THe Mets and Royals

Jeffrey Flanagan at the Kansas City Star, writes about the trade history between the Mets and Royals that dates back to 1969:

Did you know that the Royals have made more trades with the Mets than any other team in baseball? The Royals and Mets have made 19 trades — the next team the Royals have traded with the most is Pittsburgh at 12.

Last week’s deal to acquire Brian Bannister from the Mets for Ambiorix Burgos was the latest in the long line of curious and often risky deals between the clubs.

The relationship started in 1969 when the Royals stole Amos Otis from the Mets for Joe Foy. The Mets, of course, got even in 1987 with the whole Ed Hearn-David Cone swap.

The Mets seemingly hoodwinked the Royals again 1992 with the Bret Saberhagen deal, but then again, Sabes, sadly, was never quite the same pitcher after the trade. And a couple years later, the Royals were able to unload one of the players they got for Sabes, Kevin McReynolds, for Vince Coleman.

After that, the Royals came out on the better end in 1998 when they got back Joe Randa (who'd been traded to Pittsburgh two years earlier) for former first-round pick Juan LeBron, who was a total bust.

You can view the entire history through the link up top.