A look at some of the connections between the Mets and Padres:
Bob Melvin
The first-year Padres manager has twice been in the running for the same position with the Mets. First in 2011, when Melvin had just left the Diamondbacks and the Mets had just moved on from Jerry Manuel, he was in the running for the job, which ultimately went to Terry Collins. Then last winter, when Melvin left the A’s after an 11-year run, the Mets spoke to him about their vacancy, but he preferred a West Coast job due to his residence in Phoenix, according to The Post’s Jon Heyman.
Trade rumors
Prior to the season getting underway, the Mets and Padres were deep in trade talks, with one potential deal being Dominic Smith heading to San Diego for Eric Hosmer, Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan, with the Padres keeping some of Hosmer’s salary. Of course, that never came to fruition as Hosmer was instead dealt along with two minor leaguers to the Red Sox for pitching prospect Jay Groome at the trade deadline. Smith remained a Met and struggled through this season, slashing .194/.276/.284 in 58 games.
Trevor Williams
Williams, a key piece of the Mets’ bullpen, is a San Diego native, having attended Rancho Bernardo High School in the city, which also produced Cole Hamels and Hank Blalock. In his career, Williams has pitched 16 ⅓ innings against his hometown team with a 3.75 ERA, including two innings of scoreless ball this season.
Oakland connection
Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea, both of whom could pitch in the series, were on the same pitching staff in Oakland for six seasons, splitting up last offseason when Bassitt was traded to the Mets and Manaea to the Padres.
When the A’s played in the 2020 ALDS — the only time during both pitchers’ respective tenures that Oakland made it past the wild-card round — Bassitt started Game 1 of the series while Manaea started Game 2, the A’s losing both and falling to the Astros in four games.
Limited dealings
The Mets and Padres have completed just two trades since 2006, both of them involving players who failed to make an impact in the big leagues. Prior to that, though, a number of high-profile names went back and forth between the two clubs with the Mets dealing Heath Bell to the Padres in 2006, San Diego trading Xavier Nady for Mike Cameron in 2005 and a young Jason Bay going from New York to San Diego in 2002.
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