Mets: Three former players who deserved more playing time

These three former New York Mets didn’t get nearly enough playing time during their stint with the Amazins.

Several times in New York Mets history, there have been talented players right under our noses that either the fans, the ownership, or both did not appreciate enough.

The toughest job in Major League Baseball is that of the pinch hitter or utility player. Those who succeed in that role sometimes are best suited for a bench spot, but other times they are just waiting to get regular playing time in order to fully thrive.

These three Mets players were mostly part-time players when they were in Flushing, but their skills and talent warranted a bigger role on an MLB roster. This additional playing time came outside of Queens, much to the chagrin of Mets fans who continue to lament “the ones that got away.”

Justin Turner

For Mets fans who dread facing the Los Angeles Dodgers these days, Justin Turner is likely a large reason why. He played in Queens from 2010-2013 and was usually a part-time player, appearing in over 100 games in a season just once during his Mets tenure.

Turner mostly played third base for the Mets, often filling in for an injured David Wright. He never hit for much power, socking only eight home runs in four years with the Mets. However, he consistently fielded well and hit for a decent-to-high average, batting .280 in his final season in Queens.

After the 2013 season, the Mets chose not to re-sign Turner, evidently feeling like they had too much depth in an infield that mostly consisted of Wright, Daniel Murphy, Ike Davis, and Lucas Duda. Turner then signed with the Dodgers, where he’s been a mainstay at third base ever since.

Since leaving the Mets, all Turner has done is have three top-15 MVP finishes, win the 2017 NLCS MVP award, make it to an All-Star game, and continually produce both offensively and defensively. The brighter his talent shines, the longer his bright red beard has gotten. Turner is the perfect example of a recent player who showed incredible promise as a Met but never got the chance to show his full potential until he left Queens.

When he was on the Mets, Turner was one of my favorite players, and I always felt like he was underused. His very last month with the Mets was perhaps his best when he batted .357 and hit his only two home runs of the year. Back in 2013, Wright was still a fixture at third base most days, but Turner even showed promise in the outfield when he wasn’t filling in for Wright and could certainly have played a serviceable left field if the Mets wanted to keep him around.

Clearly, Turner is gifted at baseball and will produce wherever and whenever he plays. He showed this consistently when he played in Flushing. The Mets, unfortunately, did not appreciate or play him enough to see his long-term value.

Jose Oquendo

In the mid-1980s, stars like Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry, and Dwight Gooden grabbed most of the headlines. On these pre-1986 teams that exuded budding talent and personality, Jose Oquendo began his major league career. The Mets had originally signed Oquendo as an amateur free agent in 1979. In 1983, at age 19, he made his major league debut in Queens with the big club. At the time, Oquendo was notable for being the very first Mets player born after the Mets came into existence in 1962.

Oquendo was initially groomed as a shortstop, and he spent his entire Mets tenure in the hole between second and third base. He saw a lot of playing time in 1983, appearing in 120 games and snagging the starting job away from Ron Gardenhire. Oquendo’s hitting had yet to blossom, however, and he hit only .213 over the entire season.

Oquendo returned for another season in 1984, but he split more of his playing time at shortstop that year with Gardenhire and Rafael Santana. His average increased just a tick to .222, and his OBP remained low at .284. Still, Oquendo showed significantly more promise at the plate in 1984. During May and June, he hit a much-improved .250 and .243, respectively, before his playing time drastically decreased in the second half.

Despite being touted as a strong defender, the Mets ultimately decided that whatever defensive value Oquendo provided was not worth carrying his bat on the roster. They traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals before the ’85 season, in a deal packaged with Mark Davis that netted the Mets John Young and Angel Salazar.

Though he spent all of the 1985 season in the minor leagues, Oquendo enjoyed a career renaissance in St. Louis beginning in 1986, mostly as a second baseman, and his hitting improved tremendously. Oquendo was a key part of the mid-’80s Cardinals teams that had a healthy rivalry with the Mets. He ended up spending the next ten years in St. Louis until he retired after the 1995 season.

The Mets may not have known it at the time, but Oquendo’s bat always had potential and eventually came around. It did take a change of scenery for his hitting prowess to appear, which is why Oquendo falls into the category of “Mets who didn’t fully thrive until they played every day for another team.”

It is very difficult for major leaguers to make their mark as utility players. Many times, talented players are thrust into part-time roles because of their team’s roster construction, not because they don’t have the ability to produce every day.

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The Mets have groomed many players from “rookie status” to “stardom” over the years, but for Turner, Mitchell, and Oquendo, “stardom” would only be achieved once they left the Big Apple.