7 former All-Stars who had a recent cup of coffee with the Mets

During the Wilpon era, one signature move that became par for the course for the New York Mets was signing former All-Stars who were definitely past their prime. These former All-Stars were usually marketed as a “big signing” when, in reality, fans expected them to contribute about as much as Eric Campbell did. They also often played, at most, one season in a Mets uniform.

Over the past few years, there have been a number of these “forgotten former All-Stars” to suit up in the orange and blue. Some of them had memorable moments while in Flushing, while others are so forgotten that I had no recollection of them until I wrote this article. And some, like Jed Lowrie, had a Mets tenure that was so unbelievably underwhelming that it became a meme and, therefore, I don’t consider that player “forgotten.”

I also set a time frame of “since 2016” for this article, so two-time All-Star Bobby Abreu’s brief stint with the Mets in 2014 just misses the cut.

Without further ado, enjoy a somewhat disappointing trip down memory lane with these former Mets.

Brian Dozier (All-Star season: 2015; Mets career: 2020)

Do you have trouble recalling anything notable about Dozier’s Mets career? You’re not alone, because it was very short and unremarkable. In 2020, the Mets signed Dozier to a Minor League deal as infield depth. After fellow infielder Eduardo Nunez injured his knee early in the shortened 2020 season, Dozier was recalled from the alternate training site to suit up for the Amazins.

Dozier’s best years had been with the Minnesota Twins. He came up there in 2012 and, after a bit of a slow start, kicked it into gear in 2015 with 28 home runs, 77 RBIs, 101 runs scored, and his only career All-Star selection. Dozier received AL MVP votes in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and won a Gold Glove at second base in 2017. After coming over to the National League via trade in 2018, Dozier won the World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019.

No one really expected him to produce All-Star-caliber numbers in Flushing, but he didn’t really get a chance to do so. He appeared in only seven games for the Mets, notching two hits and scoring one run. I’ll be honest and say that my main impression of Dozier while with the Mets was that he took several at-bats away from Andres Gimenez, but he did his best with the opportunity he was given after almost deciding to opt out of the shortened 2020 season.

Just as abruptly as Dozier’s Mets career began, it ended. With Robinson Cano back from the injured list, there wasn’t much room for Dozier. The Mets designated him for assignment on Aug. 23, 2020, and he was promptly released soon after that. The following February, Dozier announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. As has frequently been the case in recent years, a respected former All-Star got his last licks with the Mets.

Carlos Gómez (All-Star seasons: 2013, 2014; Mets career: 2007, 2019)

Gómez’s Mets tenure was a tale of two stints, the second of which I had completely forgotten about until recently. When he first came up to the Majors in 2007, he was a highly touted prospect revered alongside Lastings Milledge and Fernando Martinez. However, Gómez did not get much of a chance to prove himself in Queens the first time around. After appearing in 58 games in ‘07, he was part of a package that the Mets sent to the Twins in exchange for Johan Santana the following offseason. 

Gómez’s career didn’t flourish until he got to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010. His two All-Star seasons were in 2013 and 2014, during which he had several nearly identical stats:

2013: .284 average, .843 OPS, 24 homers, 73 RBIs, 40 stolen bases

2014: .284 average, .833 OPS, 23 homers, 73 RBIs, 34 stolen bases

As most Mets fans remember, Gómez nearly returned to the Mets in the famous “Wilmer Flores no-trade” incident in 2015. But what received much less of a media frenzy was when, in Spring Training of 2019, he signed with the Mets as a free agent. Gómez was not a major contributor to the Mets in his second go-around, hitting .198 over just 34 games before he was released at the end of June. Still, in his farewell tour, Gómez did provide a truly fantastic performance on May 23, 2019, contributing in myriad ways to a wild win over the Nationals.

Gómez formally retired from baseball in 2021 and was added to the Brewers’ Wall of Fame in a late September ceremony before a game that, coincidentally, was against the Mets.

Joe Panik (All-Star season: 2015; Mets career: 2019)

Panik is one of those random Mets utility infielders that I’ve developed a soft spot for over the years. He came to the Mets in the middle of the 2019 season, after Robinson Cano went on the injured list and they needed some help at second base. When the San Francisco Giants designated Panik for assignment on Aug. 7, the Mets quickly snatched him up.

Panik was never a flashy player, but he built a solid reputation for himself over six years in San Francisco. He debuted in 2014 and helped the Giants win their third World Series title in five years, finishing sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting (the same year that Jacob deGrom took home the award) and hitting .305 over 79 games. Panik was an All-Star the following year and won a Gold Glove at second base in 2016.

His very first game in Flushing was a wild one -- Aug. 9, 2019, when the Mets came back from three runs down vs. the Nationals in the ninth thanks to a home run from Todd Frazier and a walk-off hit from Michael Conforto. Panik played a role in that electric comeback, notching a hit in that thrilling ninth inning.

He also delivered a big blow in the season finale, a back-and-forth affair vs. the Atlanta Braves that ended with Dom Smith blasting a walk-off home run in his first at-bat off the injured list. In the bottom of the eighth, with the game tied 3-3, Panik belted a solo homer that, briefly, gave the Mets the lead, though the game ultimately went 11 innings.

I might be biased here, but Panik is the only player on this list that actually exceeded my expectations while with the Mets. He was a solid fill-in at second and consistently made contact at the plate. I wish him well.

Héctor Santiago (All-Star season: 2015; Mets career: 2019)

I must confess that I remember Santiago being on the Mets, but I had absolutely no idea he had been an All-Star. The lefty hurler began his MLB career with the Chicago White Sox in 2011 and peaked with the Los Angeles Angels in his All-Star campaign of 2015. That year, he was stellar in the first half for the Halos, pitching to a 2.33 ERA over 18 games (17 starts). During the second half, however, he came down to Earth, delivering a 5.47 ERA in 15 starts.

Santiago is somewhat infamous in Metsland, though not entirely by his own doing. When the Amazins signed him in January 2019, then-general manager Brodie Van Wagenen made the bold proclamation that this transaction signified good things to come for the Mets.

Since then, this statement has become a meme among Mets fans. It looks even worse in retrospect because Santiago appeared in just eight games in Queens, allowing six earned runs in eight innings for a 6.75 ERA. He was released on June 18, 2019, which ended his Mets tenure. Contrary to what Van Wagenen pronounced, Santiago's arrival did not end up representing "improvements to the roster."

Santiago was back in the spotlight in 2021, when he was the first MLB pitcher to be suspended for using foreign substances on his glove. Soon after returning from that absence, he was suspended 80 games after testing positive for PEDs.

Michael Wacha (All-Star season: 2015; Mets career: 2020)

Wacha’s brief Mets career was, to put it mildly, unsuccessful. He arrived in Flushing in 2020, along with fellow starter Rick Porcello, and was described to Mets fans at the time as a “replacement” for future All-Star and Cy Young finalist Zack Wheeler. 

Wacha was coming off of several solid-to-very-good seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. His finest moment came in his rookie season, when he did not allow a run over two starts in the 2013 NLCS and was named the series MVP. Wacha was an All-Star two years later, when he went 10-3 with a 2.93 ERA in the first half of 2015. 

As a Met, however, he was not quite as dazzling. In the shortened 2020 season, Wacha had a 6.62 ERA over eight starts, allowing four-plus runs in five of those starts and only making it through six innings once. He was a part of a Mets rotation that largely struggled outside of Jacob deGrom in 2020, and lasted just one season in Queens.

The Wacha signing was not a terrible idea, in theory, but it was apparent throughout his Mets tenure that the right-hander would not be able to magically recapture his dominance from seven years prior. He may have taken Wheeler's No. 45, but Wacha was not able to "wheel and deal" as much as the Flushing faithful would have liked.

José Bautista (All-Star seasons: 2010-2015; Mets career: 2018)

Last, but certainly not least, is Joey Bats. He enjoyed three months with the Mets in 2018 after being released by the Braves. Before that, Bautista made most of his career highlights during his 10-year career with the Toronto Blue Jays, which featured the bat flip to end all bat flips against the Texas Rangers in the 2015 ALDS.

From 2010 through 2015, Bautista was a perennial All-Star and a frequent MVP candidate. During that time, he won three Silver Sluggers, clobbered 227 home runs, and became a franchise icon in Toronto. 

By the time he arrived in Flushing in 2018, some of the punch was gone from Bautista’s bat, but he still had some magic left in him. Until that point, Bautista had, somehow, never hit a walk-off home run. That quickly changed once he put on the orange and blue. His most memorable Mets moment, by far, came on July 6, 2018, when he blasted a walk-off grand slam to secure a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. 

As per usual, he did it in style. On the first pitch from Rays reliever Chaz Roe in the bottom of the ninth, Bautista belted a long home run into the second deck in left field, clearing the bases and sending the Citi Field faithful home happy.

Bautista’s Mets career ended less than two months later, when he was unceremoniously traded to the Phillies for cash considerations. He may not have single-handedly vaulted the 2018 Mets into contention, but for one summer night, Joey Bats was the king of Queens.