There aren’t many trades in New York Mets history which can be considered a win when the return they got was for a prospect. The March 27, 1987 trade with the Kansas City Royals that sent David Cone to Flushing is one of the exceptions.
Shortly before the start of their champion-defense season, the Mets added Cone to the roster. He had never started in the big leagues. A year prior, he received just 11 relief appearances with Kansas City with the end result including a 5.56 ERA.
Cone didn’t take off in his first year with the Mets.