New York Mets: Five recent players we forgot played in Flushing

If you forgot about the time these men suited up for the New York Mets in the 2010s, don’t worry. A lot of people did, too.

New York Mets fans know that while some players arrive in Queens and stay for years, many more come and go without leaving much of a mark. The decade of the 2010s featured many of these “blink and you missed it” Mets players who did not linger too long in the Big Apple.

Some were expected to be a “big move,” while others were more under-the-radar signings that ultimately made little impact. Here are five players from the past decade that were, technically, members of the Mets, but who did not figure prominently in the team’s overall win/loss record.

These five players also merited inclusion on this list because until writing this article, I had completely forgotten that any of them had ever been on the Mets.

Aaron Harang

Before he arrived in Queens, Aaron Harang compiled most of his career highlights as an anchor of the Cincinnati Reds’ starting rotation. He had several good years in Cincy, leading the league in wins and strikeouts in 2006 and finishing 4th in NL Cy Young voting in 2007. The next several years were filled up with ups and downs for Harang, and he found himself bouncing between several teams over the next few years.

By 2013, Harang was no longer a frontline starter. He began the year in Seattle and made 22 starts for the Mariners, but was released on August 31. Never one to shy away from taking a chance on aging starters, the Mets promptly signed him to a minor league contract the next day. This decision likely came in the wake of the news a few days prior that Matt Harvey was shut down for the rest of the season with a partial UCL tear.

Harang’s time in Flushing was extremely short-lived. He only made four starts in Queens to finish out the 2013 season, going 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA. Harang also had seven plate appearances, notching two hits and scoring a run for a very respectable .286 Mets batting average. Though the Mets’ season was essentially over, Harang provided some much-needed rotation insurance to close out the year, with Harvey out, a doubleheader on the schedule, and rookie Zack Wheeler on an innings limit.

Jose Valverde

From 2007-2012, Jose Valverde was one of the best closers in baseball. He began his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks and had a breakout year in 2007. That season, he led the NL with 47 saves, compiling a 2.66 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 64.1 innings. He was rewarded for his success with an All-Star selection and finishing in the top 10 and top 20 in Cy Young and MVP voting, respectively.

Valverde went on to have several more fantastic years, with the Houston Astros and then with the Detroit Tigers. His 2011 season in Detroit was particularly stellar, as he finished with a 2.33 ERA and led the AL in games appeared in, games finished, and saves. Unfortunately, his regular-season success never translated into postseason glory, leaving him with a 9.82 ERA in 14 playoff appearances through the 2012 season.

The Tigers released Valverde in 2013, and the Mets signed him in February 2014, presumably hoping he would return to his former glory. With Bobby Parnell recovering from neck surgery at the time, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson justified the signing as a necessary move to shore up the bullpen.

“We were looking for a veteran presence in the bullpen, he does have some experience closing, but this is not a move to displace Bobby Parnell,” said Alderson. “We signed him to a minor league contract and we’ll see how he throws in spring training.”

Unfortunately, Valverde was still not the pitcher he was in 2007. He made 21 appearances in Flushing, adding up to a 5.66 ERA with two saves in four opportunities. The Amazins ended up releasing him on May 26, 2014, on the same day as they fired hitting coach Dave Hudgens.

Despite Valverde’s ineffectiveness, good pitching still dominated the 2014 Mets headlines thanks to the emergence of Jacob deGrom.

Blaine Boyer

In the category of “obscure Mets relievers from the 2010s,” Blaine Boyer is among the most obscure. He came to New York before the 2011 season, having spent the first several years of his career with the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Boyer had had a few solid seasons, but his career had mostly been up-and-down. The Mets signed him as a free agent, hoping he could round into form as a righty out of the pen.

Alas, Boyer proved to be no more than a footnote in the Mets’ 2011 season. He appeared in only five games with the Mets, notching one save and allowing eight runs in 6. 2 innings. In the world of Mets karma, it’s not all that surprising that Boyer was ineffective in Queens. While still with the Braves in 2008, he had several disastrous relief appearances against the Philadelphia Phillies that likely helped them win the division, keeping the Mets out of a playoff spot.

The Mets released Boyer on April 13, after just five appearances with the orange and blue. He bounced around the minor leagues for a few more teams in 2011 and didn’t return to the major leagues until 2013. Ultimately, he left Flushing just as unceremoniously as he arrived.

Jim Henderson

For a reliever who appeared in 44 Mets games as recently as 2016, Jim Henderson, unfortunately, did not leave much of an impression on me. He came over to the Mets from the Milwaukee Brewers, where he had spent the first three years of his career in their bullpen. Henderson enjoyed a fine year in 2013, pitching to a 2.70 ERA with 28 saves. He regressed the next season, where he only managed a 7.15 ERA, and ended up missing the entire 2015 season with a shoulder injury.

The Mets signed Henderson in December of 2015, and he made the team coming out of 2016 spring training. Henderson looked sharp to start his Mets career, pitching brilliantly in spring training and beginning the regular season by surrendering just one run in 9.1 innings.

As it turned out, the Mets may have been too reliant upon Henderson early on. They pitched him an average of once every two days in April 2016 even though he hadn’t thrown in the major leagues in nearly two years. He ended up going down again with injuries in May, missing a couple of months. Though he made it back to pitch again for the Mets in August, his time in Queens would end after the season.

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Mets fans are used to taking chances on players who are past their prime or completely unknown, merely praying that they’ll exceed expectations once in Queens. For every R.A. Dickey and J.D. Davis, there have been many Jack Reinheimers and Blaine Boyers. It remains to be seen whether the 2020 season will feature more of the former or the later.