Pete Crow-Armstrong is headed to his second All-Star Game in as many seasons, and the Cubs are getting the kind of player who can change a franchise’s outlook in a hurry. That reality has also brought fresh attention back to the deal that sent him from the Mets to Chicago five years ago.
Former Mets general manager Zack Scott revisited that trade recently and didn’t dodge the issue. Crow-Armstrong, then an injured but highly regarded prospect, went to the Cubs in exchange for a few months of Javier Baez and right-hander Trevor Williams. Scott said the pressure to chase a short-term push helped push him into a move that cost New York a future star.
“Everyone still brings up the Pete Crow-Armstrong trade. He's a star, and I moved him.
Easy version: I misjudged him. I did. But the real miss is that we were in a pennant race, and the pull to "do something big" moved me off the discipline I'd usually hold.
A better scouting… pic.twitter.com/Mw8fQtXAtd
- Zack Scott (@ZackScottSports) July 8, 2026”
Baez gave the Mets a strong finish at the plate, hitting .299/.371/.515 and providing a jolt to the lineup. But the late-season story turned sour fast.
The team’s “thumbs down” episode with fans became a defining part of that stretch, and New York finished 20-37 from Aug. 1 on before missing the postseason entirely. Baez left in free agency that winter and signed with the Detroit Tigers on a deal that has not aged well.
Scott’s broader point was about how urgency can distort judgment. The Mets entered the All-Star break that season at 48-40, then collapsed to a 29-45 second half. In his view, the temptation to make a splash cost the organization its usual discipline.
That lesson matters now in Chicago, where plenty of fans want Jed Hoyer to swing big this summer. The Cubs’ rotation has been battered by injury after injury, and names like Tarik Skubal or Joe Ryan would fit the kind of headline-grabbing move that can energize a fan base.
But those kinds of trades would come at a steep price. The Cubs have talent, but they’ve also been wildly inconsistent, and pushing all the chips in for October is no small gamble. Hoyer also has to weigh the state of the farm system and the roster turnover that’s coming this winter.
So the question hanging over the front office is simple: chase the big swing, or keep the long view in focus while adding where it makes sense for the stretch run? The answer is coming soon enough.
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