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NY Mets: Five times a free agent turned out to be a catfish
By Tim Boyle
Even the New York Mets aren’t safe from a catfish in free agency.
Free agency is always a gamble. In New York Mets history, the team has certainly had their share of hits and busts.
There are different levels of free agent busts. There are those that slightly underperform and then there are those that could land on the television show Catfish. It’s those “catfishes” I would like to discuss.
This isn’t a list of the best, worst, or any kind of ranking. These are just five instances when Nev and Max could have shown up to bail out the franchise from falling prey to a catfish.
Jason Bay, 2010-2012
There are few names that send shivers down the spines of Mets fans more than Jason Bay. He’s one of the ultimate catfishes in franchise history, going from an All-Star in 2009 with the Boston Red Sox to one of the great free agent busts for the Mets.
Bay came to the Mets with very high hopes. He was one of the league’s best outfielders when he signed a mega-deal with the club before the 2010 season.
Like so many online catfishes, he turned out to be much less than promised.
Bay hit .234/.318/.369 for the Mets in 288 games across three seasons. He was actually released by the Mets before his contract was through. A combination of injuries and overall poor play is what led to Bay becoming one of the most infamous names in club history.
Unlike some other names on this list, there isn’t much hate for who Bay was as a person. Others, meanwhile, are like those catfishes with no remorse for the love trail they sent some people down.