NL Wild Card Standings: SF Giants receiving extra voltage from former NY Mets players

You’ve already heard by now how well Drew Gilbert has played with the San Francisco Giants. It would be an unfortunate ending for the New York Mets and Giants to have done business back in July only for the buyer to miss the playoffs and the seller to sneak in. The Giants are 3 games behind the Mets heading into Tuesday with Gilbert as one of the most talked about players on their team. The rookie outfielder has outplayed Cedric Mullins at the plate leading to questions of whether or not New York had a center field solution all along. If nothing else, he would have brought energy.

It’s not just Gilbert, though. The Giants are a team full of Mets cast-offs. Many can claim a personal baseball-esque vendetta against the blue and orange.

It’s hard to not take what the Giants are doing personally against the Mets

Wilmer Flores might not have a mean bone in his body. That doesn’t mean he’ll lay down his bat to help the Mets. For a time earlier this year, Flores was the hottest run-producer in the game. Although he has slowed down in playing time, the way he exited the Mets after the 2018 season feels like it could create a vendetta. Flores was non-tendered due to health concerns over his knees. He’s still playing. Still producing. More painful on the heart than the win column, it was one of those decisions by the Mets that rubbed fans the wrong way early on in the Brodie Van Wagenen tenure.

Also under their employment is Dominic Smith who has hit .291 in a part-time first base/DH role for them. A limited player but an effective and professional hitter when placed in the right spots, he also received non-tender walking papers. He was more vocal about his unhappiness with the Mets and lack of playing time late into his tenure.

Starter turned reliever Joey Lucchesi had an injury-filled tenure with the Mets to begin his time. When healthy, the team rarely used him. He was minor league starting pitching depth. The choice to avoid moving him to the bullpen probably came down to several factors. The Giants are benefitting from it right now. He has a 3.13 ERA in 31.2 innings.

Former Mets prospect Carson Seymour has done well in limited action as a spot starter and occasional bullpen long man. Traded in the infamous Darin Ruf trade, he fits more of the description of a player like Gilbert whom the team seemed to give up on quickly.

Paired alongside Gilbert on that summer trade for Tyler Rogers is Jose Butto who has done well for the Giants (3.07 ERA). Perhaps not as effective as Rogers, it does complicate how we can feel about the trade exactly. Rogers has been incredibly useful in the exact opposite way than Butto with his regular availability and Butto’s need for additional rest between outings. It’s not a matter of wanting to take back this trade. This may come down to giving up too much for one player which was the initial hesitation upon hearing of the deal.

Blade Tidwell has yet to pitch for the Giants while veteran Justin Verlander has started to turn around his season. Finally, there’s Matt Gage who was a member of the 2024 Mets roster briefly but never played. He logged 20 games for Syracuse with a 3.92 ERA. This year with the Giants he’s at 20 games with a 2.25 ERA. Relievers are weird.

The Giants are too distant from the Mets geographically and historically for this to be all about sticking it to the Amazins. A few personal revenge stories, however, can add some fuel to the NL Wild Card race down the stretch. It seems like no other team has as many recent Mets cast-offs on their roster.