For the New York Mets, August has been like a dream, and nothing sums up their charmed life better than the saga of Wilmer Flores.
On July 29, reports surfaced that Flores was being traded in a deal that would bring Carlos Gomez to the Mets. An emotional Flores wiped tears from his eyes on the field, but the trade was never completed.
Since that night, the Mets have gone 20-9, and they now lead the NL East by 5 1/2 games. Flores has hit .322 with an OPS of .903 in that span. Gomez, meanwhile, ended up being traded from Milwaukee to Houston. He has hit .210 in the same span.
“I don’t think I’ve changed anything (at the plate),” Flores said recently. “I feel the same way. I’m just trying to see the ball and hit the ball.”
Flores outhitting Gomez over that short stretch underscores the unpredictability of deadline deals. When a team makes a trade in late July, there’s only about two months left in the season, and that’s not always enough time for the presumably better player to prove his worth.