Mets Pull Off Twisted Blockbuster: New York Reunites With Former Top Prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong in Shocking All-Star Trade That Stuns MLB World

This weekend, a first-place New York Mets team will play host to another first-place team, the Chicago Cubs. These two teams have looked the part of powerhouses to start the season, with both ranking atop our recently updated MLB Power Rankings.

The matchup between two budding favorites in the National League should make for great theater on national television over the weekend, especially with the stage of Citi Field, where the Mets have played great baseball to start the season.

When the series begins, one of the fascinating subplots that will be discussed is the emergence of a former first round pick of the New York Mets. An energetic 23-year-old budding superstar, who is off to a blistering start to the 2025 season.

The only problem for the Mets is that their former top prospect is playing on the other side, as Pete Crow-Armstrong will be patrolling center field with a Cubs jersey on.

What Led the Mets to Trade Their Former 1st Rounder?

Pete Crow-Armstrong was drafted by the New York Mets back in 2020, at the height of the COVID shutdown. PCA was selected 19th overall out of Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles, California. The Mets signed him to a $3.4 million bonus and he began his pro career in 2021.

Unfortunately for PCA and the Mets, their prized new top prospect injured his shoulder just six games into his first season in Port St. Lucie and got surgery that prematurely ended his season.

Despite the injury, PCA carried a lot of trade value when the Mets entered the trade deadline back in 2021, as teams had not forgotten about the dynamic high school player who was a first-round talent just a year ago and was only 19 years old.

Before we get into the trade that sent Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs, it is important to understand where the Mets were at as a franchise at the time.

Back in 2021, the Mets were in year one of the Steve Cohen era.

Cohen had purchased the Mets in November of 2020, and quickly went to work on building up a franchise that had be mismanaged for many years compared to other big market teams. Instead of taking a step back to try to slowly rebuild, the Mets were ready to push their chips in and win right away.

The first big trade was a great one, as the Mets dealt top prospect Andres Gimenez, then-young shortstop Amed Rosario and two other prospects to the Cleveland Guardians for Francisco Lindor. They then minted Lindor with a $341 million contract extension.