Happy fifth birthday to the cringiest NY Mets tweet celebrating a free agent signing

What were you up to five years ago today? Maybe you were traveling to visit family or anxiously scrubbing down the kitchen floor to impress some neighbors whose opinions you don’t much care for anyway. Whatever it was you were doing, we all rejoiced at what the New York Mets were up to.

A day before Christmas in 2019, the Mets announced the official signing of their biggest free agent acquisition of the offseason. Dellin Betances was leaving the New York Yankees to join the Mets.

My, things have changed in New York since.

Remember when we were thrilled about the Mets stealing a broken down reliever from the Yankees?

Gosh, five years have gone by already? That must mean we’re closing in on a half-decade since the pandemic started. Betances came to Queens just ahead of the shortened 60-game campaign which saw him appear in 15 games and 11.2 innings. The results weren’t great. His 7.71 ERA fit in well with many others on the roster. This was a season where Mets pitching was miserable. The lack of spring training ramp up could have had something to do with it although it’s not as if everyone in the league was getting shelled on a daily basis.

The Mets had an idea of what they were getting themselves into. After five seasons dominating out of the Yankees bullpen, mostly as a setup man and not a closer, the 2019 season decided to strike him down. A shoulder injury kept him out until September. Upon his return, he tore his Achilles tendon before he could even complete an inning. 

Past success was enough for the Mets to overlook obvious signs of trouble. He was paid $7.5 million in 2020 (an amount that would end up prorated due to the shortened season) with a player option for 2021 which he couldn’t have opted into faster. That second season paid him $6 million.

He’d nearly repeat what he did in his final year with the Yankees. He recorded only one more out, finishing an inning with a run allowed. This time, it was the shoulder again. He wouldn’t pitch again for the Mets or anyone else in the big leagues. 

The only thing worse than this tweet of Betances standing by a Christmas tree as the gift would’ve been a Photoshopped image of Jed Lowrie as Iron Man when they added him the offseason prior. While non-existent, these are pretty good.