How a few former Mets, who were dealt by the awful teams they began with, are now making a contribution to postseason races.There was a lot of talk leading up to the MLB trade deadline in 2024 about several former New York Mets players being dealt. A few remained in their positions. Max Scherzer and David Robertson were mistakenly hung onto by the Texas Rangers. To keep Kevin Pillar, the Los Angeles Angels must have been pleading with the moon.
Four did wind up changing teams in the middle of the game. Since joining their new ball teams, how have they fared?
1) Mark Canha
Mark Canha left the Detroit Tigers to join the San Francisco Giants, his fourth team in two seasons. Canha’s frequent moves raise the question of whether the player itself is the issue. Not at this particular time. A popular athlete among teammates and supporters alike, he was put in an unusual position.
All was on the table for New York, so the Mets sold him to the Milwaukee Brewers last summer. The Tigers acquired his option for 2024 and moved him to them in the offseason. Beyond the mere arrival of the Rally Pimp on that early April day when the Mets sought to turn things around, a lot went wrong for the Tigers.
Canha didn’t do well with the Tigers. Reaching out.With 377 plate appearances, a slash line of 231/.337/.350 made him a potential trade prospect for teams looking to add a right-handed bat. The Giants have welcomed back everyone’s favorite gourmand, and he is hitting.314/.375/.343. His single extra-base hit to far has been a double. In his initial forty plate appearances, he has driven in three.
We would hate to support the opposition to Canha, who in his year and a half with the team adored New York and the supporters. We do, however, wish him a great deal of individual achievement and an abundance of team failure, since the Giants are closing in on the Mets.
2) Tommy Pham
Canha has spent the last two seasons with four different teams. Tommy Pham has also done so. Trade deadline transactions are nothing new to him. Traded in 2018, 2022, 2023, and now 2024, he was acquired by the overachieving St. Louis Cardinals, whose tenure may be coming to an end, from the humble Chicago White Sox. Pham, who has one of the worst run differentials in the National League, was added around the trade deadline in an attempt to spark a faltering offense.
The majority of his offensive output has come from an early grand slam in his first game back with the Cardinals. After 55 at-bats, he’s slashing.245/.327/.469 overall. There have also been two home runs and ten RBI. Both he and the Cardinals have been a little laid back lately. August 9th was the last time he participated in a game that they won.
Pham ought to have acclimated to defeat by now. The White Sox and Cardinals have a combined record of 26-59 in the games he has played. This comes out to a.306 winning percentage when rounded. It is superior to the White Sox’s current.238 batting average. It’s not better than any other baseball team.
3) Amed Rosario
The inadequate Amed Rosario. He moved from the unexpectedly dysfunctional Tampa Bay Rays to the fiercely competitive Los Angeles Dodgers. For the former Mets infielder, it was his second straight trade deadline that resulted in Hollywood. After his incredibly successful tenure with the Rays this season that included a slash line of.307/.331/.417 and several games at multiple positions, one would think the Dodgers might find a place for him. Before the club DFA’d him last week to make place for Mookie Betts, he was 3 for 11 with 2 RBI.
Too bad about a valiant comeback.
The Cincinnati Reds formally claimed Rosario off waivers on Sunday. With so many position players on their roster already, the Mets never gave him any thought. In almost any case, his defensive prowess would disqualify him from consideration for the bench.
If the Mets don’t trade him as soon as the Dodgers did, we could get to see him when they face the Reds in September. Rosario will now have the opportunity to do something unusual. Could he have one of the greatest hitting averages in baseball while playing for three separate teams? He has a season batting average of over.300 because of his time with the Rays.
4) Justin Turner
To figure out when Justin Turner last played for the Mets, we had to delve a bit farther into the team’s past. He is known as the “one that got away” in the franchise’s annals, and the Mets had considered him as a free agent this past winter. Turner later signed a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, where in 348 plate appearances he had a slash line of.257/.351/.373, with 6 home runs and 31 RBI. For what the Blue Jays required from the DH position, it was insufficient. What J.D. Martinez has provided the Mets, we’ll take it happily.
Turner’s disappointing season in what may have been his final season was good enough for the Seattle Mariners to acquire him. Now that he’s mostly playing first base for the Mariners, things haven’t started off well.
Turner’s batting.196/.305/.275 through 59 plate appearances. With just ten hits, he has managed to drive in nine runs. It appears like the Mariners’ offensive trade deadline additions needed to be more ambitious. They have not only dominated the Mets but also faced great difficulty. The club just cannot hit, thus its pitching staff might be thrown away once more. Turner also has the same illness.
