3 Mets players we’ll be glad are gone, 2 we’ll wish they brought back

Au revoir! There was plenty of it after the 2023 New York Mets season ended. We bid farewell to a year with expectations so high that anything short of a trip to the World Series would’ve been disastrous.

The offseason got started early for the Mets with the hiring of David Stearns to become the new President of Baseball Operations. The plan wasn’t fully laid out immediately. His actions, on the other hand, indicated there would be some massive turnover.

Stearns cleared out as much of the 40-man roster as possible. Free agents were let go. Players were non-tendered. New names and faces entered the mix. Of those who left at the end of the year, it’s these three we’ll be most glad are gone. On the other side of the coin, a couple of members of the 2023 Mets looked like good fits to come back. We’ll wish they did.

We’ll be glad Carlos Carrasco is gone

Nothing personal. Carlos Carrasco seems like a good dude. Nice guys finish last. Carrasco finished last in a lot of places in 2023. In 20 starts and 90 innings. His 6.80 ERA was one of the worst for any Mets starting pitcher. The -1.3 WAR is tied for the worst for any Mets player since the year 2000.

There isn’t a good thing to say about Carrasco’s 2023 performance. There came a point late in the year when he was just taking the mound every few days to give others a little more rest. He wasn’t even desirable enough at the trade deadline for anyone to take him on. There was never a thought about bringing him back unlike post-2022 when the Mets had the choice to pick up his option or not.

Carrasco departs from the Mets with two terrible seasons as the buns on a very productive one in 2022. He somehow managed to give up as many runs in 2023 as he did in all of 2022 (71) despite appearing in 62 less innings. He even fell just three walks shy of the total from the season prior.

Carrasco returned to Cleveland on a minor league deal this offseason. The end is nigh for him.

We’ll be glad Daniel Vogelbach is gone

Daniel Vogelbach is not bad at what he does. If you need a left-handed hitter capable of going yard against a right-handed pitcher playing for a team with three vowels in its nickname on his mother’s birthday, he’s your guy. The vowels and birthday thing are made up. The point is Vogelbach is such a niche type of player, you’d probably never be in a situation where he can be his most effective.

Vogelbach’s limitations showed in his year and a half with the Mets. He never played an inning defensively. He could have been at first base at some point. The Mets thought otherwise.

His .233/.339/.404 slash line with 13 home runs in 319 plate appearances last year wasn’t nearly as bad as it felt. As slow on the bases as he is, it took away any of those favorable brownie points to justify having him around. Only in an emergency situation where your roster can truly afford to have a DH that can’t hit lefties does he work. The Mets weren’t built to handle it in 2023.

Vogelbach was non-tendered by the Mets and signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays this offseason. Like Carrasco, he was an obvious piece to trade at the deadline except no one bit. Fun at first, he won’t be missed.

We’ll be glad Trevor Gott is gone

No tears were shed when the Mets non-tendered Trevor Gott at the end of the year. A pitcher who came to the team in a complicated trade centered on the Mets eating Chris Flexen’s salary, Gott managed to show some signs of life as the season progressed. He finished with a 4.34 ERA in 29 innings for the Mets. It wasn’t enough for Stearns to justify keeping him around.

Gott’s year began with the Seattle Mariners where he was very good in the first month, elite in the second, and by the time June rolled around he was getting pummeled. It continued into July before August arrived when he was more of himself—a pitcher with an ERA of 4.91.

As some of his teammates did, Gott succeeded in the final month of 2023. He pitched to a 1.74 ERA in those final 10.1 innings. It might’ve had the Mets thinking twice about non-tendering him. Stearns didn’t buy in. Knowing there were better options available, he became a casualty at the non-tender deadline.

Gott will try his luck with the Oakland Athletics this season. Following the path of Trevor May, he should get every opportunity possible to rebuild whatever value he once had.

We’ll wish David Robertson came back

Immediately after David Robertson was traded by the Mets, thoughts of him returning as a free agent for 2024 were making the rounds. Some fans were insistent that it could happen despite Robertson being essentially blindsided by the trade to the Miami Marlins. The miserable time he spent there included the veteran getting removed from the closer role and riding out the rest of the year on a team that never had any business making the postseason.

Once it became clear the Mets wouldn’t be spending as freely this year, Robertson seemed less realistic of an option. His deal with the Texas Rangers is worth an identical $10 million this year with a $7 million mutual option in 2025 and $1.5 million buyout. It’s not a bank-breaking deal by any stretch. The Mets would have had trouble working his contract onto the books while filling out the rest of the bullpen.

We’ll never get to experience what it would be like with Robertson in a setup role in front of Edwin Diaz. This intended plan for 2023 fell by the wayside when Diaz got hurt and Robertson was thrust into a shared closer role with Adam Ottavino to begin the year.

Robertson might’ve imploded down the stretch with the Marlins, but his effectiveness for his time with the Mets feels far too fresh to completely dismiss the idea of having him on the ball club in 2024. For likely more than one reason, he’ll pitch elsewhere.