5 former Mets players still in MLB the team gave up on too early and whether it was justified

2) The NY Mets gave up on Justin Turner too early

For nearly a decade Mets fans have had to suffer knowing the team gave up on Justin Turner too soon. In this instance, it’s a little less justified than with d’Arnaud. Turner was a part-time infielder for the Mets for several seasons where he put up pedestrian numbers. His 2013 campaign included a .280/.319/.385 slash line. It wasn’t bad but the team decided to non-tender him in the offseason.

He’d join up with the Dodgers and put together a big season in 2014. Turner hit .340/.404/.493 in 322 trips to the plate. He slowly became a core member of their lineup and would continue to pound baseballs in Hollywood through the 2022 season.

Turner also happened to win a World Series after leaving the Mets. Now with the Boston Red Sox in 2023, he’s a guy the Mets had no clue would become a player to land on a list like this. 

The pain of seeing Turner become one of the best third basemen in baseball for as long as he did is especially painful considering the carousel of players the Mets had at the position around David Wright’s absences. Turner could have been a huge difference-maker in Queens. Instead, he became a friend turned enemy.