Carlos Gomez Remembers Night He Was Almost Traded To New York Mets

All-Star outfielder Carlos Gomez started his career with the Mets and, for a few hours back in 2015, he thought he was headed back.

Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

For a few hours in July of 2015, Carlos Gómez thought he was going back to the New York Mets.

Gómez recounted the craziness of that trade deadline in an appearance on the MLBPAA's Legends Territory show with Erik Kratz and Scott Braun.

Back in 2015, Gómez was a highly-coveted trade piece. The Milwaukee Brewers center fielder was coming off back-to-back All-Star seasons. The Mets were working to position themselves to reach the World Series — which they did anyway. The Mets lost to the Kansas City Royals.

The Brewers were floundering and ended up winning 68 games. Getting what they could for Gómez became a priority.

He heard the noise. In fact, his mother gave him the heads up.

“Before I got on the plane, my mother called me and said, ‘Go-Go, you’ll probably be traded today,’” Gómez said.

When the deal went down he was in San Francisco, as the Brewers were wrapping up a series with the Giants. In fact, Gómez thought he would be staying in the Bay Area. He expected to be traded to the Giants, while in San Francisco, and simply change dugouts.

But it didn’t happen, so he got on the team plane to head back to Milwaukee.

That’s when then-manager Craig Counsell came to his seat and broke the news.

“He said, ‘Go-Go, you’re going to the Mets,” Gómez said.

He had enough time to call his wife to let her know he had been traded to the team he broke in with in 2007 as a 21-year-old.

After his rookie season, Gómez was shipped to the Minnesota Twins, along with three other players, for pitcher Johan Santana.

Now, he had a chance to go back and play for a team vying for a World Series title.

He wasn’t afraid to admit things got emotional on the flight from San Francisco to Milwaukee. He joined the Brewers in 2010 as part of a trade and flourished there. He liked the organization. He liked the fans. He felt comfortable there. He said he wanted to spend his whole career there.

Instead, he was on his way to the Mets for infielder Wilmer Flores and pitcher Zack Wheeler.

He took solace in the future, he said.

“What motivated me was it was probably going to give me an opportunity to win a World Series championship,” Gómez said.

While Gómez was flying, things were happening.

The deal was reported by multiple outlets. Flores got a standing ovation as Mets fans found out about the deal. He wept while playing his position. The Mets, inexplicably, didn’t pull him from the game. Manager Terry Collins said after the game he didn’t know about the deal.

Gómez knew none of this when he landed in Milwaukee. He was preparing to get off that plane and head to another plane to join the Mets. Airplane wi-fi wasn’t exactly what it is now.

“When I got to Milwaukee, they came back to me and said, ‘You’re not traded now,’” he said.

Turns out the Mets balked at taking Gómez over a hip issue. A day later, Gómez was on his way to Houston for a boatload of players.

Gómez eventually made his way back to the Mets, playing his final season with the team in 2019, playing 34 games and batting .198.