Trading away an All-Star always carries a strange kind of whiplash. A player is in the middle of a season good enough to earn a trip to the Midsummer Classic, and then, not long after, he’s in a different uniform. For the Mets, that has happened only five times since 1992.
The most recent case came in 2011, when Carlos Beltran was the National League’s starting designated hitter one week and then headed to the San Francisco Giants soon after. New York got pitching prospect Zack Wheeler back in that deal.
Back in 2003, the Mets moved closer Armando Benitez to the New York Yankees for three prospects. Benitez had been an All-Star for the Mets that same season, and the transaction added another odd layer when the Yankees later dealt him to the Seattle Mariners in August.
In 2001, the Mets sent All-Star starter Rick Reed to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Matt Lawton. New York was looking for offense more than pitching and took the gamble of parting with a dependable, well-liked starter. Neither team ended up reaching the playoffs.
The 1995 season brought another All-Star trade, this time involving Bobby Bonilla. He was having one of his better years with the Mets, hitting .325 in 80 games, before New York shipped him to the Baltimore Orioles with a player to be named later in exchange for Alex Ochoa and Damon Buford.
The earliest example in this stretch came in 1992, and it was the biggest one. David Cone left the Mets for the Toronto Blue Jays in an August 27 trade that brought Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson back to New York. There’s not much argument about who came out ahead: Cone and the Blue Jays won the World Series.
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