3 worst Mets contracts from the last 10 years

The New York Mets have an owner in Steve Cohen who won't shy away from a massive payroll. He's willing to just use money to help get out from under a mistake. The Wilpons were not the same way. They gave out some awful contracts that they did not have the ability to recover from just by spending more money.

The Mets refused to spend money for a large part of the last decade but there are some deals they gave out that we still shake our heads at. Here are the three worst.

3) NY Mets "Infielder" Jed Lowrie - 2 years/$20 million dollars

Jed Lowrie was signed to be a super utility infielder of sorts. He didn't have a set position but was going to be a great piece that could play 4-5 times per week at three of the four infield positions. Lowrie was coming off of an all-star season with Oakland and there was a lot of excitement bringing a player of his caliber in for a team that had just traded for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz.

Lowrie ended up hurting himself in Spring Training and needed surgery. The problem is, the Mets did not let him get the surgery needed. Lowrie was limited to just eight plate appearances which occured when the Mets were out of contention. He went hitless in those eight plate appearances while striking out four times and drawing a walk.

The reason I have parenthesis around infielder is because Lowrie did not play a single inning in the field as a Met. Two years $20 million dollars isn't the worst contract in the world but when you never play, it's pretty ugly.

2) NY Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes - 4 years/$110 million dollars

When the Mets traded for Yoenis Cespedes he took the New York baseball world by storm. Who can forget the absurd second half he had in 2015 once the Mets acquired him. He practically willed the Mets to a division title. He then followed that up with a monster year in 2016 and willed them back to the postseason despite half of their roster being on the IL.

The Mets rewarded Cespedes with a lucrative four-year contract worth $110 million dollars after the 2016 season. The contract at the time was the highest AAV ever for an outfielder and tied the highest AAV for a position player free agent signing. it's safe to say that contract didn't age anything close to the way the Mets expected it to.

Cespedes hit the ball extremely well in 2017 but he played in only 81 games. This was followed by 38 games played in 2018, zero in 2019, and eight in 2020 before he opted out of the shortened season.

Cespedes dealt with numerous injuries and had his own troubles off the field like when he fractured his ankle running away from a wild boar or when he disappeared from the team right before he opted out in 2020.

I'll always remember 2015 and 2016 but after signing his big extension, Cespedes was rarely seen on the field. Hopefully we'll see him at an Old Timer's Day soon.