5 best Mets who spent 1 year or less with the team

NY Mets one year wonder: Marlon Byrd

Still two years away from their return to the postseason, the 2013 Mets embodied a franchise firmly in rebuild mode, littered with a mix of well-traveled veterans and young prospects. One veteran that gave the team an unexpected offensive jolt was Marlon Byrd.

Entering his twelfth season and playing for his sixth different team, Byrd delivered the best statistical season of his career to that point. In 117 games with the Mets, he hit .285 with 21 home runs, 71 RBI, and a .848 OPS.

The Mets wisely cashed in on Byrd’s peak in value when they traded him and catcher John Buck to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a pair of prospects that August, just three days before Byrd’s 35th birthday. Coming back in the deal were reliver Vic Black, who posted a 2.83 ERA in just under 48 innings for the Mets, and Dilson Herrera, a young infielder who was eventually flipped to the Cincinnati Reds as part of the Jay Bruce trade during the 2016 stretch run.

Byrd would hit .364 in six playoff games for the Pirates that fall and bounced around the league for three more years before retiring after the 2016 season. And while his lasting impact for the Mets was minimal, it was a fitting example of a rebuilding team successfully taking a short-term flier on a low cost, high return signee.