Mets' wild night of tears, fear ends up being about nothing

NEW YORK — The New York Mets went from "pushing hard" to trade for Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez; to reportedly acquiring him for injured starter Zack Wheeler and infielder Wilmer Flores; to having that news sweep through the Citi Field stands, resulting in a standing ovation for and tears from Flores — and, exactly three hours later, it was all for naught.

Confusion reigned on social media, in the dugout and on the face of a nearly 24-year-old infielder who has known only one employer since he was 16 years old.

This was the trade deadline's version of Game 162, the rapid-fire playoff-clinching extravaganza on the final night of the 2011 season, only no one won anything, and the tears were of sadness, not joy.

At 7:52 p.m. Eastern Time, Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown reported New York's aggressive pursuit of Gomez, the two-time All-Star center fielder who made his big league debut with the Mets before trading him in a package for Cy Young winner Johan Santana.

A little more than an hour later, at 8:58, the New York Post's Joel Sherman reported that the trade was "done pending physicals." Soon thereafter, a baseball official with direct knowledge of the trade confirmed to USA TODAY that the deal had been agreed upon pending a physical examination for Wheeler, who underwent Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow in March.

MLB SALARIES: Baseball's top 25 highest-paid players in 2024

By 9:15, a reporter in Queens observed that at least one section of the Citi Field stands started chanting "Car-los Go-mez" even while Flores was positioned at shortstop.

At 9:29, Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado posted a photo on social media of the club's Latin players "saying bye to a friend" with their arms around Gomez on the team's charter flight home from San Francisco, only to retract it for a new one.

While standard sports protocol is for traded players to immediately exit a game they are playing for their now former team in order to avoid injury, Flores continued playing for the Mets despite being the subject of a groundswell of Internet activity wondering why.

Confusing matters was that San Diego Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross and right fielder Matt Kemp both exited the game after five and a half innings, which prompted another round of speculation given reports that San Diego may sell at the deadline. (Padres interim manager Pat Murphy later told reporters he removed them to give them a rest in a lopsided game — "and give you guys something to think about.")

Flores even batted in the seventh inning, at 9:37; all of the remaining fans from the crowd of 24,804 stood to serenade him with a final ovation. Inconsequentially, Flores grounded out to short.

"When I came up to hit, I heard everybody cheering," he'd later say. "I said, 'Why? There's no reason.'"

Mets manager Terry Collins later admitted that he too was confused by the ovation: "Somebody came to me and said, 'Wilmer's crying.' I said, 'Why?' 'Well, he got traded.' 'To who? For what?'"

Elsewhere in baseball, there was a notable interlude: a 9:40 report indicated that the Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers were "getting close" to a trade that it appears will actually happen, in which Texas acquired Cole Hamels to headline a blockbuster.

By 9:46, Flores returned to shortstop where television cameras zoomed in as he wiped tears from his eyes in a painful sight for those assuming he had been traded, yet marooned on the field.

"I was sad," he said. "Being a Met forever and all my teammates here, that's why I got emotional."

Less than 10 minutes later, at 9:54, the first doubt was cast on the trade when Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal quoted an executive involved with the negotiations saying, "No deal is done. The entire world has jumped the gun."

In the bottom of the ninth inning, at 10:17, infielder Ruben Tejada emerged from the Mets dugout and entered the on-deck circle to hit for Flores. Tejada grounded into a game-ending double play, as the Mets lost 7-3 and fell two games behind the Nationals in the NL East. (Few noted that New York first baseman Lucas Duda hit three home runs in the losing effort.)

By 10:33, Collins held his postgame press conference in which he flatly said, "All I know is that there's no deal." Given that managers are supposed to say that until everything is official, no one really believed him.

The same was true at 10:47 when Flores spoke to reporters and said, "There's no deal. That's what they told me."

Only at 10:52 — 180 minutes after the initial report — was the trade fully extinguished when New York general manager Sandy Alderson met with reporters near the underground batting cage and said, "Whatever has been speculated over the course of the evening has not and will not transpire."

A baseball official with direct knowledge of the trade later confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that an issue with a physical examination did indeed nix the deal.

"To be politically correct, there's a lot of B.S. out there," Collins said, before later ranting, "Everybody's got a telephone — everybody's on it. I don't even know why anybody comes anymore. They ought to sit at home and watch the games on TV (and be) on their cell phones."

After all the consternation about an almost-kinda-sorta-not really trade, social media was entertaining because of an incorrect assumption that the last two words of "done pending physicals" were not really an issue; the Mets still need to add another hitter; and Flores has a bittersweet memory.

"It was difficult," Flores said. "I was thinking a lot out there. But nothing happened."

At least not yet: the Mets have scored the fewest runs in the league and, even after trading for veteran Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson last week, will likely continue shopping for a hitter before Friday's July 31 trade deadline.

Asked if he would still be scouring the market, Alderson said, "It's not Friday yet."