3 recent instances where a Mets player burned a bridge with the fans after leaving

2) Marcus Stroman

The relationship between Mets fans and Marcus Stroman is way too complicated to dissect without a team of NASA scientists. Rumors of him throwing a fit upon learning he had been traded to the Mets and not the Yankees had us all immediately wondering who Brodie Van Wagenen had just added.

Stroman played nice with the fans in 2019 and much of the debate about him was more on whether or not he was overrated on the field than not. Things were tame. It was the typical baseball argument about a player’s ability.

Things turned a little sour in 2020 when Stroman dragged out an injury long enough into the shortened year where he’d become free agent eligible. You see, sitting on the IL for a certain number of days and opting out after, he accrued enough service time to hit free agency at the end of the year. It was a smart play to game the system. Something about it still felt dirty.

Unlike Syndergaard, Stroman accepted the qualifying offer and returned in 2021. He was terrific although the constant self-praise on Twitter was a little too much for people with humility and tact.

A line was crossed with Stroman allegedly receiving racist threats. This is enough for anyone to get angry. However, Stroman seemed to make it out that all Mets fans were bigots. Saying he was glad to be out of the organization upon leaving felt like a slap in the face to his genuine supporters.

Stroman still seems to hold a grudge against the Mets organization. Whenever he gets the chance, he knocks them over. The collateral damage becomes the fans caught in the crossfire. Him returning to New York to pitch for the Yankees seems counterintuitive to the grief he received while playing in New York last time. This isn’t going to end well.