NY Mets: Five times a free agent turned out to be a catfish

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MIAMI, FL – SEPTEMBER 02: Outfielder Jason Bay #44 of the New York Mets throws the ball after missing a catch against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on September 2, 2012 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images) /

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.

25 Jul 1993: Infielder Bobby Bonilla of the New York Mets in action during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn /Allsport /

Bobby Bonilla, 1992-1995

Bobby Bonilla is an interesting selection for an all-time Mets catfish. Far better known as the man with the never-ending contract following his second stint with the organization, I want to classify him as a catfish from his first tenure.

Bonilla was an All-Star for four straight seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to reaching free agency. When he did, the Mets made their move and signed the star outfielder. His first season with the club showed signs of how bad things would end up.

In catfish terms, it’s like refusing to video chat after a year of talking online.

Bonilla did manage to become an All-Star for the notoriously bad 1993 Mets. As Major League Baseball rules dictate, every team must be represented. He wasn’t bad this year, but he also wasn’t the same superstar player he was during his time with the Pirates.

Through the baseball strike in 1994, Bonilla stuck with the Mets and put up some good yet not so great numbers. On an episode of Catfish, we might expect the prospective love interest to meet him in person and Bonilla looks exactly like his photos. The one problem which may arise is that he’s either married or never really felt the same way about the person that emailed the show.

As far as Bonilla’s return to the Mets in 1999 goes, this is far from a case of catfishing. He was already on the decline and I’m not sure anyone in New York believed he would do much more than provide them with a little bit of offensive depth.

Expecting anything more from a guy in his mid-30s is asking a little too much.

NEW YORK – CIRCA 1993: Vince Coleman #1 of the New York Mets poses for this photograph prior to the start of a Major League Baseball game circa 1993 at Shea Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City. Coleman played for the Mets from 1991-93. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Vince Coleman, 1991-1993

From 1985-1990, the National League was dominated by Vince Coleman—at least when it came to stealing bases. He led the league each season during this time period and even managed to swipe triple-digits in his first three big league seasons.

So, when he became available and the Mets signed him as a free agent, many were hoping to land a speedy outfielder that could bat leadoff for many years to come.

Coleman never fit in well with the Mets. Judging his numbers is a little difficult because he never even reached 100 games played in any of his three seasons. The reasons for this varied and included both injuries and suspensions.

Some of the disciplinary action even came with Coleman’s interactions with fans. Surely, there were even more incidents that were not reported.

Coleman is a catfish of another color. Both disliked for his play and attitude, fans in Flushing were hopeful for a lot more out of one of the previous decade’s greatest base thieves. Although he stole some bases for the Mets, many see him as a free agent whose best thievery was cash.

The time Coleman spent with the Mets was in the post-Golden Era of the 1980s. Even though a few remnants from the 1986 team remained, the organization was going downhill. Free agent catfish signings such as Coleman were a big reason for it.

Coleman is the kind of catfish that is who they said they were visually but has lied about everything else. He flakes out on you whenever you have plane tickets to meetup and seems to have at least a dozen dead grandmothers he has used as an excuse.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 14: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Jed Lowrie #4 of the New York Mets in action during an intra squad game at Citi Field on July 14, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Jed Lowrie, 2019-2020

Jed Lowrie could very well be the greatest catfish in Mets history merely for the fact that nobody is quite sure if he even exists. Signed by Brodie Van Wagenen prior to the 2019 season, Lowrie played in only nine games with the Mets and failed to get a hit in any of his eight plate appearances.

Throughout the 2019 season, it was a running joke about whether or not Lowrie was a real person. Of course, he was, as a guy coming off of an All-Star season with the Oakland Athletics one year prior.

Lowrie wasn’t a player on the same level as other names previously mentioned on this list. A good player, he wasn’t a big free agent splash meant to completely turn the team around.

Because of the results—or lack thereof—he brought to the Mets, I couldn’t possibly leave him off this list. He’s the kind of catfish to “ghost” the person they’re talking to online and maybe resurface with a new Facebook page in a couple of months with a new city on their profile.

Perhaps the one “good thing” we can say about Lowrie is that we never got to see him underperform. I know it’s a roundabout compliment to make. Without ever getting onto the field, it’s pretty hard to do a bad job.

Nevertheless, this is a catfish free agent signing the Mets should have skipped out on. If not for his history with Brodie Van Wagenen, I don’t think the club would have ever given him a social media follow and fallen into the rabbit hole of getting into a relationship with him for two years.

New York Mets 2nd baseman Kazuo Matsui waits on deck during action between the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on May 16, 2006. (Photo by G. N. Lowrance/Getty Images) /

Kazuo Matsui, 2004-2006

Our final entry on this list is an international one. Kazuo Matsui came to the Mets with a lot of hype for the 2004 season. Imported from Japan, he was one of the best players in the Nippon League for the Seibu Lions. Optimistic fans were hoping they were about to land a guy at least close to playing at the same level as Ichiro Suzuki.

Well, that’s not how it turned out. Matsui turned out to look a lot different from the pictures he shared with us online. He didn’t have the same career or goals in life as he claimed.

Matsui catfished the Mets into thinking they were landing a multi-time All-Star. Instead, they got a good role-player that didn’t even make it through his third season with the club.

International free agents are always more of a gamble than any other because of all factors going into the deal. Switching countries and cultures in itself can be hard on a person. I don’t care if the game is played the same way, it’s hard to make a life in a completely different place while trying to excel at a job as competitive as professional sports.

For whatever it’s worth, Matsui did manage to accomplish one of the greatest feats in club history. In each of his three seasons with the team, he hit a home run in his first at-bat. Short on power during his major league career, he might be one of the last guys you would expect to do something as remarkable as this.

Next. Worst December trades in Mets history

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