3 Mets contracts we immediately knew were a mistake

Fans can live up to their name and be fanatical. They can also realize a mistake the front office made before the ink dries on a new contract. The New York Mets have signed some players who immediately looked like a poor match.

The fans aren’t always right with their immediate assumptions about a player. In these three cases, the evidence was there.

1) NY Mets fans knew the Oliver Perez contract was a bad idea

The Mets had a way to escape Oliver Perez after the 2008 season. A horrific first 7 starts for them in 2006 should have been enough. Because he did pull things together for a good 2007 and solid 2008 campaign, the team decided it was worth bringing him back.

Perez signed a three-year deal worth $36 million in 2009. This was great money back then for a pitcher. It’s not even that out-of-line in today’s world for an MLB pitcher in the middle or back of a rotation.

Over the last three seasons, Perez had gone 28-30 with a 4.52 ERA. Atrociously wild at times, he was about to get even worse.

Perez would go 3-9 with a 6.81 ERA in 112.1 innings of work on this new deal. He made only 21 starts and 10 relief appearances. The Mets wouldn’t even let him find redemption. Before the third season with the club even began, they released him.

All of the warning signs had been there with Perez. The Mets may have been hoping that those struggles were partly because of his age. Luckily, this wasn’t a particularly long contract. It was also during a time period when there wasn’t much else to cheer about. Perez was one of many problems with the ball club.

3) NY Mets fans were puzzled by the Jed Lowrie signing from the start

Jed Lowrie was a member of the 2019 and 2020 Mets. I swear!

It was a puzzling move. The veteran infielder was signed by a team that had already brought in second baseman Robinson Cano via trade. He could have been an option at third base if not for the presence of Todd Frazier over there. Plus, where was rising star Jeff McNeil going to play?

This was possibly the biggest Brodie Van Wagenen blunder of all. Lowrie was signed to a two-year deal worth $20 million. It was far more than his market value. It’s embarrassing to look back at the deal when it first occurred because already it felt wrong.

Lowrie would go on to get hurt in the spring and the mysterious leg injury lingered throughout 2019. He eventually received 8 plate appearances with a walk being his only moment of reaching first base. Lowrie didn’t play the field at all for the Mets. After a career-year for the Oakland Athletics in 2018, the Mets were stuck with a magician who could make $20 million disappear along with himself. This might be enough evidence to make Lowrie a D.B. Cooper suspect.

Fans can jump to conclusions with certain contracts. In these three instances, our guts were right. They were the wrong moves to make.