NY Mets have been through their own Ketel Marte situation not too long ago

Ketel Marte went with the Arizona Diamondbacks to Boston, but never made it to Fenway Park. He’s physically fine. The Diamondbacks are just in an impossible situation with one of their key players bailing on them without notice. Sound familiar New York Mets fans? We endured this not all that long ago.

Marte’s absence landed him on the restricted list. It’s a way to clear him off the roster while everyone tries to figure out what happened. This isn’t Marte’s first time leaving the team. Just last year, he departed to deal with a reported robbery at his home in Arizona by going back to his home in the Dominican Republic...

The circumstances frustrated his teammates. The club finished 80-82, three wins shy of a playoff berth. The compiling of unusual events leading to the failure to show up to the field feels awfully familiar.

Not clicking? In 2020, with players having the option to opt-out due to the pandemic, Yoenis Cespedes chose after an 0 for 4 day with 2 strikeouts that he was going to use the available opt-out for the season due to COVID reasons. Of course, it didn’t start that simply.

The Mets’ situation with Yoenis Cespedes in 2020 rhymes with what’s going on with Ketel Marte

Recalling the exact timeline of everything Cespedes related leading up to his final game with the Mets isn’t easy for Mets fans. It was an entire era ago. The conclusion that a wild boar hunting accident cost him most of 2018 and then all of 2019 is one of those ultimate “it can only happen to the Mets” types of stories.

In 2020, there was never what felt like a true explanation as to why Cespedes chose to opt out. He no-showed a game against the Atlanta Braves with GM Brodie Van Wagenen first commenting how they were unable to get ahold of him.

"He did not reach out to management with any explanation for his absence," Van Wagenen said. "Our attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful."

After the game, Van Wagenen said he was glad Cespedes is OK, "because there's a period of time where we weren't sure." He also called Sunday's development a "disappointing end" to Cespedes' four-year contract with the Mets.

A home run in the season opener in a 1-0 win over the Braves on July 24, it looked like the old Cespedes was back. Then came strikeout, after strikeout, after strikeout. He had at least one strikeout in his final 7 games and in 6 of them there were multiple.

Cespedes’ handling of the situation was what made this a story. Had he simply opted out before the season even began, it would have been understandable. After 8 games of not playing so well, it felt like he quit on the team.

For the Diamondbacks, it’s feeling like a repeat of last season with their playoff dreams still alive. Marte isn’t having an MVP-caliber season, but he is still having a needed one. Ironically, the team just played in Atlanta this past weekend. Marte left one game with left knee soreness, sat another, and played the finale.

This situation won’t just go away like it did for the Mets with Cespedes as the no-show represented the finality of his four-year contract. Cespedes didn’t play another major league season again. He ridiculously had more plate appearances (543) in his one full healthy season with the team in 2016 than he did in the combined four years after (512).

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow