Showing Zack Wheeler the door and 3 other Brodie Van Wagenen decisions continuing to age poorly

2) Non-tendering Wilmer Flores

Knee issues for Wilmer Flores had the Mets thinking twice about tendering him a contract for the 2019 season. Perhaps the most beloved player in Mets history who was never a regular player, Flores has continued to prove those injury concerns false.

Once a free agent, Flores signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In a part-time role, he batted .317/.361/.487. Only the slugging percentage, which was a point shy, didn’t end up as the best of his career at the time.

Flores has aged quite gracefully. Long gone are his days at shortstop. However, in his last four years with the San Francisco Giants, Flores has played plenty of second base and third base in addition to first base. His bat has remained very much alive. In 2023, Flores batted .284/.355/.509 with 23 home runs and 60 RBI in 454 trips to the plate.

By the time the 2024 season is through, Flores may be thought of as more of a Giants player than a Mets one. He’s only 110 games shy.

It’s hard to tell how Flores could’ve fit in with the Mets over all of these years. Chances are he might have left at some point, but the decision to non-tender him over injury concerns is laughable especially when we consider Van Wagenen would end up paying Jed Lowrie $20 million for two years to do nothing but pinch hit a few times and strike out in the majority of them.

Blame Level for BW: 10 out of 10 – Going from Wilmer Flores to Jed Lowrie is the icing on the cake and for the reason to be injuries, we get a cherry on top.