The Mets have plenty to regret from a miserable 2026 season, but Pete Crow-Armstrong has to sit near the top of the list. New York sold at the trade deadline, fired its manager, and has spent much of the year without much production from its stars because of injuries. Meanwhile, Crow-Armstrong is in Chicago and looking like the runaway NL MVP favorite.
That pain lands harder because the Mets were the team that sent Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs a few years ago in the Javier Baez deal. It’s the kind of move that looks bad in hindsight and looks even worse when the player in question turns into a star.
But New York isn’t the only club carrying that kind of scar. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale pointed out that the Dodgers and Guardians also made similar mistakes by moving away future MVP-caliber talent early in those players’ minor league careers.
“It’s pretty wild considering that the National League’s MVP and the top two AL MVP candidates were all traded early in their minor league careers,” Nightengale writes.
The Dodgers’ miss came with Yordan Alvarez, who was 19 at the time he was dealt for Josh Fields. Alvarez is mashing for the Astros this year and has a real shot at the AL Triple Crown.
Cleveland’s version was Junior Caminero, sent to the Rays for Tobias Myers. Caminero has become one of the game’s best power hitters, and that’s exactly the sort of bat the Guardians could use. Their offense is badly short on home runs, so losing that kind of pop hurts even more.
The contrast is stark. The Mets and Dodgers have the resources and star power to cushion the blow a little. Cleveland doesn’t have that luxury.
So while Mets fans have every reason to wince over the Crow-Armstrong deal, the story is bigger than one team’s bad day. The Dodgers let Alvarez get away.
The Guardians moved Caminero too soon. And all three clubs are now watching players they once had in hand climb into MVP conversations somewhere else.
In Other News...
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Howie Roses long-awaited celebration is now being pushed to the opening weekend of the 2027 season, a delay tied to ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations and, reportedly, his own preference. Still, it fits a broader pattern for the Mets, who have managed to create multiple calendar headaches around their feel-good moments, leaving fans to wonder why so many of the years best intentions keep arriving with some obvious complication attached. [Read more 🡒]
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The Mets are widely viewed as needing someone with experience and a steady hand, and Beltrans response only sharpened that conversation. He remains a beloved figure in the organization, but his uncertainty adds another layer to a search already tied to broader questions about fit, readiness and leadership. Even on a night meant to honor his place in franchise history, the discussion drifted back to the future and the challenge of finding the right person to manage it. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Are Still Waiting For These Offseason Trades To Pay Off
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But as 2026 unfolds, the return on those deals still has not arrived in the majors. Semien and Rodriguez have yet to provide the sort of impact the Mets were after, and the bonus pool space from the Gomez trade has not yet translated into any visible payoff either. That leaves these moves sitting in a holding pattern for now, with the real judgment on them likely coming only after the organization finally gets something tangible from one or more of the pieces it acquired. [Read more 🡒]