Who is the NY Mets player equivalent of Saquon Barkley to Giants fans?

Super Bowl 59 was a celebration of excellence that few outside of Philadelphia are happy about, but no one can deny. The Eagles 40-22 route of the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs was one for the ages and starred a ghost of New York sports past. That would be Mr. Saquon Barkley, who not only left the New York Football Giants for the rival Eagles after being spurned by the team but immediately after breaking the NFL single-season rushing record and winning a championship. If you think, 'That sounds like something that would happen to the Mets,' you'd be correct. Not only has it happened, but it seems to be a tale as old as time with the franchise. Have a player with undeniable natural ability cut ties willingly or lose them in free agency, and then watch as they have the magical career elsewhere they should have had in Queens. 

Perhaps the best example of this is a skinny, unassuming right-handed pitcher from Kansas City, Missouri, named David Cone.

So it begins

David Brian Cone would begin his big league career in 1981 when he was drafted by his hometown Kansas City Royals in the 3rd round of that year's draft. After nearly 6 seasons in the minors, he would make his MLB debut on June 8th, 1986, in relief of reigning Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen. After the '86 season, the man affectionately known as "Coney," along with teammate Chris Jelic, was traded to the defending world champion New York Mets for Ed Hearn, Mauro Gazzo, and Rick Anderson. 

Cone got off to a pedestrian start in '87. In 13 games, the right-hander went 5-3 and pitched to a 3.71 ERA. The Mets would underachieve that season and fail to defend their world title, but the team and Cone would have a chip on their shoulder coming into the 1988 season. Cone dominated on the mound with the best season of his career to date. He went a phenomenal 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA and 213 strikeouts. Cone would help lead the Mets back to postseason play and a date with the heavy underdog Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. 1988 was going so well for the righty he even moonlighted as a journalist. With the help of New York Daily News staff writer Bob Klapisch, Cone wrote a less-than-flattering take on the opposing Dodgers and their ace Orel Hershiser.

The beginning of the end

The comments would come back to haunt Cone as he and the Mets jumped on for 5 runs in the first two innings of game 2 of the championship series. The Mets would eventually lose the NLCS in a memorable 7-game affair with the boys in Dodger blue. Despite the unceremoniously ending to the '88 campaign, the future seemed bright for Cone. However, the next three seasons would not be Cone's best. He won 14 games in all three seasons against 8, 10, and 14 losses, respectively.

He would lead the league in strikeouts from 90-92, but his ERA would also creep back into the mid-threes. The one shining moment for Cone's post-1988 Mets career came in 1991 when he tied a National League record and struck out 19 Philadelphia Phillies on October 6th. Cone would have a nice bounce-back season in 1992 and be the Met's sole representative in that year's All-Star game, pitching to a 9-4 record and a 2.55 ERA. That, however, was sadly not enough for the Mets to keep Coney in Queens. On August 27th, he would be traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Ryan Thompson, a player who ended up having one or two good seasons in the name of Jeff Kent.

Coming Home Again and Again

After a brief stint North of the border, which would see him win his first World Series, Cone would return to his hometown Royals. Not only would Coney return home, but he would also earn his first and only Cy Young Award in the strike-shortened season of 1994. After the strike, Cone would be traded again to the Blue Jays before returning to New York when he was traded to not the Mets but the Yankees in 1995. It was in the Bronx where Cone would become a household name. Cone would go on to win 4 more world championships, appear in 2 more all-star games, become an MLB wins leader in 1998, and on July 18th, 1999, would have his career-defining moment when he pitched a perfect game against the Montreal Expos. Like Barkley, seeing a beloved family member leave for a rival is unbearble to watch.

When people think about David Cone, they will inevitably picture him dropping to his knees in elation as Scott Brosius caught the final pop-up. Fans will not think of him winning 20 games with the Mets; they will not think of him striking out 19 Phillies with the Mets or anything else with the Mets. Most baseball fans would be hard-pressed to name any team that Cone played for besides the Yankees, but that's the break. So, Giants fans are feeling bad about Saquon; it happens to some franchises more than once, so count your blessings.