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

3) The Jake Marisnick trade

Van Wagenen had an obsession with trading players for fifth outfielders. For the 2020 season, it was Jake Marisnick who would fight for that role. Unfortunately, the shortened season and an injury to Marisnick limited him to only 16 games. He did hit well, slashing .333/.353/.606 for the Mets in limited action. Unfortunately, he was only a rental. Marisnick was gone before we even realized he was here. 

Now a journeyman outfielder who has played for six different teams post-Mets and appeared in only 176 games over those three seasons with a batting average under .230, we know things would’ve gone worse with more games.

The Mets gave up two players in this trade. The first, lefty reliever Blake Taylor, managed to piece together two very productive years out of the Houston Astros bullpen. A 2.18 ERA in the shortened 2020 season proved to be more than a fluke when he had a 3.16 ERA in 2021. He did struggle in 2022 and spent all of last year in Triple-A. Now a member of the Texas Rangers, we’ll have to see how much more this loss continues to hurt.

Not finished yet, the Met also surrendered Kenedy Corona in the deal. An outfielder who’ll turn 24 later this month, he’s a rising prospect in the Houston system. He hit 22 home runs and stole 32 bases in the minors last season with a .251/.331/.458 slash line. 

Corona was just a pup at the time of the trade with one year of professional experience. Do we hold it against Van Wagenen? Someone needs to be blamed. Corona finished last year as the 11th ranked prospect in the Astros’ system. Ouch!

Blame Level for BVW: 6 out of 10 – Who knew Blake Taylor would be so effective so quickly and Kenedy Corona would turn into a legitimate prospect? Apparently, the Astros and not Van Wagenen.