Mets can take a cue from the Padres after their latest DFA

The New York Mets face the San Diego Padres over the weekend in what should’ve been a potential preview of the NLCS. Instead, it’ll be a battle between two of the game’s most disappointing clubs of the 2023 season. Both teams spent a whole lot of money in the offseason only to come away with a fourth-place spot in their division and little hope of winning a wild card.

From afar, the Padres look like a frustratingly built team. One we can understand is the failed platoon of Nelson Cruz and Matt Carpenter. The righty/lefty split hasn’t worked out well for the Padres. On the Fourth of July, they got independent from Cruz with the veteran slugger getting designated for assignment.

Cruz was on only a $1 million deal for the 2023 season. Close to the $1.5 million Daniel Vogelbach is earning from the Mets, it’s time to take a cue from the Padres and dump their DH deadweight, too.

The brief hot streak from Daniel Vogelbach has gone cold, give those at-bats to someone else

Somebody else. Anybody else. The Vogelbach experience is exhausting.

The Mets should take note of how Cruz was performing at the time of his DFA. A .245/.283/.399 slash line with 5 home runs and 23 RBI bested the .209/.321/.342 slash line from Vogelbach at the start of play on Tuesday. Coincidentally enough, Vogey also had 5 dingers and 23 RBI when we found out Cruz was gone from San Diego.

Not much has changed with Vogelbach. He plays regularly and doesn’t do a whole lot when he is in the lineup. His last hit came on June 27 against the Milwaukee Brewers. He walked on Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Before that ball four, his most recent was on June 17 versus the St. Louis Cardinals. He is swinging the bat more but after getting his average up to .230 on June 21, it’s in freefall mode again.

The Padres aren’t the best example to learn a lesson from. In this case, they’re setting an example for the Mets to follow.