27
2012
This Date In Mets History: Mets Trade For Mo’ Heartache, Mo’ Misery, Mo’ Infamy
An article by 
I seriously expected to see a 1,000 word post on this from my buddy Ed Marcus at Real Dirty Mets, but be that as it may, MLB Trade Rumors does a nice job recapping the day we traded Kevin Appier for Mo Vaughn.
On this date in 2001, the Mets acquired first baseman Mo Vaughn from the Angels in exchange for right-hander Kevin Appier. Vaughn had missed the entire 2001 season with the Angels due to a ruptured tendon in his left arm, but General Manager Steve Phillips & Co. opted to roll the dice on the slugger anyway. The trade was meant to bring some power to the Mets’ lineup, but Vaughn’s injuries wound up making the deal one of the worst moves of Phillips’ tenure in New York.
The media got wind of the trade almost a week prior to its completion when sources told Tyler Kepner of the New York Times that Phillips, manager Bobby Valentine, and Assistant General Manager Omar Minaya traveled up to Massachusetts to watch Vaughn work out, which was unusual given that Vaughn was under contract with Anaheim. ”I understand it was very positive. I heard that they really liked what they saw,” said one source. That would presumably include Vaughn’s physical shape, despite the slugger’s reported increase from 245 pounds to 275 pounds in his first two seasons with the Halos.
Less than a week later, the Mets agreed to take on Vaughn and the roughly $50MM owed to him over the next three seasons. As part of the deal, the Mets got to defer some of the money paid to the first baseman while the Angels covered the $8MM he was still owed as part of his signing bonus. Meanwhile, they would also part with Appier, who was coming off of an impressive season in his first (and only) campaign in blue and orange. The right-hander posted a 3.57 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9, his best numbers since his time in Kansas City.
Of course what happened next would be nothing short of a disaster for the franchise financially as well as the toll it took on the team and the standings. Vaughn kept putting on the pounds and his poor knees just couldn’t handle all that excess girth. He did manage to bat .249 and slug 29 homers in 166 games for the Mets before succumbing to Whopperitis and suffering one too many Big Mac Attacks. He was eventually carted off the field in a Caterpillar.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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Ya, I love these “proven veteran moves”. They always work out and never cripple a team.
Yup….trading for Carlos Delgado, Keith Hernandez and Mike Piazza set this franchise back for decades !
It does help to be able to pick the good ones from the impending disasters…
It helps we had a good young core that was about to break out before the trade for Hernandez.
Keep in mind, the team was still being weighed down by Foster and Mex still couldn’t hit them into the playoffs.
You’re right, it’s better to go the pirates and royals way of having high draft picks and put hopes and dreams on them.. They usually work better for them right???
Well, if you are going to cry and complain that draft picks don’t guarantee anything (and also ignore the fact that no one said they do), I reserve the right to remind you that a free agent bust is far more damaging to a team.
Only proble is the BUST rate on Free Agents is less than 25% while the bust rate on Prospects is closer to 75%
How did you figure the bust rate on FA?
Also, again, you also have to figure that 1 free agent bust brings more problems than 3 prospect busts.
Simple…How many Free Agents were signed last year?
How many Busted? 4 – 10?
And no a FA bust isn’t as damaging especially since your getting an exchange rate of one Prospect per every two ALL Stars you traded away to get those kids.
Again, how did you figure that? Show me the free agents signed and what qualifies as a bust.
“And no a FA bust isn’t as damaging especially since your getting an exchange rate of one Prospect per every two ALL Stars you traded away to get those kids.”
What? Where on earth did you get that?
I’m talking about what a high priced free agent busting does to a team vs a highly touted prospect.
A prospect busts, you can just drop him and move on. Hell, according to you and others, if he turns out to be a quality role player, he is a “bust”. There is no more cost associated with him. He’s getting league minimum and can just be shuffled off.
Compare that with Jason Bay, Mo Vaughn, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Zito, etc etc Outside of the Yankees, how many teams can remain competitive having those players on their roster? Even the Yankees can’t just eat $50 million or so on the last few years of a deal.
You think I’m wrong the figure i out yourself and post it here to make me look foolish since that seems to be the only thing you love MORE than Sandy and Prospects.
So go knock yourself out there slappy!
I don’t feel the need toprove you wrong because most people know what you say is wrong before you even open your mouth!
“You think I’m wrong the figure i out yourself ”
So, you just pulled those numbers out of your butt?
“post it here to make me look foolish since that seems to be the only thing you love MORE than Sandy and Prospects.”
It isn’t that I love doing it, you just make it so easy.
“I don’t feel the need toprove you wrong”
I’m not asking you to prove me wrong. I’m asking you to back up your claim. That is not unreasonable. And don’t give the “wast my time” crap. If you already did it once, it should be easy to replicate.
“because most people know what you say is wrong before you even open your mouth!”
And then the mysterious “most people” get a free lesson. I’m generous like that.
I can’t give youa link to my spreadsheet so you will have to rely on your own research if you intend to prove me wrong….
SInce you seemingly have no evidence of your own it is safe to assume my research is done correctly….
have a nice Day!
1) You can link to a spread sheet. Welcome to the 21st Century
2) You don’t have to. Just tell me how you figured it out. tell me the formula and where you acquired the data. I can run it myself.
3) You made a claim, you back it up. When you actually have something solid to attempt to prove wrong, we’ll go into it.
You need a server to link to dumbass!
I took the number of all free agents signed and counted what percentage of them busted….
You can to if you try….
So go do it and come back when you have some facts!
Just admit you were full of it. Please don’t try and sell the idea you’ve never heard of Google Docs/Drive.
You never did it and are just throwing out crap to try and impress people. It is just sad.
I’m surprised as well Ed didn’t do a lot more to reference this date as well as far as Vaughn. That by the way is a great pic. It looks like a Harold’s Triple Decker.
He’s at the Carnegie Deli in NYC and that sandwich was custom made for him and not on the menu! They normally don’t make 4 pound sandwiches. lol
LoL, Ahh thx. I am also just noticing how thick those what appears to be slices of cheese are. Damn.
I love deli, I grew up with deli (the 2nd Ave Deli was 2 blocks away). But that sandwich jus makes me ill looking at it. And cheese on a deli sandwich. Oy.
My arteries hurt just looking at that thing.
Did it come with a Diet Coke?
I’m sure that sandwhich had NO chance. Gone in about 5 minutes.
Nice post. Very funny.
The ‘skinny’ on the Appier for Vaughn trade was that it was about ‘even’ for both Mets & Angels from a statistical basis. Both players had basically 1 good season for their ‘new’ teams. Appier was 14 -12 3.92 ERA / 32 Starts, 191 hits in 188 IP, with 1.35 WHIP in ’02. Mo batted .259 in ’02 with 26 HRS/ 72 RBI’s and an .805 OPS.
The wheels came off both players in ’03. i dunno Appier’s contract, but i’m guessing we took a bigger financial hit than the Angels on the trade. So yeah, bad trade.
Insurance paid for 90% of Mo’s remaining contract…so no…it wasnt that bad and probably worth the risk.
Mo disappointed
Burnitz disappointed
Alomar surprised everyone…
How the best 2B in our generation plays like Kaz Matsui on a bad day for 2 years straight still remains a mystery to me
Ok, i forgot that. Thanks. And Alomar baffled me also.
That was the reason insurance companies stopped insuring for more than 2 years at a time on contracts. If a team wants the full length of a deal like this covered, they have to self insure.
That sandwich is bigger than his head!
His jaw disconnects like a Snake…..
Two things I remember with him:
1. He would come out to run and stretch for 1 minute and go back to clubhouse.
2. Hit a monster HR to upper part of scoreboard.
This is a classic case of one mistake leading you into other….
This deal doesn’t happen if they keep Olerud instead of starting Zeile who was adequate but not good enough and made them think a guy like Vaughn could put them over the top.
What he did was put them on the bottom.
This is why I say when you have a guy who gets the job done just PAY HIM!
Worry about letting go and replacing the guys who are NOT getting it done.
Zeile wasn’t Olerud and while he had a bit more power and did contribute to the competing years then, He was still deemed a downgrade and that is what made them go after Vaughn who was even worse than Zeile was!
At Least Zeile didn’t hold us back. Nor cause issues for the Manager.
But none of it would have happened if we had just kept Olerud.
They wanted to keep Olerud, but he wanted to play in his hometown before he retired.
That’s what i recall.
They wanted to keep him but only offerred about the same money as Seattle did…
And thats where the CITY became a factor….Seattle with the home town advantage…
If they had upped the offer to beat Seattle’s then more than likely he stays…
He was torn enough and since the money was equal Hometown got the edge.
Both offers made were actually pay cuts as he was making 8 Mil per and both offerred a little less than 7 mil per
Ya, but why go into a bidding war when you know you are a guy’s second choice? Once you do that, you give every free agent out there more leverage. Every guy out there knows you have deeper pockets, so they are going to say some nonsense about another town’s school system or something to get you to throw more money at them.
Because maybe we win a WS if we do?
If Seattle wanted him that bad to drive the price up so be it but if we had simply offerred him a raise from the year before it’s likely he never even talks to Seattle at all!
You wouldn’t have said that in December of 1999. As terrific as Olerud was, that team was a mess at first glance. Most of the “experts” didn’t have them making the playoffs.
How many times are we going to over pay for guys that want to be somewhere else?
Are thse experts te same ones you use to justify and back up what Sandy has done?
Just Asking….
No, I use facts. Try it some time.
Well you keep citing Experts….
One day to say the experts thought we were not good when we were and then later will use the same experts to say the Kids Sandy got are CANT MISS….
If they were wrong once they are probably wrong twice…
No facts you have none and have present ZERO facts here….
You never DO bring them you just call people wrong without evidence and expect them to go looking for the facts you won’t look for yourself!
When did I use the term “can’t miss”? Why do you insist on lying to prove your point? Is it because you know it is too weak to stand up to scrutiny?
Ah so now you think d’Arnaud was not wrth trading a KNOW Cy Young for?
Or do you love the deal and pray tell, tell us WHY…Is it because he might be a great player or because these EXPERTS you rtely on so heavily to create your thoughts for you said so?
Why do you insist on creating false dichotomies? I see it as a risk worth taking. There is no such thing as a can’t miss prospect. Just like there are no can’t miss free agents.
What if the Mets had resigned Dickey and he had Oliver Perez like production? according to you, it happened once, so we should be crippled by the idea of it happening again. or does that line of thinking not apply to the actions you favor/
Every transaction comes with risk. What we need to do is figure out is how much risk can you take and where you can afford a loss if it goes wrong.
So is signing David Wright to a 8 year 138 mil contract a risk worth taking ?
From a purely baseball on the field standpoint? Probably not.
But that wasn’t just a a baseball deal.
i dont understand…
David Wright is paid to play baseball ….
what else could it be other than a baseball deal
Probably the same reason a 38 year old got $16 million this year and will get $17 million next year to play short stop across town.
My memory may be faulty, but i thought we ‘tried’ to keep Olerud but he wanted to play in Seattle?
Off Topic: @Mets
#Mets sign LHP Aaron Laffey to a minor league contract and invited him to major league Spring Training.
https://twitter.com/Mets/status/284364488327704577
Add him to the already 250 players to signa minor league contract.
Ugh… the downward spiral of 2000-2004 is still depressing. From A-Rod and Hampton to Appier and Trachsel, the death of Brian Cole, Fonzie’s back, Roger Cedeno, Mo, Burnitz and Shawn Estes, Art Howe, Jason Phillips, Kris Benson, Scott Kashmir.. It’s funny that nearly that a decade after that we are still in the same pathetic place. What’s the one constant in all this? That’s right, run for the hills. Mr. Jeff Wilpon is going to learn how to run a baseball team.
When it comes to the A-Roid thing, let’s be fair: Boras wanted such outlandish stuff and never gave the Mets the chance to make a proposal. Sure, Phillips had a hand in screwing the pooch, but still.
The worst part about letting Olerud walk is I remember Delgado was available at that time. Phillips was fixated on Griffey Jr. and Delgado re-upped with toronto. Just going from memory here.
Fred likes to spend money and Vaughn is one of the poster children along with Bay and Bonilla.
Please spend more money Fred and doom the organization to another 10 years of pathetic play. $850M over the last 6 years is not nearly enough money. Spend more more more. Why didnt you sign Martin to catch for the Mets this year? Fans would be happy with a guy making $6M-$7M even if his stats arent much better than Bucks. As long as a player costs a lot of money, that is what a big market team needs to do.
850M over the last 6 years has ruined the organization?
I guess the Yankees who have spent 1244.3 Mil in the last 6 years must be in last place then….
I mean spending is so detrimental to a franchise that team must have wound up in last place the last 20 years since thats how long they been spending that way….
I HATED this move with a passion. The only thing I found humorous about this whole thing was that Vaughn called the Halos “a sinking ship” when they actually won it all after he left.
Vaughn wasnt the best acuisition for the Mets but he sure is a hell of a GREAT GUY!!!! And did more in one year than Jason Bay has done in his entire tenure as a Met.
Not to mention Big Mo Vaughn is still helping out New York to this very day with housing etc
Yup !
Alex68,
Welcome Back! I nearly never agree with you but I always find your posts at least entertaining.
On Mo,
It’s not that big of a deal but I thought insurance only paid for the final year of his contract?
Sloars, thanks… You don’t have to agree, just admit i am right about everything i have said the past 3 years…
Ha! You sound like my wife! BTW, I was not a fan of this trade at all. Mo just struck me as a guy who would fall apart after his big pay day and that’s what he did.
Lmao, well to be fair, i stole that catchy phrase from my wife… At the time i was like what just happened, but i came to realize she’s always right so i don’t even bother anymore Lol.
And about the trade, the mets struck out with pretty much everyone they went after that offseason and needed help offensively, this trade was done trying to help the team but it backfire. But at least phillips TRIED to improve the team, unlike some others GM who don’t even try and are just sitting on his hands signing all kinds of rejects to see which one out of the 50 he brings in pans out so he can then be praise for his “Finding” of an undervalued player..
“TRYING” gets you NOTHING!!! I believe there is a plan in place and part of it is certainly regaining fiscal stability (I would say that is pretty much close to being done). Another part is building with a core of young players that come with cost certainty and then adding key FA’s once these players are at the major league level. The FA’s will not be huge ticket guys (at least I hope not. Yes I want the core of my team to be players that either came up with us or are young enough to build around). I believe with the surplus of arms we have in the minors, we will soon be dealling from a position of strength when it comes to trades.
Look, I’ve seen exactly one championship in my lifetime as a Mets’ fan, so I’m not bailing on them. I would like a team build from within that has a chance to contend every year because the pipeline is filled with quality prospects that we can then add some veterans around to help round the team out. That is what I believe is being done. Just b ecause he’s not running around and jumping in front of every camara or always in the clubhouse and talking to anyone who will listen doesn’t mean he isn’t working his plan. I’m no naive enough to think this plan is 100 % unfailable or that he hasn’t made mistakes (I agree he should have traded Reyes and gotten more for him but they were in a tough place financially and he was one of the very few attractions we had). But at least something is being put in place for the long term.
Sloat, Here is the problem…
If getting to fiscal stability means David Wright is the only star player you can afford then while the word stable is being used it is used in the same way as a patient is “Stablized but in Critical Condition”. He’s stable but hardly healthy.
And while no one here has a problem with trying to build a young CORE, most don’t feel you have to trot a bunch of placeholders onto the field for the 4-5 years it takes to build a core and pretty much pass on 4 or 5 years of baseball.
People knock Omar for signing who he did, but look at who he signed and what he DID have in the Minors and you see how spending while you build is supposed to work.
Traded for Delgado which was as much a SPEND as a Trade as far as payroll goes and Drafted Ike who if Delgado doesn’t get hurt the final year comes in to replace him cheaply the following year. Castillo expired around the time Tejada would be ready. Harvey right around the time Santana is about to come off the books. Pagan right around the time Beltran would expire.
Is that not an example of what people mean when they say Building a Farm that can continually sustain the MLB roster every year so you can focus your spending on the feew pieces you do not have an option for?
The issue here is that some are calling the GOAL the PLAN and those are two different things entirely. the GOAL is the finish line but the PLAN is the projected moves to get there and many do not feel this PLAN will get us to this promised land. So we seem to be wasting 4-5 seasons for nothing. And hope aside lets face facts we got NOTHING to show for it at this point.
And if they do ever get to this “Ready To Buy” point people seem to want to wait for the issue is it’s too late by then, there is never enough talent to buy at the TIME, and for every hole you can’t fill when your ready is a year of wasting ALL that talent you collected that IS ready! So you will be pushed to sign Jason Bay’s and Oliver Perez’ of the world that Omar did when he was a year or two short on his Minor League Rebuild being able to come up and fill the holes they had. Ike was about two years too late to take over for Delgado
Is signing a big name free agent a dumb thing? No, but it’s no more damaging than signing scrubs to fill out your roster. Placing lesser players out there hurts ALL your players, Thier numbers are hurt, and as a result thier value is hurt so when it comes time to make a trade for somthing you have to overpay to get it.
We seem to be trying to find lightning in a bottle in cheap crap and hope it shows to have an average year and then SELL HIGH on them….But they are STILL just AVERAGE at their best.
If your going to play scrap heap players it would be better to sign none of them, take the money and buy fewer merely AVERAGE players and fill in with AAAA Kids who can do no worse than a MLB reject at half the price.
AT least if they succeed you still own them!
You should be able to both build the Minors and put out a competitive MLB team. Nothing about spending hurts your ability to build the farm and if do your job correctly that farm will make that signing a good trade chip at the end of the contract to get more kids.
We all agree what the goal is…The problem is some are calling the goal a plan while others look at what is being done and see the plan will never achieve the goal!
We talk about Wheeler and d’Arnaud and say future well the future is this coming July!
Which means next year SHOULD BE the year everyone keeps saying is the year to start buying around these kids….
Well if next year is a buy year then nothing about buying this year was going to kill us in fact there was a dearth of OF talent available this year that won’t be there next year
That means a year and a half of those kids being wasted not to mention a year of the guys we DO like who are young and already here…
And that is the issue I and many others have with this build from within of Sandy’s Plan
Most think we aren’t there yet…and I say we been there for two years now and still have yet to act on what everyone thinks is the next part of the plan.
nats didn’t wait for Strausburg to come up before they started signing guys like Werth who despite what he gets paid is still a big part of thier winning.
And the fiscal stability we might have next year AT BEST gets you one big star player…
Sorry thats not fiscal stability it is just hanging on by your teeth.
Maybe if every move they make did not HURT attendance they actually WOULD get fiscally stable without the Life Support monitoring we still need today.
So far the only plan I see at work is taking shots in the dark and hoping something good happens…
The PLAN to spend seems to be waiting for SUCCESS to happen before you work towards it, well if you don’t work towards success it’s not likely to come.
We are Waiting for the heavens to open up and say BUY YOUNG GM!
And you have a better shot of God buying season tickets than you do of him telling you when to get off your duff and try!
fat Mo vaughn – ate himself out of baseball. I always wondered why the Mets didn’t just void the contract – I mean, come on – the one thing a baseball player has to do besides show up is to stay in some semblance of shape. Mo just got fatter and fatter until his poor knees gave way.
He did not honor his side of the contract and it would have made for a great court case.
Up there with Bonilla and now Bay as the worst FA signing.
[...] case you missed it, Joe D of Metsmerized recently dug up this great photo of Mo Vaughn, while memorializing the Vaughn-Appier debacle. I believe the photo was taken sometime before Mo famously ate second base, having mistaken it for [...]