New York Mets: Five failed Mets reunions with former players

These five reunions between players and the New York Mets didn’t work out well for a variety of reasons.

Reunions are either a really good thing or something we all dread. Whether it be a class reunion, family reunion, or the reunion of the New York Mets and a former player of theirs, the results are usually leaning far to one side.

I didn’t come here to talk about who gained weight from high school or which relative of mine I least look forward to seeing. I’m here to take a look at some of the worst reunions made by the Mets over the years.

For the sake of this list, I’m not going to include players that signed offseason deals after immediately playing with the team. So there’s no Yoenis Cespedes on this list.

Also not included will be current Mets since we don’t know exactly how these reruns will go. Those looking for Jeurys Familia or Todd Frazier on the list will be searching long.

Honorable Mentions

Not appearing on the official list but worthy of some recognition are David Cone, Carlos Gomez, and Jason Vargas. These three honorable, or dishonorable mentions, reunited with the Mets with less than impressive results.

Cone was at the tail-end of his career and just trying to stay alive in Major League Baseball. More than a full decade after last pitching for the Mets, Cone gave them 18 innings and a 6.50 ERA in 2003.

Gomez is the most recent of the three to appear with the club. In 2019, he had 99 plate appearances and a .199 batting average. He had played for them briefly in his first big league season back in 2007 before getting traded to the Minnesota Twins as part of the package for Johan Santana.

Then there’s Vargas. Another guy that played briefly for the Mets in his early years, Vargas pitched 10.1 innings for them back in 2007. When he returned, he gave the team one very bad year and a mediocre half-season. Plus he threatened to punch a beat writer.