It’s good to have some perspective because, as bad as the 2026 season has seemed for the Chicago Cubs, it could be a whole lot worse. You don’t have to look much further than their opponents this week, as the New York Mets are the definition of a dumpster fire. On Friday, the Mets fired their manager, Carlos Mendoza, after the Cubs finished off a four-game sweep in New York, dropping the Mets to a season-worst 13 games below .500.
It’s good no matter what to sweep the Mets, and it was even more enjoyable listening to the Mets’ broadcast booth have to remind fans of one of their worst trades of all-time. For once, it’s actually the Cubs who are reaping the rewards of a one-sided deal, as 24-year-old Pete Crow-Armstrong is once again in MVP conversations for the second consecutive year.
During Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Mets color analyst on SNY, Keith Hernandez, pretty much had a verbal orgasm after watching a replay of Crow-Armstrong run the bases. After hitting a two-out single in the fifth inning, Crow-Armstrong raced around the bases to score on a Michael Conforto double that was hit to left field, and you have to love this call by Hernandez, who was not only fawning over the excellent base running, but he also reminded Mets fans about one of the worst trades in franchise history.
Gary Cohen really dug in the needle, saying, “Well, they got six good weeks out of Javy Baez, and whoopee, now they have to watch this guy be a star for years to come.”
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The Cubs were fortunate that at the time of the 2021 trade deadline, Crow-Armstrong had only played in six games in the Mets’ minor league system after being the 19th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. The talented center fielder suffered a torn labrum that cut his first year in pro ball short, but with the unknown, the Cubs were able to talk the Mets into trading him for Javier Baez. Ultimately, it was all for naught, as the Mets flamed out in the final two months of the season, going 55-48 to 77-85 after the trade.
Baez signed a free agent deal with the Detroit Tigers following the 2021 season, and now Crow-Armstrong is the best player in MLB.
Crow-Armstrong extended his hitting streak to 14 games in Thursday’s series finale against the Mets, including the go-ahead RBI double in the 10th inning. The Cubs’ center fielder now has a 147 wRC+ with 17 home runs, 18 stolen bases, and a 4.8 fWAR, which ranks No. 1 among all position players in baseball so far in 2026.
