NY Mets injury scare has fans once again calling for a free agent reunion

Split squad action for the New York Mets on Sunday meant double the odds of someone getting hurt. In the first inning of one of those games, infielder Nick Madrigal left after charging a ball that deflected off the pitcher.

No official diagnosis has come out yet, but it didn’t stop Mets fans from quickly reacting and calling for the team to make that one final free agent reunion we’ve all been waiting for.

Mets fans were quick to demand the return of Jose Iglesias after Nick Madrigal’s early exit

The Madrigal signing seemed to confirm the end of Jose Iglesias and with spring training games already underway, it feels a whole lot more likely. The trouble the Mets are facing financially is their state within the “Cohen Tax” where they’ll need to pay a 110% penalty on any additional salary they take on. This would cost the Mets more than twice whatever salary Iglesias would receive.

It’s the natural reaction for Mets fans to suggest an outside addition when a player hits the IL—or in this case, just leaves a game early. When we learned of Frankie Montas’ injury last week, the immediate direction many of our minds went was for the team to sign Jose Quintana. The Mets will instead, at least for now, rely on their starting pitching depth. We shouldn’t expect them to do anything differently with their infielders.

Madrigal might have been a favorite to make the roster for the simple fact that he’d be buried on the bench while contenders such as Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuna would benefit much more from regular playing time. Why keep either of them around if at-bats would be limited?

The dream scenario of a last-second Mets reunion with Iglesias will probably remain exactly there, in our dreams. If the team didn’t panic at the loss of Montas with an immediate addition, we should expect them to scoff at the thought of any additional infielders brought in at any absence of Madrigal.

As of now, the severity of Madrigal’s injury is unknown. Does he rub some dirt on it and show up again tomorrow or is this a Jed Lowrie situation where he becomes the next great myth in Mets history?