With a new front office regime, a new manager behind the bench, the rise of young Mets’ talent like David Wright and Jose Reyes, and just one year removed from landing Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez in free agency, the Mets were looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2000.
In 2005, the Mets had a decent year, finishing the campaign with a 83-79 record. More importantly, there was a glimpse of hope and a foundation being set for a bright future. Only thing was, they had to bring in complementary pieces to what they already had in house.
The first acquisition in the 2005-06 offseason saw the Mets acquire Xavier Nady from the San Diego Padres in exchange for Mike Cameron. But nearly a week later, New York struck a deal that in the grand scheme of things, flies under the radar as a big win of a trade.
New York acquired first baseman Carlos Delgado for a trio of players that included Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit. The Mets were interested in Delgado the prior offseason when he was a free agent, but he ultimately signed a four-year deal with the Marlins. Regardless, a year later, they got their man.
The rest of that offseason saw the Mets sign closer Billy Wagner in free agency, acquire Paul Lo Duca in another trade with the Marlins, and acquired Orlando Hernandez at the beginning of the year.
The Mets were on their way to competing for the first time in over half a decade. That team, as any true Mets fan knows, had a plethora of stars.
Overall, Delgado put up 6.1 fWAR for the Mets in four seasons. He launched 104 home runs and placed in the MVP voting in both 2006 (12th) and 2008 (ninth).
Let’s take a trip in a time capsule to one of Delgado’s shining moments in a Mets uniform.
Growing up in that era and having the ’06 Mets be the first team in my baseball fandom that was really good, Delgado will always hold a sweet place in my heart.
And as a fellow lefty? That sweet swing was a thing of beauty.
LGM.
