Dani Folquet, at the time a poular host of the local show "PM Magazine."

TEACHER SAYS A+. One of GM Frank Cashen's many winning deals. No way they win in 1986 without Darling, HoJo, and the pinch hitting specialty of Lee Mazzilli.

August 12, 1979. Mets get RHP Ed Lynch and 1B Mike Jorgensen for 1B Willie Montanez.

In 1978, Montanez provided the Mets with some pop, hitting 17 homers and driving in 96. However, it was his flashy fielding around the bag and stutter steps circling the bases on homers that made the fans fall in love with the "hot dog." His act can wear thin, as his 9 teams in 14 years prove. The Mets received an interesting package from Texas. The 6 foot 6 inch Lynch bounced up and down before getting a full opportunity to start in 1983. He won 10, 9, and 10 games in the next 3 years. Like a kid kicked out of his house on his birthday, Lynch was traded to the Cubs after one appearance as a Met in 1986. Good enough for a ring, but not for participation.

Lynch eventually became the GM of the Cubs, so the trade turned out pretty well for him. He is also known as one of Keith Hernandez's best friends, appearing at Keith's number retirement. Maybe Lynch is the Forrest Gump of baseball!

Jorgensen played in the majors for 17 years, winning a Gold Glove at first for Montreal in 1973. Jorgy played parts of three years with the Mets before he was traded in the Rusty Staub deal. Jorgensen's return to Shea lasted almost 4 more years. Maybe Jorgensen's Mets highlight was hitting a walk-off Grand Slam against the Dodgers on June 11, 1980 (my 16th birthday). Who did the Dodgers walk intentionally to get to Mike? Steve Henderson. Dodger reliever Rick Sutcliffe gave up the slam. Craig Swan pitched all 10 innings for the win. Can you imagine pitching 10 innings? I can't imagine 7 today!

TEACHER SAYS B. The Mets got value for their two players. The hot dog was finished, although he hung around until 1983.

August 31, 2020. Mets get 3B Todd Frazier for pitcher Ryder Ryan.

Two-time All-Star, "The Toddfather" , was a New Jersey native who played another Jersey native, Frank Sinatra, every time he came to the plate. In 2015, he won the Home Run Derby in Cincinnati, becoming the first hometown player to win the derby in 25 years since Ryne Sandberg did it in Chicago.

This trade marked the second stint Todd had with the Mets, after signing as a free agent in 2018. Frazier was an underrated player who played hard every game. He had a total of 218 homers, including a career high 40 in 2016. He was a key player on the 2019 Mets. Although they did not make the post season, their 86 wins that year was a 9 game improvement. In August, they had a miraculous stretch of winning 15 out of 16. In addition to Frazier's 21 homers and 67 RBI, the squad featured Pete Alonso (53, 120), Wilson Ramos (73 RBI), Amed Rosario (15, 72), JD Davis (.307)and Michael Conforto (33, 92). How would you like bats like that in 2026?

TEACHER SAYS C. Frazier didn't do much in his 45 game encore.

July 30, 2023. Mets get LuisAngel Acuna for RHP Max Scherzer.

Future Hall of Famer Scherzer didn't pitch horribly in his Mets stint, he just wasn't the Max Scherzer Steve Cohen thought he was getting for $43 million a year. He went 11-5 and 9-4 for the Mets, but when they really needed him, the 37 year old was nowhere to be found. In the last week of 2022 when the Mets had to win one of three vs Atlanta, they were swept. Max gave up 4 runs in 5.2 innings, Nine hits and two homers during those few innings is not what Mad Max would normally do. In their first Wild Card game vs San Diego, Max was pounded for 7 runs in 4.2 innings, giving up an incredible 4 homers.

Acuna showed glimpses in his Mets tenure, especially in a 14 game tryout in 2024. He hit .308 with 3 homers, but those proportions don't seem part of his game anymore. He was traded for Luis Robert Jr (Lou Bob). Acuna is off to a .196 start with only 4 RBI (Numbers that Lindor might wish for!). It remains to be seen how this trade will eventually work out.

TEACHER SAYS C. If Robert becomes the 38 homer version of a few years ago, its an A.

Other Mets -Rangers trade names: Jeff Francoeur, Victor Diaz, Scott Erickson, Damon Buford, Jim Kern, Doug Flynn, Dock Ellis, Mike Bruhert, Bob Myrick, George Stone, and Gene Clines.

Do you agree or disagree with choosing these trades? Should the Mets have kept Nimmo? Let us know in the comment section.