Braves offseason has quietly included a lot of former NY Mets players we won’t miss

One of the hottest rivalries in baseball is the one that rages between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have been perennial contenders longer than some Mets fans have been alive, though they're coming off an uncharacteristically poor 2025.

Much of Atlanta's struggles were due to a wave of injuries that it couldn't overcome. Because of that, and some key offseason additions like Robert Suarez and Ha-Seong Kim, it looked for a minute that they could surpass the Mets in the NL East pecking order before the Bo Bichette signing and subsequent flurry set things right in the world.

The Braves had made the bullpen a priority, and retaining Raisel Iglesias alongside adding Suarez helped, but that doesn't mean they haven't scoured high and low for under-the-radar options. Ironically, that quest has led to them adding a lot of discarded Mets to the equation in the form of deals given to Sean Reid-Foley, Danny Young, and Elieser Hernandez.

The Braves are cornering the market on scrap heap former Mets pitchers by signing Sean Reid-Foley, Danny Young, and Elieser Hernandez

It's certainly funny to see a rival rummage through your scraps to find so many depth pieces, but that's where we are with the Braves.

For Young, the split contract he signed brings him back to Atlanta, where he resided before joining the Mets. The chances of seeing the lefty log any significant big league workload are slim to none as he underwent Tommy John surgery last May, making him a long-shot option down the stretch.

The most intriguing might be Sean Reid-Foley, who had a dominant, albeit short, 1.66 ERA stint with New York in 2024 but couldn't stay healthy and was eventually cut. We'll now see if he can revive his career with the Braves.

Lastly, Atlanta signed Elieser Hernandez after his foray into Korean baseball, working as a starter in the KBO and failing to truly establish himself with a 4.23 ERA against the inferior competition. Hernandez has logged 303.1 career big league innings with a 5.10 ERA, but never wound up throwing a pitch for the Mets due to injury.

Injured and (largely) ineffective, these are all low-probability dart throws. The most likely scenario is that the healthy arms fill out the depth in Triple-A and get a call should injuries strike, with Reid-Foley filling a similar niche if and when he's healthy.

Nothing here should strike fear in the hearts of Mets fans, but it might illicit some laughter as the Braves gobble up New York's sloppy seconds.