The Mets traded David Robertson to the Marlins last night for a pair of teenagers, infielder Marco Vargas and catcher Ronald Hernandez. Both have joined the Mets’ team in the Florida Complex League, and if we ever see them in the majors, fantastic.
Vargas, the younger of the prospects acquired for the 38-year-old Robertson, was born on May 14, 2005. That day, the Alabama Crimson Tide played the Arkansas Razorbacks at home in Tuscaloosa. Robertson did not pitch, because he had given up a couple of runs in relief in a loss the night before. The following day, with Vargas now in the world, some 1,100 miles away in Chihuahua, Mexico, Robertson pitched another couple of innings, this time holding the Razorbacks scoreless to close out Alabama’s second loss in the three-game series.
If you get traded for someone who was born in between your college pitching appearances, you’re doing something right, so congratulations and best of luck to Robertson the rest of the way. But he’s not the oldest Met to be traded.
The standard was initially set 60 years ago, when the Mets sent Gil Hodges, who’d just turned 39, to the Washington Senators for a suddenly-washed Jim Piersall. The Senators made Hodges their manager, Piersall was released in a couple of months, and the Mets eventually traded Bill Denehy and $100,000 to the Senators to get Hodges back to be their manager. That’s probably the best trade the Mets ever made.
The Hodges “record” lasted 30 years, until September 17, 1993, when the Mets sent the recently-turned-40 Frank Tanana to the Yankees for Kenny Greer, who struck ou two of the three batters he faced as a Met and recorded a win. Tanana went 0-2 in three starts for the Buck Showalter-managed Bronx Bombers.
If the Mets trade Justin Verlander, he’ll become the oldest player they’ve ever dealt… once again, 30 years after the last time this benchmark was set.
We Can Pod It Out 160: Something