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3 popular free agents the Mets turned out to be right to let leave during their prime
The popularity of a player can sometimes convince the front office it’s better to sign a guy than to let him walk away. The New York Mets are guilty of occasionally signing a player for this reason and then eating a lot of money when he tails off.
In other instances, the Mets moved on from free agents who looked like they were in their prime but apparently weren’t. A mix of injuries and off-the-field issues made the decision to move on from these three players easier.
1) Darryl Strawberry left the NY Mets and things quickly fall apart
After the 1990 season, Darryl Strawberry left the Mets for his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s a little hard to fully grasp how big of a star Strawberry was in the 1980s if you weren’t around for. Few players in Mets history compare to the stature he was able to reach. Maybe his 252 home runs with the Mets in eight seasons or All-Star selections every season from 1984-1990 with the team can help represent what a talented player he was.
Strawberry’s first year with the Dodgers was a success. He put up similar numbers from his prime years with the Mets. Unfortunately, drug abuse and injuries caught up to him. Strawberry played in only 43 games in 1992 and another 32 for the Dodgers in 1993. He wasn’t able to finish his contract with the team. The Dodgers released him in late May after he failed to show up for a game. He had a short stint with the San Francisco Giants in the 1994 season and returned to the field in 1995 as a member of the New York Yankees following a suspension for cocaine.
Strawberry would become a redemption story in his final years while participating as a part-time player for the Yankees from 1995-1999. Those latter seasons didn’t compare to his Hall of Fame track he was on early on with the Mets. Life for him and the Mets could’ve been much different if he stayed in Queens. We’ll never know for sure. We can just be happy Strawberry seems to have turned his life around for the better.
2) Edgardo Alfonzo was a popular Mets player whose back got the best of him
Edgardo Alfonzo put up some monstrous numbers in the late 1990s. He regularly hit over .300 for the Mets. Somewhat overlooked by those who weren’t around to witness it or know how to navigate Baseball-Reference, he hit for some pretty good power. His 41 doubles, 27 home runs, and 108 RBI in 1999 all set new personal highs.
Alfonzo became a free agent after the 2002 season. He was coming off of two straight years where he missed some time, but a very productive year featuring a .308/.391/.459 slash line in 135 games for the Mets.
The San Francisco Giants ended up signing Alfonzo. His performance went downhill in the first year before he was able to get a little closer to his prime years in season number two. Unfortunately, Alfonzo missed a lot of time in 2005. He appeared in 109 games for the Giants. It was his lowest following his rookie season in 1995.
He ended up traded in December of 2005 to the Los Angeles Angels for Steve Finley. He’d appear in only 18 games for the Angels, batting .100/.135/.120 in his 52 plate appearances. After cutting ties, he finished off with the Blue Jays putting up only slightly better numbers in those 12 games.
The Mets certainly could have used Alfonzo for a few years but given the way their team was performing from 2003-2005, he would’ve been more of a payroll burden on a losing squad than an actual contributor.
3) The NY Mets let Jose Reyes walk after winning a batting title and it was the right move
Jose Reyes would return to the Mets at the very end of his career for three more seasons. There was a gap in between. After winning the 2011 batting title, the Mets moved on and Reyes signed a monster contract with a re-branded Miami Marlins team eager to spend money.
The Marlins were a disaster despite Reyes putting up some pretty good numbers. He led the league in plate appearances with 176 while batting .287/.347/.433. Reyes would go on to steal 40 bases for the last time in his career—something he hadn’t done since 2008.
The decline we saw from Reyes was less sudden. He developed into a different player. Age caught up and he was no longer the same stolen base threat he was in his prime years. It wasn’t anything unusual. He’d have a couple of good years with the Toronto Blue Jays following a massive trade away from the Marlins but ended up with the Colorado Rockies in the middle of the 2015 season. It was while employed by them he was arrested for alleged domestic abuse. He was placed on administrative leave and designated for assignment by the Rockies before playing a game for them again in 2016.
Keeping Reyes after the 2011 season would’ve had some pros but the Mets fall into the same trap in the Alfonzo case and even with Strawberry to some degree. The teams weren’t all that good after any of these free agents left. In part related to each leaving, we can look back at the overall production and what would later happen as a positive.
Imagine Reyes on a pricy contract and underperforming on the 2015 Mets. It could have been a reason for the ball club to not acquire Yoenis Cespedes. We never get the epic Wilmer Flores home run days after his tears brought the same from us.
Next. 5 most clutch Mets pitching performances. dark