December 6, 1989 marked a major change for the New York Mets. Closers were becoming more important in the game than ever before with the role evolving into a one-man job, one-inning at a time style. The days of Jesse Orosco and his three out saves were fading. The ninth inning was becoming more specialized.
A year after saving 24 games for the Mets, the team decided to trade him to the Cincinnati Reds for their closer, John Franco. It was a rare win-win deal involving two all-time greats to take on the role as the last line of defense for a major league team.
Who actually won the John Franco-Randy Myers trade?
Franco played parts of 14 seasons with the Mets, being named an All-Star only once in year one in 1990. Joining him to represent the National League that same season was none other than Myers. He’d have multiple more All-Star appearances in his career, but after 1991, Myers was traded to the San Diego Padres. He fit the mold as a typical journeyman reliever but one with a whole lot of talent.
By this viewpoint, the Mets appear to have won with one exception: Cincinnati won the 1990 championship. Myers pitched 8.2 scoreless innings in the playoffs. Franco’s Mets wouldn’t get to the playoffs until 1999 when he had already been moved into a setup role.
Not all trades are created or graded equally. The Mets got many more years from Franco with the Reds getting a limited (but fantastic) first year out of Myers.
The Reds have no one to blame but themselves for why Myers wasn’t even better for them. Rob Dibble became their closer in 1991 and Myers dabbled with starting games. He yielded similar results in both roles, but was moved back to becoming a closer when he joined the Padres.
Myers saved 347 games in his career. Franco had 424. The 771 between the two is an impressive total to be involved in one trade.
An oddly evenly matched trade with two all-time greats who helped to further develop a role we see as commonplace in the sport, the only thing missing for the Mets is the World Series. For the Reds, it’s a decade of love for a player who is still as locked in as anyone with the franchise that’s missing.