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

When a player leaves their team, they can do it with grace if handled correctly. Taking out an advertisement somewhere to say “thanks” is the traditional thing to do. A tweet. An Instagram post. We’ve seen plenty of New York Mets players leave the team with their bridge fully intact.

It’s not always the case. These three recent examples prove not even some of the most important guys will get an ovation when their tribute video plays once they return to Citi Field. For different reasons, each left with a burned bridge between them and the fans.

1) Noah Syndergaard

Beloved early on, Noah Syndergaard is one of the biggest personalities to pass through the Mets locker room in recent years. He was the kind of guy they needed in 2015 and 2016 as they competed for a title. His talent matched his toughness. Unfortunately, injuries and some less stellar seasons after the first year and a half made him more of a rumored franchise icon than one who actually lived up to the hype.

Many fans stayed loyal to him. He was one of the first truly entertaining MLB players on social media. Syndergaard no doubt has a sense of humor. There did come a point late in his Mets tenure where being trendy on Twitter looked more important than his success on the field.

The huge blow came when Syndergaard required Tommy John Surgery in 2020 which essentially ended his time with the Mets. It didn’t have to. As the choice of accepting a qualifying offer from the Mets weighed on him post-2021, all signs pointed toward Syndergaard’s desire to stay with the Mets. That was until the Los Angeles Angels offered him more money.

Syndergaard appeared to use the Mets for some leverage in getting his $21 million from the Angels. Not a significant amount more than the $18.4 million he would’ve received from the Mets if he accepted the qualifying offer, what rubbed some the wrong way was how he reportedly didn’t give his now-former team a chance to match the offer.

Syndergaard hasn’t been anywhere close to the same pitcher he was in the years since. Add in his trolling of the Mets’ no-hitter in 2022 and a once-fan favorite turned into an enemy.

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.