Mets: Top five worst contracts in New York Mets history

What is the worst contract in New York Mets history? We take a look at five of the worst.

The New York Mets have a very tragic track record signing players that were really great (or supposed to be really great), to insane contracts, only to have them vastly underperform.

While it is hard to gauge what is really considered a bad contract, the Mets are notorious for signing big-name players who just never live up to the hype that was created around them, as well as long-forgotten players that no one really understood why they were being paid that much.

Anyone who has taken the Long Island Railroad on July 1st to a Mets game understands the spectacle that fans have made into a franchise “holiday”. We’ll get to that not-so-special day in a bit. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the worst contracts in Mets history including that infamous one every seems to know about.

5) Worst Mets Contracts – Guillermo Mota (2007, two years, $5 million)

It doesn’t seem terrible at first glance especially considering that Guillermo Mota had just pitched to a 1.00 ERA over 18 innings after coming to the Mets from the Cleveland Indians with a 1-3 record and 6.21 ERA. A two-year deal worth $5 million for someone with those numbers sounds reasonable, especially more than a decade later.

Unfortunately, the Mets put the offer on the table after Mota received a 50 game suspension for PEDs. While it does explain the pitcher’s complete 180-degree change in performance, it was rather ignorant of Omar Minaya to encourage the deal.

Going into 2007 Mota was 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA. He is hated by most Mets fans across the board and rightfully so. The only good thing about it is we didn’t have to see him play every day or for very many years.

Mota is one of those relievers every Mets fan remembers and enjoys forgetting about.