Jeff Kent was involved in one of the worst trades in Met history, going to Cleveland as part of their ill-fated July 1996 deadline acquisition of Carlos Baerga.
The Mets failed to appreciate the signs of Baega’s decline while he was still an Indian and wound up seeing him perform horrendously in their uniform for 2 1/2 seasons. Baerga has been invoked a lot in recent days, as have Juan Samuel and Roberto Alomar. They were veteran star second baseman who tanked after being obtained by the Mets (Samuel as a center fielder).
The Mets are trying again to get it right, this time with Robinson Cano.