The New York Mets acquired a key piece from a past trade involving Marcus Stroman on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, that piece is not Marcus Stroman.

LHP Anthony Kay was initially dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays from the Mets. He was part of the return in exchange for sending Stroman to New York. Unfortunately, things haven't worked out for Kay thus far, which brings him back to his original organization.

The team claimed Kay off waivers from the Chicago Cubs, per their official account on X, f/k/a Twitter.

A 2016 first-round draft pick of the Mets out of UConn, Kay had an ominous start to his career. Before ever throwing a pitch for the organization, the lefty underwent Tommy John surgery after being worked heavily in college. The surgery caused him to miss the entire 2017 season.

He split his 2018 season between two Mets Single-A affiliates before a promotion to Double-A to begin the 2019 season. Kay impressed in stints between Double-A and Triple-A that year, and was even selected for the 2019 All-Star Futures Game.

Later in the summer of 2019, Kay was traded along with fellow prospect Simeon Woods Richardson to the Blue Jays in exchange for Stroman.

But his career never took off with the Blue Jays, as he appeared in 28 games across four seasons (2019-2022) with the team, and he was designated for assignment in December of 2022.

The Cubs took a flyer on Kay, but the results were not pretty. In 13 appearances with Chicago in 2023, Kay posted a 6.35 ERA and walked as many batters as he struck out. The team DFA'd him earlier this week, and on Thursday, the Mets claimed him off waivers.

Ironically enough, Kay was made expendable because the Cubs called up Pete Crow-Armstrong, a top Cubs prospect who was drafted by, you guessed it, the Mets. Crow-Armstrong was part of the deal that sent Javier Báez to New York during the 2021 season.

With a 5.60 ERA across 41 MLB appearances, Kay is unlikely to become the major factor the Mets thought he could be when they drafted him. But perhaps a return home sparks something for the once-promising prospect.