5 former Mets player fan favorites without a job as spring training nears

Who's interested in a forced reunion?
St. Louis Cardinals v New York Mets - Game One
St. Louis Cardinals v New York Mets - Game One / Al Bello/GettyImages
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MLB free agency has never been a discussion in a single Fast & Furious film mostly because there’s nothing fast about it. Furious can apply. Fans and players have waited around furiously for months for many of the roster moves to take place. Amazingly, we’re in the last leg of January and a couple of notable free agents are still out there and available. Included in this bunch are these former New York Mets fan favorites.

Honorable Mention: Noah Syndergaard

The fan favoritism of Noah Syndergaard is something philosophers can debate in the future. Often it’s how things end that define how a player is remembered. In that case, Syndergaard is anything but a fan favorite.

Electric with a big personality? Yes, he crosses off that check box. But with him sitting out there in free agency, only the Mets fans who have a jersey of his still hanging in the closet think of him as a former Mets player the way we will with many others. Because of Tommy John Surgery, we’re now a half-decade removed from when he last played a full season with the team.

Syndergaard will settle for an honorable mention on this list because of how important he was for a time as a member of the Mets. Not nearly as well-liked anymore as these other remaining free agents, there was a time when he was the most popular guy on the roster. It came sometime in between Matt Harvey getting hurt and Jacob deGrom taking off as the best pitcher in baseball. Let’s call it the 2016 regular season.

The fandom for him in New York dropped when he fled for the Los Angeles Angels after hinting he'd stay in New York. His trolling of the Mets no-hitter didn't help matters either nor did his skipping starts against his ex-ball club.