Five years ago today, the Mets made a franchise-altering trade.

The year was 2012 and the Mets just finished off yet another disappointing season. It was the sixth season in a row in which they missed the playoffs and the fourth consecutive losing season they had experienced.

There was a glimmer of hope for the future in Matt Harvey who made his major-league debut, but there was not much else beyond himself and Zack Wheeler who was still in the minors.

The pitchers that the Mets would later discover success with in 2015 were not yet assembled.

Jacob deGrom was an afterthought who was nearly traded for backup catcher Kelly Shoppach, Steven Matz just began his minor league career after recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2010, and Noah Syndergaard was a Toronto Blue Jay.

Things began to change in the Mets favor on Dec. 17, 2012 when Sandy Alderson pulled the trigger on a trade that shipped the 2012 NL Cy Young winner and backup catchers Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas for prospects Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud, Wuilmer Becerra, and veteran backup catcher John Buck.

The crown jewel of the trade was d’Arnaud. The Mets knew neither Thole nor Nickeas were the future at catcher and d’Arnaud was considered the top catching prospect in baseball at the time.

“We viewed d’Arnaud, and I believe the industry views Travis, as the top catching prospect in the game,” Alderson said back in 2012. “Not just the top catching prospect, but the one who is closest to major league-ready if not now major league-ready.”

As smart as the trade looks in hindsight, not everyone was on board with it at the time. The Mets had intentions to compete in 2013 and this was giving the wrong message. While Alderson’s original plan at the beginning of the offseason was to lock up Dickey, other teams snapped him out of it.

“At some point, we had to wait and see exactly what the value might be,” said Alderson in 2012.

Five years gives us a lot of time to look back and reflect at how brilliant the trade was.

Dickey was never the same pitcher with the Blue Jays that he was with the Mets. In 94 games (91 starts) and three seasons with the Mets, Dickey went 39-28 with a 2.95 ERA, 1.150 WHIP, and 468 strikeouts in 616 2/3 innings.

In 131 games (130 starts) and four seasons with the Blue Jays, Dickey went 49-52 with a 4.05 ERA, 1.251 WHIP, and 602 strikeouts in 824 1/3 innings.

Dickey was not horrible, but he was not worth what the Blue Jays gave up for him.

Buck provided the Mets with a monster April in 2013, but that was just about it, Becerra has only made it as far as Single-A St. Lucie, d’Arnaud has never quite lived up to his expectations as a top catching prospect, but Syndergaard makes the deal among the best in franchise history.

In parts of three seasons, the 6-6, 240 lb, flame-thrower nicknamed Thor has made an impact in Queens.

Statistically speaking, Syndergaard has gone 24-18 with a 2.89 ERA, 2.60 FIP, 1.099 WHIP, 0.7 HR/9, 1.9 BB/9, and 10.3 SO/9 in 62 games (61 starts) and 364 innings.

He has already represented the Mets in an All-Star Game and has 26 playoff innings under his belt. His seven shutout innings in the 2016 National League Wild Card Game shows that he’s an asset for any Mets’ playoff teams to come in the near future.

If you take Syndergaard out of the deal, it can still be considered successful. D’Arnaud has produced well for the Mets at times while he has been healthy.

Furthermore, it allowed the Mets to save some money on a Dickey extension and gave other pitchers a chance to shine.

Who knows, maybe if Dickey was on the Mets in 2014, deGrom may have never gotten the chance he did?

Some of the moves that the Mets have made over the years have been frustrating. Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan are just two of the many names that are tough to bring up in conversations about Mets’ trades.

However, Dec. 17 can always be looked back at with happiness. No matter what the future holds for the three players still in the Mets organization from the trade, we know the Mets have already won.

If he stayed, Dickey would not likely have been on the team today and his production would not likely have outdone that of Syndergaard’s in 2015 when the Mets won the National League pennant.

Happy Dec. 17 Mets fans!