The Mets' managerial post was open after the late-season departure of Wes Westrum, and team officials began negotiations with the Senators to release Hodges from his contract, which still had a year to run.

Although the expansion-era Senators had themselves never posted a winning record since their 1961 inception, the team had shown steady season-to-season improvement since Hodges' appointment as manager.

During the three-week-long winter interleague trading period then in effect, the Mets agreed to send Denehy and $100,000 as compensation for Washington's release of Hodges from his contract.

While Hodges brought home an improved, but still ninth-place, Mets' team in 1968, Denehy pitched in only three innings for the 1968 Senators and spent most of the season in the minor leagues.

[8] Denehy began losing his eyesight in 2005 and, as of 2018[update], is legally blind with no vision in his right eye and glaucoma and macular holes in his left.