3 former NY Mets players who were overhyped by the team

The New York Mets have, on occasion, overhyped their young prospects. Yes, the organization has, in fact, produced home-grown stars like Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden as well as David Wright and Jose Reyes. But the truth is, the home-grown talent has been pretty much few and far between. The hype, though, has been bountiful.

There are three players in Mets history who just didn’t turn out the way the organization thought they would, or at least the way they SAID they would.

1) Roy Staiger lasted a bit longer than some of the Mets right handed hitting third base experiments before him, but not much longer

New manager Joe Frazier when he was promoted to the big club from AAA Tidewater, wanted his Tides third baseman with him. He was going to be this big reliable RBI bat in the middle of the Mets lineup and he was an amazing fielder at the hot corner – he was finally going to be that right handed power-hitting third baseman in the Mets lineup.

He would, in reality, be just another to pass through that revolving door of third basemen. Staiger was the Mets first round selection of the secondary phase of the 1970 draft and struggled going up through the minors. But Frazier insisted on installing Staiger at third base in 1975. And Staiger was horrible, both offensively and defensively.

Staiger would last only a season and a half, garnering 446 at bats in a Mets uniform, and hit 4 home runs in his Mets career. The Mets unloaded him as quickly as they unloaded Frazier. Neither one of them worked out as promoted. At least the Mets found out quickly.