3 former Mets failing miserably with their new teams in 2024

These three ex-Mets want a do-over on 2024 already.

Apr 12, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Flexen (77) reacts
Apr 12, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Flexen (77) reacts / Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
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How about those former New York Mets? As the team in Queens looks to fight to stay above .500, these exes are playing somewhere else and having a miserable time.

Now four weeks into the 2024 campaign, these former Mets are ready to hit the reset button and start all over again. Only players who changed uniforms this offseason will be included and all three, in some capacity, were members of the Mets organization in 2023. Javier Baez gets a break.

1) Chris Flexen

Technically a two-time member of the Mets because he was brought back in 2023 only to be immediately designated for assignment, Chris Flexen’s true time with the ball club took place from 2017-2019. Flexen was one of the more ineffective pitchers to come up through the system and onto the major league roster. In 68 innings for the Mets he went 3-11 with an 8.07 ERA.

After pitching successfully overseas, Flexen came back with vengeance and was a whole different pitcher for the Seattle Mariners in 2021 and 2022. Unfortunately, he devolved in 2023 and would finish with a 6.86 ERA in 102.1 innings of work as a member of the Mariners and Colorado Rockies.

This year, it’s the Chicago White Sox who gave him a chance. Like so many of his teammates, Flexen is off to a miserable start. He has already been moved out of the rotation. The misery isn’t all his fault. In his five appearances, the White Sox have been outscored 37-1.

How bad has it been? Flexen is 0-3 with a 6.41 ERA in 19.2 innings. His best outing came against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 7-0 loss when he tossed 4 shutout frames in relief.

The Mets ended up paying $3.62 million of Flexen’s salary last year with the Mariners picking up $4.13 million. The White Sox, meanwhile, will owe him $1.75 million in 2024 even if he doesn’t last the full season. Right now, it’s not looking like he will.

2) Daniel Vogelbach

Many felt like Daniel Vogelbach was eating up a roster spot on the Mets last year. Well, he’s gobbling up one again on the Toronto Blue Jays this season. The 31-year-old is barely playing with most of his appearances coming as a pinch hitter. The same shortcomings we witnessed in New York are there. Vogelbach is a patient hitter, sometimes to an extent to make fans nauseous. 

Vogelbach started as the DH for the Blue Jays on April 24 but hadn’t had a plate appearance since April 17. His last start before Wednesday was way back on April 13. Those chances to get regular at-bats just aren’t there even with all of the right-handed pitchers Toronto faces.

The Blue Jays must’ve known what they were getting into when they signed Vogelbach to a minor league contract. A low-risk deal, it’s livable if you have room on the roster for such a rarely used player. This was the mistake the Mets made. They didn’t have the space. They lacked the will to bench him.

Now 9 games and 22 plate appearances into his season, Vogelbach is predictably hitting .118/.318/.176. He has 5 walks and 6 strikeouts. Two of those Ks came in his start on Wednesday after a week to grow cold.

There’s a 100% chance Vogelbach ends up DFA’d within weeks. Toronto isn’t getting anything out of him. Didn’t they see the warning signs from his time with the Mets last year?

3) Gary Sanchez

The Gary Sanchez era in Flushing lasted 3 games, 7 plate appearances, and weeks of speculation as to what he could offer them. Then the Mets designated him for assignment after just one hit and he found his way onto the San Diego Padres roster where he did a lot of the same things he did in the past. Sanchez would power 19 home runs all with a less than satisfactory .218/.292/.500 slash line.

It took Sanchez a while to find a job again this offseason. It was the Milwaukee Brewers who ended up signing him to be a DH/catcher/first baseman.

The change of scenery did him no good. Through 13 games and only 38 plate appearances, Sanchez is batting .167/.211/.361 with a pair of home runs. Although striking out much less than usual with only 6, Sanchez has drawn just 2 walks. A lack of consistent playing time might have the slugger a little overeager.

It’s difficult to see Sanchez earning much more playing time. Milwaukee catcher William Contreras is one of the best hitters in baseball this season. Although Rhys Hoskins has cooled off drastically since helping to hand the Mets a couple of early losses, his performance is far superior to what Sanchez has offered. Expect the Brewers to look for a more legitimate backup catcher at some point. Sanchez has 2 passed balls already in only 34 innings behind the plate.

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