No. 1977.06.15 · Free Agency Era
Seaver to Cincinnati
On the night of the trading deadline, the Mets sent Tom Seaver to Cincinnati for four players, and Dave Kingman to San Diego in a separate deal.
June 15, 1977. The Mets, in last place, sent Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, and Dan Norman. The same night they sent Dave Kingman, the club's home-run leader, to the San Diego Padres for Bobby Valentine and Paul Siebert. Chairman M. Donald Grant and Seaver had been feuding in the papers for months over Seaver's contract.
The New York Times described the return for Seaver as four players of far less magnitude. Henderson became a useful major leaguer. The night itself did not look like an even trade, and the papers did not treat it as one. The deal ended weeks of speculation and began a rebuild the club had not announced as a plan.
It is filed with the Ruth sale and the Ryan trade because the shape is the same: a franchise pitcher leaves, the public case for the return is thin, and the argument afterward is about what the club thought it was doing. Grant's side of the feud was about money and authority. The box score of the trade is the four names.
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