Best Mets Offseason Acquisitions Since 2000
5. Johan Santana
In the 2007 offseason, Johan Santana was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the New York Mets. The Mets and Santana agreed to a six-year $137.5 million contract. In his first year with the team, he had the lowest ERA in baseball with a 16-7 record and 206 strikeouts. He also pitched a shutout on three day’s rest in the second to last game of the year with a bad knee. It was a crucial game for the team, and Santana didn’t disappoint. He had surgery on that knee three days later. In 2009, Santana didn’t pitch as much due to injury but he was still dominant. He went 13-9 with a 3.13 ERA in 25 games. He was by far the best pitcher in the rotation and a bright spot on a team that only won 70 games.
In 2010 Satana was still having problems with that left arm. He pitched in 29 games and had an 11-9 record with a 2.98 ERA. On September 14th, he underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. This was his second surgery in two years, and his third consecutive year getting injured.
Even though it seemed that age was catching up with him, Santana came back in 2012 after taking the year to rehab in 2011. 2012 wasn’t a great year for Santana statistically, but he still made history. On June 1st, he pitched the first no-hitter in New York Mets franchise history. He did it against the defending World Series champions, the St. Louis Cardinals. This was his final year as a Met and his final year in Major League baseball, but he went out with a bang. Mets fans will never forget that amazin’ June 1st night.
4. Billy Wagner
In the 2005 offseason, Billy Wagner signed a four-year $43 million deal with the Mets. In 2006, Wagner had 40 saves with a 2.24 ERA. Wagner was a big contributor to the team’s first division championship in 18 years. But he didn’t pitch well in the 2006 playoffs. He recorded three saves, but he lost one game and allowed six runs in the five and two-thirds innings that he pitched.
Wagner’s first half of the 2007 season was very good. He was successful in 17 out of 18 save chances, and he had a 1.94 ERA. He was perfect in July, every save was successful and he didn’t allow a run. His performance gave him a spot on the All-Star Team. The second half of 2007 wasn’t nearly as successful for Wagner, he had a 3.90 ERA and converted 13 out of 17 save chances. In September Wagner would fight through back spasms.
2008 was Wagner’s final full year with the team. He had a good first half of the season which earned him a spot on the All-Star Team for the second straight year. In September, the team announced that Wagner would need Tommy John surgery. This would be the end of his career as a Met, he only pitched 2 games in 2009 and officially left the team in August of 2009.
3. R.A. Dickey
In the 2009 offseason, the Mets signed R.A. Dickey to a minor league deal. They sent him to their Triple-A affiliate, and he pitched extremely well. He threw a one-hitter and put up solid numbers. As a result of that, the Mets called him up to the big leagues in May. Dickey’s 2010 season was the best year of his career up until that point. At 35 years old, he proved everyone wrong by posting a 2.84 ERA in 27 games.
The Mets were impressed with Dickey and signed him to a two-year deal in 2011. In the 2011 season, Dickey posted career bests in-game starts, innings pitched and strikeouts. The knuckleball was clearly working, and Dickey was starting to make a name for himself around the league. Dickey’s 2012 season was straight up dominant. With a 2.73 ERA and 230 strikeouts and back-to-back one-hitters, he seemed to be the best pitcher in baseball.
To add to his list of accomplishments that year, he joined the All-Star team in July and he earned his 20th win in September. Following the season he won the NL Cy Young Award, becoming the first knuckleballer to do so. Despite this great season, the Mets traded Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2012 offseason for three prospects and veteran catcher John Buck. This was a great trade for the Mets, as it led to an ace on their pitching staff.
2. Noah Syndergaard
In the 2012 offseason, Noah Syndergaard was involved in a trade that sent him to the Mets, with reigning NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey heading to the Blue Jays. In his first season as a Met, he was ranked as the team’s third-best prospect behind Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud, who was also in that trade.
By 2014, Syndergaard was already with the Mets Triple-A affiliate and he was getting better and better. He was not a part of the September call-ups in 2014, but he didn’t have to wait too much longer to become a big leaguer. In May of 2015, Noah Syndergaard made his Major League debut vs the Chicago Cubs. Even though the Mets lost the game and Syndergaard didn’t pitch that well, Mets fans could still see the talent that Noah had. In the 2015 regular season, Syndergaard went 9-7 with a 3.24 ERA in 24 games.
In 2015, the Mets made the postseason for the first time in nine years. Syndergaard’s first appearance in the postseason came in Game Two of the NLDS vs the Los Angeles Dodgers. He lost that game as the Dodgers won 5-2, but he still pitched solid going six and one-third innings pitched and allowing three runs. In Game 5, he made his first Major League relief appearance. Noah pitched a scoreless seventh inning which helped the team win and they advanced to the NLCS. He started Game 2 of the NLCS and got the victory. He gave up three hits, one run, and one walk while striking out nine in five and two-thirds innings pitched. The Mets went on to go to the World Series, and Noah pitched in Game 3. He pitched well and helped the team get their only win in the series.
In 2016, Syndergaard certainly did not have a sophomore slump. He pitched much better than he did in 2015, going 14-9 with a 2.60 ERA in 31 games. He made the All-Star team as well. In 2016, the Mets played a wild card game against the San Francisco Giants and Noah took the hill. He pitched seven shutout innings, however, the Mets still lost the game. 2017 was Syndergaard’s first rough year as a Met. He only pitched in seven games due to multiple injuries. When he did pitch, he didn’t pitch badly as his ERA was still under three. In 2018 Syndergaard knew he had to prove that he could be dominant again. In 2018, he still dealt with a few injuries but he certainly had a better year than 2017. Syndergaard pitched in 25 games and went 13-4 with a 3.03 ERA.
Even though 2019 wasn’t as good of a year for Syndergaard as other years were, he stayed off of the injured list and was consistent in the rotation. In 32 games, he went 10-8 with a 4.28 ERA. However, in March of 2020, he was diagnosed with a torn UCL in his right elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery which kept him out of the 2020 season. He’s expected to return to the rotation in June of 2021.
1. Carlos Beltran
Following the 2004 season, Carlos Beltran became a free agent. The Mets signed him to a seven-year $119 million contract in the offseason, which was the largest contract in franchise history at the time. Despite dealing with some injuries in the 2005 season, Beltran had a solid year posting a .266 batting average with 78 RBIs and 16 home runs. The Mets didn’t make the playoffs that season, but they were clearly improving. 2006 was a much better season for Beltran. With a .275 batting average and 116 RBIs, he made the All-Star team for the second straight season and also won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. The Mets clinched the division in 2006 and even though Beltran had a solid postseason, it all came crashing down when he struck out with the bases loaded to end the season.
In 2007 Beltran had another good season, making the All-Star team for the third straight year and winning the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards for the second straight season. He had a .276 batting average with 112 RBIs and 33 home runs. Unfortunately, the Mets had a historic collapse in 2007 and didn’t make the postseason despite having 88 wins.
In 2008 Beltran won the Gold Glove award again and put up a line of .284/.376/.500. Despite Beltran’s good year, the Mets collapsed again missing out on the playoffs. Beltran started having injury issues in 2009, playing in only 81 games. He still hit well, but his fielding was slowly declining. Since Beltran’s defense was great for so many years, this was concerning. In the offseason, Carlos had surgery on his knee. The Mets said the surgery wasn’t done with their consent, which caused problems between the team and Beltran.
In 2010 Beltran only played in 64 games because of that knee injury. This was his worst year as a Met. In 2011 the Mets moved Beltran to right field hoping his defense would improve. He seemed to be improving from his subpar 2010 performance, as he put up a line of .289/.391/.513 in 98 games. In July of 2011, Beltran waived his no-trade clause and the Mets traded him to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for pitching prospect Zack Wheeler.
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