NY Mets take an unintended stray from Jeff Passan while complimenting Brendan Donovan

Brendan Donovan was the latest major player traded, heading from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Seattle Mariners as part of a three-team deal that also invited the Tampa Bay Rays along for the ride. Somehow, despite not even making an appearance in the three-team trade, the New York Mets come away looking like the ones insulted most.

Jeff Passan dropped a tweet after the trade, comparing Donovan to Bo Bichette. The two aren’t really all that much alike. Donovan is a super utility player with a Gold Glove on his resume. Bichette has been one of baseball’s worst fielders but a superior hitter. Nevertheless, Passan drew up a comparison between two very different players from an offensive perspective limited to only the last three seasons.

Did Jeff Passan just insult the Mets or are we being too sensitive?

Picking the last three years seems suspicious because it takes away another 25% of what could be a four-year argument. Bichette’s abysmal 2024 season drags all of his numbers down. He was his usual awesome self in 2022 when Donovan debuted and was third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Bichette, about a year and two months younger than Donovan, has been the superior hitter in his career. In some regards not majorly different, Bichette’s 24 home runs per 162 games versus Donovan’s 13 is significant.

Donovan profiles as a light-hitting number two hitter while Bichette feels ideal for the number three spot in the lineup. He’s a two-time hits leader with a lifetime .294 batting average. Donovan has the major edge when it comes to drawing walks, but when it comes to hitting the ball and hitting it far, Bichette wins by a mile.

Passan’s biggest wrongdoing with this post might not even be the unintended insult at the Mets. Donovan isn’t flashy. He’s also far from underappreciated. His career has been consistent with batting averages ranging only 9 points apart. He has never finished with an OPS over .800. Bichette only fell below that mark once, conveniently for Passan’s point in 2024 when it was shy of .600.

The intentional target of Passan’s post wasn’t to embarrass the Mets, but credit the Mariners for getting a quality player who can do Bichette-level things on a lighter level. If we weren’t already convinced everyone was out to get the Mets all of the time, we’d see this for its actual intent.

Donovan happened to be a Mets offseason target, likely as a left field option. All it cost them was money to land him while the Mariners gave up prospects. All things equal, what’s the better situation? No doubt it's the overpriced one-year deal with Bichette whose best seasons trounce whatever Donovan will do with the M's.