Almost A Met: Jose Cruz Jr.
David Wright almost traded for WHO?!
OK, I know I promised a Barry Zito newsletter today. But I had a thought in the middle of the night on Wednesday: I’m going to David Wright’s number retirement game on Saturday, so I should write about an alternate universe where that isn’t happening.
Yes, the Mets almost traded David Wright. It’s tough to even imagine.
No disrespect to the player he was almost traded for, but this almost-trade would have gone down as one of the worst in the Mets history.
I’ll be there celebrating The Captain on Saturday, so if any of you are there please reach out on Twitter or Bluesky and we can chat and say hello. Hope to see some of you there.
One last thing: If you have any Mets fans in your life or you are new here, (Thanks for reading!) please consider subscribing to the newsletter. I made it easy for you, just click the button below.
Let’s get into it.
Andrew
Wait — David Wright was almost traded for Jose Cruz Jr.?!
3B David Wright will always be remembered as one of the greatest Mets of all time, and his number is being retired tomorrow.
Over the course of his Mets career he hit 242 HRs, had 970 RBIs, hit .296, and had a career OPS+ of 133. If injuries didn’t derail his career starting in 2015, it’s likely Wright would have been elected to the Hall of Fame.
He was the captain of the team, and the Amazin’s will honor his career tomorrow afternoon by formally retiring his number “5,” cementing him as one of the greatest players to wear orange and blue.
But what if his illustrious Mets career never happened? What if, instead, he was traded for OF Jose Cruz Jr.
The 2002 Mets wanted to salvage a season
The Mets drafted Wright with the 38th pick in the 2001 Draft.
Funny enough—and I post about this every single year—the reason the Mets got that pick was in compensation for losing SP Mike Hampton, who left the Mets for the (supposedly) better school systems in Colorado.
But why were they able to acquire Hampton in the first place? Because of their deferred payment deal with OF Bobby Bonilla. So every “Bobby Bonilla Day” we should really be saying “The Reason We Got David Wright Day.”
Anyway, after drafting Wright, the Mets sent him to the minor leagues. In 2002, he would end up hitting .266 in A-ball. The major league team, however, was hovering around .500 near the trade deadline.
This was significant because of the MASSIVE changes and investments GM Steve Phillips had made into the team ahead of the 2002 season. As we’ve covered in this newsletter, Phillips went out and made trades for 2B Roberto Alomar, 1B Mo Vaughn, and OF Jeromy Burnitz. He even went after more names to theoretically enhance the lineup.
With those kinds of changes, the Mets had some lofty expectations heading into the season. So, with a record around .500 (54-51 on July 30) around the trade deadline, Phillips seemingly felt the need to go for it and try and salvage the season.
One idea for upgrading the roster? OF Jose Cruz Jr., who was playing for the Toronto Blue Jays.
The David Wright for Jose Cruz Jr. deal that never was
At the time of the trade, Cruz Jr. was coming off what would become one of his best seasons. In 2001, he had 2.2 WAR, hit 34 HRs, knocked in 88 RBIs, stole 32 bases, and had an OPS+ of 119.
While he wasn’t matching those numbers in 2002, he still was solid-enough and would finish the season with a 1.9 WAR.
As the Mets tried to salvage their 2002 season, Phillips called (future Met Assistant GM) J.P. Ricciardi, then the GM of the Blue Jays, about the possibility of acquiring Cruz Jr. In fact, someone who was in the room confirmed it.
Keith Law, one of the best prospect reporters out there, worked for the Blue Jays at the time. He shed some light into the discussions in a chat with ESPN readers way back in 2009.
“I've been asked about that trade rumor for three years but never answered while Ricciardi was still GM. The offer was made, though; I was there when the call came in. It was the first time I'd heard of Wright, since I wasn't with Toronto in 2001 nor had I followed the draft when Wright was in it,” Law wrote.
The reaction from Ricciardi when receiving that trade proposal?
“I'm not trading a major league player for some guy in the Sally League,” according to Law.
‘Can you imagine how things might be different today’
While there is no author for the Wayback Machine page, I am going to assume Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com (the OG Mets blog, let’s be real), summed up the situation perfectly in light of Law’s comments.
“…Look, Phillips did a terrific job building up the Mets in the late 90s… but, wow, with his back to the wall and his job on the line, he absolutely murdered the roster,” he wrote as a personal analysis after summing up Law’s chat with readers. “Thankfully, the Jays and J.P. Ricciardi allowed the Mets to develop Wright… Man, could you imagine how things might be different today, for better or worse, but certainly different, without Wright in the mix…”
With that deal done, the Mets seemingly looked to bolster other areas of their roster. They ended up trading for SP John Thomson and RP Steve Reed in two different deals. They traded away OF Jay Payton for Thompson, and included OF Jason Bay, then a prospect and a future Met once again, in the deal for Reed and another right-handed pitcher.
Those trades didn’t change the trajectory of the team. The 2002 Mets would struggle post trade deadline and ultimately finish with a 75-86 record. It was one of the most disappointing seasons in the team’s history.
What happened next?
Cruz Jr. went on to play for six more seasons, but never matched his 2001 season. He was eventually let go by Toronto and ended up playing with the San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Houston Astros.
Adding him to an already disappointing 2002 Mets team would have been a disaster.
It only would have been made worse by who they traded to get him.
What more is there to say about Wright’s career as a Met? As we mentioned at the beginning of the newsletter, he is one of the best Mets to ever wear the uniform.
Besides the stats we highlighted above, Wright was a seven-time All Star, nabbed two Gold Glove Awards, two Silver Slugger Awards, was considered for National League MVP a few times.
We got to see Wright lead us through good years, bad years, and ugly years. He hit a home run during the 2015 World Series. Who can forget him returning to the lineup “with thunder” amid the 2015 pennant race? Despite his injuries, he still has a decent case for Hall of Fame consideration.
I was at his final game as a Met and it was among the most emotional I’ve been at a baseball game. He truly is one of the best Mets ever. I’m sure I’ll get emotional again tomorrow afternoon.
Thankfully, this trade never happened. It would have been clearly marked as one of the worst trades in Mets history (and there have been a lot).
Instead, we get to celebrate and honor Wright this weekend.
P.S. — I’ll be there on Saturday! Hit me up on Bluesky or Twitter if you are at the game and wanna chat!
❓ Would you have traded David Wright for Jose Cruz Jr.?
Would you have made this deal?
(Y’all, I really hope the answer is unanimous this week…..)
Next newsletter we’ll share the results of the poll! So stay tuned.
Last newsletter’s results: 75% of Almost A Met readers said they would have signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year $325 million contract. 25% said they wouldn’t have.
⚾ Mets news you need to know
Mitch Voit, the Mets top draft pick earlier this week, went viral for a very funny celebration after hitting a triple in a college game. Check it out. (New York Post)
The Mets have three players among the top 20 best-selling jerseys in the MLB: Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso. (@DPLennon/X)
of asks: “How is the trade market shaping up for the Mets?” (Just Mets/Substack)
Take a listen to James Schiano and Marc Luino’s latest podcast (It has to do with the Mets festivities this weekend): Huge Mets LEAK & Second Half Season Predictions (Mets’d Up/YouTube)
👀 Next time on “Almost A Met”
I know. I know. I’ve promised SP Barry Zito for weeks now. Unless something wild happens, we’ll do Zito next week.
Got a suggestion for who you want us to feature in an upcoming newsletter? Shoot us an email at almostametnewsletter@gmail.com.