All 5 players the Mets acquired at the 2022 trade deadline remain free agents as spring training nears

The 2022 MLB trade deadline brought such sorrow to New York Mets fans that it’s something many will take to their graves. If the team only did this instead of that, maybe there would’ve been a parade at the end of the journey.

As bad as it was in the moment, many of those trades have continued to age even more poorly. Amazingly enough, on Valentine’s Day 2024, none of the five players the team acquired at the 2022 trade deadline has a contract. Coincidence or are they just not very good?

None of the Mets trade deadline additions from 2022 may end up with a major league contract

Not even Phillip Diehl, whom the Mets acquired alongside Tyler Naquin from the Cincinnati Reds, was able to land a minor league deal yet despite zero expected holdout for one. Diehl never even pitched for the Mets at the major league level, but his inclusion is necessary for the full picture. Naquin is in the unemployment line along with the rest, too, as ball clubs weigh whether or not he's worth stashing in Triple-A.

Mychal Givens, the only other pitcher the Mets added, won’t get a major league contract. Appearing in only 4 MLB innings for the Baltimore Orioles last year and giving up 5 earned runs in the small sample will result in a trip to someone’s Triple-A squad.

Naquin had a similar experience last year, going 0 for 8 with 7 strikeouts for the Chicago White Sox. It doesn't stop there either. Somehow, these five seem to have all gotten even worse.

The two bigger names we recall are Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf. Linked together because of the platoon they had, Vogelbach rode out the entire 2023 season as a member of the Mets. David Stearns non-tendered him at the start of the offseason. Ruf, meanwhile, went homerless again in 57 plate appearances split between the San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee Brewers. He didn’t hit a single home run for the Mets after the trade. The streak continued into 2023 with a single dinger at the Triple-A level in 55 chances to show for it.

We all felt an itch at the 2022 trade deadline that the Mets’ moves were a little too small. Although how they’ve performed since leaving doesn’t affect us much, it seems to affirm those feelings we had in early August and through the end of the year.

Only Vogelbach has a chance at a major league contract. However, his limitations may result in a team thinking twice about guaranteeing him anything more than an invite to spring training.