After making two deals in recent days in which they acquired useful, but secondary, players, the Mets went all in on Wednesday night, acquiring Milwaukee’s Carlos Gomez, who was originally signed by the Mets when he was a teenager, was traded away in a deal that brought Johan Santana to New York and in recent years has emerged as one of the better center fielders in baseball.
To acquire Gomez, the Mets gave up two key young players — Zack Wheeler, the highly rated right-handed pitcher who is now recuperating from Tommy John surgery and was expected to rejoin the Mets’ rotation next season; and Wilmer Flores, who has spent much of the season as the starting shortstop, displaying impressive power for a middle infielder but also playing inconsistent defense.