The forgotten teenage NY Mets prospect who ended up winning 20 games for the Yankees

In the earlier days of Major League Baseball, it was easier to never know which players were in the New York Mets farm system. No internet, no knowledge. How ironic.

On July 12, 1966, the Mets signed a teenager from Puerto Rico named Ed Figueroa. Yes, that Ed Figueroa. The one who took a while to develop and would win 19, 16, and 20 games in his first three seasons with the Yankees.

Ed Figueroa is a forgotten Mets prospect you probably didn’t know about

Figueroa was an underrated pitcher in the mid-1970s who finished fourth in the Cy Young in 1976 and seventh in 1978. It was the latter when he won 20 regular season games for the would-be Yankees World Series Champions.

Perhaps because he came up small in the postseason he isn’t remembered as fondly as some others. An 0-4 record with a 7.47 ERA in the playoffs, Figueroa isn’t regarded in the same context as others.

More than a decade before he wore a World Series ring, Figueroa was still in his teens pitching in the minors for the Mets. The 1967 season was his most prolific, pitching 176 innings in the minor leagues and delivering a 2.05 ERA. An arm injury in 1968 sidelined him. The Mets released him. What was next?

An unexpected turn we’d probably never see today: Figueroa joined the Marine Corps and was sent to Vietnam in the heat of the war. Figueroa signed a deal with the San Francisco Giants and was eventually traded to the California Angels in the middle of the 1973 season. He debuted the next year and alongside Nolan Ryan, was a rising pitcher minus the strikeouts. Ryan and Figueora had already briefly been teammates in the farm for the Mets. Imagine that.

Figueroa never did become a high strikeout pitcher, finishing his career at 3.9 K/9. The ERA, a respectable 3.51, was more linked to his success. It didn’t hurt that he won so often with the Yankees.

Far from a “one who got away” in Mets history like so many others, Figueroa had a fascinating career path to eventually become a World Series Champion. It all started with a minor league deal as an amateur with the Mets in 1966, just months after the team won the rights to sign Tom Seaver.

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