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On July 30, 2004 the Mets made two trades that would greatly impact the team both in the short and potentially long-term. Both trades involved young pitchers – one left the Mets and one came to the Mets. The one that left is Scott Kazmir – and I think we all know the details of that trade. The other pitcher, the one that came to the Mets, was Kris Benson.
Benson was acquired along with Jeff Keppinger from the Pirates for Ty Wigginton, Jose Bautista, and Matt Peterson. Benson never really blossomed into anything with the Mets, going 14-12 over a year and a half that was plagued by injury and controversy (who can forget Anna in the Christmas outfit). Keppinger never really found his place with the Mets, only appearing in 33 games for them in 2004 before being traded to Kansas City.
The players the Mets gave up didn’t really amount to much either. Wigginton is on his 3rd team and has become a serviceable utility player. Bautista is still in Pittsburgh, which in itself says a lot. Peterson has never moved past AA.
So it seems that this trade was a lot of nothing – and just looking at it by itself I would agree. However if you look at the “trade tree” – the deals that were made with these players down the line – the impact is a lot greater.
After Benson failed with the Mets, he was subsequently traded to Baltimore for a promising young fireballer Jorge Julio. To complete the deal the Orioles also threw in a young minor leaguer named John Maine. Julio was traded just a few months later for El Duque.
So on the day the Mets traded away Scott Kazmir, they also began the process where they would eventually acquire one of the current cornerstones of their staff.
