Thankfully for the Mets, one deadline trade may soon overshadow SF Giants fateful move

In 2011, the SF Giants made a fateful move in trading Zack Wheeler to the New York Mets in what has become an example to front offices of what not to do at the trade deadline. In an odd twist, the Mets may now overshadow that move with a more recent example involving sending Pete Crow-Armstrong to the Chicago Cubs for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams.

Baseball has changed over the past 15 years. Front offices are more conservative, especially around the trade deadline. They are not acquiring players. They are acquiring value.

When they discuss adding a player on an expiring deal, there is a relatively low ceiling in terms of the value that can be added. That player might help his new team win one or two games down the stretch. That is often a best-case scenario.

Unfortunately, one or two wins do not cost that much, so teams will send a mid-level prospect in a good system in return. That Wheeler-for-Beltrán trade archetype is a thing of the past. Perhaps, one can make the argument that the Tarik Skubal trade is one very recent exception to the rule.

For the Giants, that Beltrán trade was defensible, even if the outcome became unfavorable over time. While Wheeler has turned into a borderline Hall of Famer, that was not necessarily the case with the Mets. His best years have come with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Giants were simply trying to reach the playoffs in 2011. They had an incredible rotation and a shutdown bullpen, so they would have been a tough team to beat. Of course, the offense did not produce much following the Buster Posey and Freddy Sánchez injuries.

They were not going to win games because of their offense. Their hope was that Beltrán could help them reach the playoffs, and then let the pitching staff take charge.

That did not turn out that way, as they fell short of reaching the playoffs. Beltán departed in free agency, and eventually Wheeler became a star.

For years, that has been the classic example of a dud trade for a team like the Giants at the trade deadline. However, a new case study has emerged, and the Mets are on the other side this time.

SF Giants may be able to thank New York Mets for overshadowing Zack Wheeler trade

In 2021, the Mets shipped Pete Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams. He was not quite as highly rated a prospect as Wheeler was, as there were questions about how his bat would translate in the upper minors.

The two-time NL All-Star has answered those and is now the frontrunner to earn the NL MVP Award this season. At just 24 years of age, there are a lot of prime years in front of him to continue building a stronger case to overshadow the Wheeler trade.

There might also be yet another from 2021. At the trade deadline, the A's shipped Jesús Luzardo to the Miami Marlins for Starling Marte, who was on an expiring contract. Luzardo has since been moved to the Philadelphia Phillies, but that looks like another recent trade deadline blunder. These moves both came in an era when front offices were more conservative about avoiding the next Wheeler trade, too!

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