I’m sure dozens of unconsummated trade proposals happen ever year that, if followed up on a few years later, would make people utterly sick. MVP candidates who could have been had for a song when they were kids, prospect-for-prospect deals that could have totally changed the face of the game if someone had actually pulled the trigger. People tend not to talk about those things too often, however, be it due to a failure of memory or a very human unwillingness to dwell on roads not taken.
But ESPN’s Keith Law remembers a doozy from back when he was J.P. Ricciardi’s assistant in Toronto. Would you believe the Mets offering up a young David Wright for a soon-to-be free agent Jose Cruz Jr.?
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. JP’s reaction was, “I’m not trading a major league player for some guy in the Sally League.” And that was pretty much that.
Now, to be fair, at the time the Blue Jays had Eric Hinske manning third base. He was 24, went on to win the Rookie of the Year award that year, and was generally expected to be The Man at the hot corner in Toronto for a long time. Wright was playing third for the Capital City Bombers, hitting .266 with minimal power. I have no clue how he was thought of then, but it’s not like he was getting the press of a can’t-miss-stud or anything. If the Mets were shopping him to Toronto, they were probably shopping him elsewhere too, and everyone else took a pass, so it’s not like we should pile on Ricciardi for this. Especially when there are so many better reasons to pile on.
Just an interesting insight into front office life. The kind of insight that, if Keith decides he doesn’t want to work in a front office again, would fit really nicely into a big book about front office life. Hint hint, Keith.
