15 worst free agent signings in Mets history

Bad free agent signings and the New York Mets. There have been a lot. But there have also been some fantastic ones. Then there are those caught somewhere in between.

What makes a free agent signing so bad? Several factors are at play. Production on the field, ability to stay healthy, and the dollars and/or years included all combine to determine whether or not a free agent agreement turned out to be a good one for the team.

From the notoriously long deals to the ones that were just a tremendous pain for a single season, these are the 15 worst Mets free agent signings in franchise history.

15) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Michael Cuddyer

Michael Cuddyer was and could still be best friends with David Wright. After the 2014 season, with his career coming to a close, Wright was able to bring him to New York to teammate up with him on the Mets. The two-year deal worth $21 million wasn’t so bad for a guy who won the 2013 batting title and continued to rake in an injury-filled 2014 campaign.

Unfortunately, the injuries continued for Cuddyer in New York. What didn’t remain was his productive bat.

Cuddyer slashed .259/.309/.391 in his 408 plate appearances for the Mets. Way down from his lifetime numbers and especially what he did with the Colorado Rockies over the past two years, it was a huge disappointment.

By the end of the 2015 season, Cuddyer was hardly playing. The Mets had brought in reinforcements for their outfield. Cuddyer had suddenly become an expensive bench player.

Luckily for the Mets, Cuddyer chose to retire after the season was over. He turned down the final year of his contract voluntarily. The Mets could now go forward with a different outfield mix. Unfortunately, soon after they would end up signing the next guy on our list to replace Cuddyer.

14) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Yoenis Cespedes

The Yoenis Cespedes trade in 2015 is easily one of the best in franchise history. It’s a top-fiver for sure. But the free agent deal with him backfired completely.

No, not the first free agent deal. After the 2015 season was complete, the Mets signed Cespedes to a three-year deal worth $75 million. The problem was that it included an opt-out after the first year. Cespedes had a great year and chose to use it. Back in the free agent pool, he ended up with an even bigger contract. This time, it was a four-year deal worth $110 million. Oh boy.

It was during this contract that all of the funny business happened. Cespedes missed half of the 2017 campaign but played well when he was on the field. In 2018, he opened the year on the Mets but more injuries began to pop up and he would end the year with only 38 total appearances.

The entire 2019 campaign was a wash and in 2020 he returned for only eight games before opting out of the season. And like that, the Cespedes era was over.

There were plenty of weird moments with Cespedes in those four years. His heels took turns getting injured. Who can forget him allegedly getting attacked by a wild boar on his farm? The Mets had to sign Cespedes at the time. Unfortunately, it became one of their worst decisions.

13) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Moises Alou

The deal with Moises Alou is a strange one for the Mets because of what he was able to accomplish. He still has the franchise’s longest hitting streak. In his 102 games with the team, he managed to hit a rather fantastic .342/.391/.507.

So what’s to dislike?

Alou played 87 games in 2007 and only another 15 in 2008. They were his age 40 and 41 campaigns. You probably already have a picture as to why this is considered a bad free agent deal.

The contract was a two-year deal worth $15 million. This might seem a little light by today’s standard. However, back then, it was actually far more lucrative. Add in that Alou played only 98 games the season prior with the San Francisco Giants and we have to begin to question what the Mets were thinking to invest as much as they did into an aging outfielder.

Alou was successful with the Mets but it was a drastic overpay from the start. If he had stayed healthy, Alou would have been a wonderful story for the Mets. Maybe he even helps the team avoid collapse in those two seasons. Instead, he was a bad signing for a team that should have known better.

12) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Bernard Gilkey

The trade to get Bernard Gilkey to New York was brilliant. The Mets traded Yudith Ozorio, Erik Hiljus, and Eric Ludwick to the St. Louis Cardinals for him. Gilkey was fantastic in that first year. His 1996 campaign is regarded as one of the best by a Mets hitter of any era. The numbers hold up even today with Gilkey smacking 44 doubles, 30 home runs, and driving in 117 all with a .317/.393/.562 slash line.

Gilkey was able to turn that great year into a four-year contract worth $20.4 million. Again, remember how much lower player salaries were back then. This was a pricey free agent signing.

The monster year in 1996 would not continue into 1997. Gilkey hit only .249/.338/.417. His home runs dropped down to 18 and he drove in 78 runs. It was not what the Mets were hoping for.

In 1998, the Mets ended up trading him mid-year to the Arizona Diamondbacks. At the time, Gilkey was slashing .227/.317/.330 with only four home runs in 305 plate appearances. As quickly as they were able to re-sign him, the Mets appeared ready to move on. He headed to the Diamondbacks along with Nelson Figueroa in exchange for Willie Blair, Jorge Fabregas, and some cash.

11) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Rick Porcello

It lasted only one season and it was the shortest season in the history of the team. Rick Porcello agreed to a one-year contract with the Mets for the 2020 campaign. A $10 million contract after his lengthy deal with the Boston Red Sox was meant to give the former Cy Young winner a chance to rebuild his free agent stock.

Unfortunately, Porcello somehow managed to raise his ERA from the previous year with Boston. Porcello had gone 14-12 but with a 5.52 ERA in his last year with the Red Sox. Times had been tough on him ever since winning the 2016 Cy Young award.

In his one year with the Mets, Porcello would go 1-7 with a 5.64 ERA. The signing went so poorly that Porcello hasn’t pitched another professional game since even though he would have been just 32 the following year.

The stint with the Mets started off poorly with two losses in games where the Atlanta Braves scored double-digit runs. Lost and almost forgotten in the year when the pandemic began, the Porcello deal was one of the worst for the Mets. It may even more terrible because he was able to stay on the field and see his ERA rise and winning percentage fall.

By contrast to Michael Wacha and Dellin Betances—two other pitchers the team brought in that same offseason—at least Porcello was healthy. Wacha and Betances were bad deals for less money, though. Each also had a lot more potential than the clearly declining Porcello.

9) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Bobby Bonilla

Is it possible to do a list of worsts about the Mets and not mention Bobby Bonilla? It is but it’s not much fun.

Contrary to popular belief, Bonilla’s legacy contract that continues to mock the Mets didn’t come through free agency. The Mets reacquired him in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers in November of 1998. He was terrible for them in his one year but that isn’t why he makes this list.

As bad as that contract turned out to be for the Mets, it’s the initial free agent deal he signed prior to 1992 that lands him here. While Bonilla was a two-time All-Star for the Mets in the early 1990s, he fell far from the high expectations.

Those expectations were so high because of what he did with the Pittsburgh Pirates and also how gigantic his deal was at the time. The five-year deal worth $29 million in 1991 was the largest in team sports history. He would have to win at least one MVP to make the deal worth it.

Bonilla saw his numbers immediately decline in 1992 when he slashed .294/.348/.432 with 19 home runs and 70 RBI. Compared to the .302/.391/.492 with 18 home runs and 100 RBI he had the year prior with Pittsburgh, it was a huge disappointment.

Bonilla would hit better in the following years but it wasn’t anything like the Mets had hoped. He was a member of the notorious 1993 club that lost over 100 games. He and his teammates provided the perfect example that you can’t always buy a championship.

8) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Jeurys Familia

A worse free agent signing than Bonilla? Yep. There are eight more.

The Jeurys Familia reunion prior to 2019 is one of them. His initial run with the Mets was good with the 2015 and 2016 regular seasons standing out as two of the best ever by a Mets closer. After he was traded in mid-2018, fans were able to say goodbye and move onto the next phase of the franchise. When they traded for Edwin Diaz, it looked like that was exactly what the team had planned.

Then the winter meetings came and the Mets brought Familia back to become a setup man. His first year was a miserable one, pitching to a 5.70 ERA. He was better in the next two seasons, having ERAs of 3.71 and 3.94.

What made this such a bad deal was how much money he got to eventually fall into nothing more than an untrustworthy veteran in the bullpen. The three-year contract gave him $6.66 million in 2019 and $11.66 million in each of the following two seasons. He was getting closer money without actually closing.

At the time, fans weren’t too pleased but understood the rationale. Maybe Familia could be better in the eighth inning.

In hindsight, it’s one of the worst free agent deals the Mets made.

7) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Kazuo Matsui

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was a craze for pitchers from Japan to come over to North America and play Major League Baseball. Some exceled. Ichiro Suzuki is one of the greats of the game. The guy the Mets signed, Kazuo Matsui, wasn’t close.

The deal, signed prior to the 2004 season, was a three-year contract worth $20 million. It was good money in those days. The Mets were going into a different market to answer their shortstop question.

It was odd, though, because they had a young kid named Jose Reyes around, too. Reyes spent a lot of the 2004 season at second base while Matsui had shortstop duties. It proved to be a bad plan with the two swapping spots in 2005.

In his two-plus years with the Mets, Matsui batted .256/.308/.363 with no particular number standing out other than hitting a home run in his first at-bat. He performed like a number eight hitter might yet he was getting paid as if he was going to help turn the franchise around.

The Mets ended up trading him in June of 2006 to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Eli Marrero. The excitement and the hype had officially ended. Matsui was an international free agent bust the team had never experienced before.

6) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Luis Castillo

Mets fans remember Luis Castillo for one moment. With two outs in the Bronx, he dropped a routine pop up to allow the New York Yankees to win the game. It became one of the most notorious errors in club history. It may be the worst in a regular season game, too.

Castillo is like a couple of other guys on this list. He first joined the Mets through a trade. Acquired in mid-2007 from the Minnesota Twins, he actually hit well for the Mets in his first 50 games that season. The light-hitting second baseman batted .296/.371/.372.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just a rental. Castillo re-signed with the Mets in the offseason. The deal was a $25 million contract for four years. Like so many bad free agent signings in Mets history, injuries and a bad performance when healthy wrecked the deal.

Castillo played in 87 games in 2008 while batting .245/.355/.305. It was a poor start made worse by the way the team collapsed for the second straight year.

Somewhat quietly, Castillo returned to play in 142 games in 2009 and produce at the level we should have expected him to. He hit .302/.387/.346. Unfortunately, he was back to hitting .235/.337/.267 in only 86 games the following year. The Mets ended up releasing him in spring of 2011 before the final year of his contract was through.

5) NY Mets worst free agent signing: George Foster

The case claiming George Foster was a bad free agent signing is a deep one. He was one of the best power hitters of the 1970s. The Mets, hoping to reclaim the throne in the National League, acquired him from the Cincinnati Reds in a trade and then gave him a new contract. The five-year deal worth $10 million was one of the biggest in baseball.

Immediately, it looked like a bad deal. After all, Foster was already playing in his age 33 season when he first joined the Mets. His numbers took a quick slip with only a .247/.309/.367 slash line in year number one. His power also declined drastically with only 13 home runs in 608 plate appearances.

Foster would find his home run stroke again but he continued to hit for a low average and reach base far less than he did during his days with the Reds. During his five seasons with the Mets, Foster batted .252/.307/.422 with 99 home runs.

In 1986, ownership was ready to move on. The Mets released him on August 7. At the time, Foster was batting .227/.289/.429. They were prepared to replace him with Mookie Wilson or rookie Kevin Mitchell more regularly out in left field.

Foster finished off the season with the Chicago White Sox putting up similar numbers. It ended up as his last big league season.

The Mets made a lot of smart moves to rebuild the franchise in the early 1980s. The Foster contract was not among them.

4) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Jason Bay

Still fresh in the memory of most fans, Jason Bay enjoyed a superb final year with the Boston Red Sox in 2009. He finished seventh in the MVP race with a .267/.384/.537 slash line that also included 36 home runs and 119 RBI.

Naturally, the Mets thought it would be a wise idea to sign this budding star. The deal ended up being a four-year contract worth $66 million. Even in today’s money, it’s a decent amount.

What wasn’t so decent was Bay’s performance. In year one, he batted .259/.347/.402 with only 6 home runs in 401 trips to the plate. Staying on the field was Bay’s biggest issue that year and in the next two seasons.

But wait—I thought the Mets signed Bay to a four-year contract?

Bay only got worse over the next two years. He batted .245/.329/.374 in 2011 with 509 plate appearances. The following year, with only 215 trips to the plate, he hit .165/.237/.299. Unwilling to move forward with Bay as part of their outfield mix, the Mets released him after the third season of his contract was over.

Overall numbers for Bay in New York include a .234/.318/.369 batting line and only 26 home runs. It was a hugely disappointing free agent signing and one many fans haven’t been able to shake.

3) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Jed Lowrie

How do you even rate the Jed Lowrie signing? Seriously. It has to be the worst because of how little he played. It isn’t, though. At least he didn’t do damage to anything other than the payroll and the reputation of Brodie Van Wagenen.

Lowrie signed with the Mets after an All-Star season in 2018. An odd fit for the club in the first place, he suffered a preseason injury that knocked him out of action for all but 8 plate appearances in 2019. Each of them was a pinch-hitting performance. He struck out 4 times and walked once.

The deal wasn’t just a one-year contract either. Nope. Van Wagenen gave his former client a two-year deal worth $20 million. In 2020, Lowrie didn’t play a single game.

Somehow, Lowrie recovered from his injury and managed to play in 139 games for the 2021 Oakland Athletics. He’s on them again in 2022 and getting regular opportunities.

The Lowrie signing is one of the all-time modern Mets jokes. Even the most loyal fans have to laugh at what it meant for the team. It’s rare for a player to sign such a lucrative deal and completely disappear. This signing alone should ensure BVW never gets hired as a general manager ever again.

2) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Vince Coleman

While Lowrie’s impact on the Mets was mostly financial, the negative effect the Vince Coleman signing had was far worse. The speedy outfielder was a star in the 1980s, beginning his career with three straight 100+ stolen base campaigns. From 1985-1990, he led the league in stolen bases.

Then, as a free agent, he decided to leave the St. Louis Cardinals and sign a four-year deal worth $11 million with the Mets. Again, let’s take inflation and the state of contracts into account. This was prior to the 1991 season when this was some pretty good money for a professional athlete.

Coleman would only end up spending three years with the Mets before getting traded after the 1993 campaign. His greatest weapon, his speed, diminished greatly. He had stolen base seasons of 37, 24, and 38. Staying on the field was a challenge. His 92 games played in 1993 was the most he would accumulate.

To make matters worse, Coleman was a nuisance behind the scenes. From serious criminal allegations to carelessly injuring Dwight Gooden with a golf club by accident in the locker room, he became one of the most hated players to ever suit up for the blue and orange. The team had to suspend him more than once. Each time, it seemed justified.

1) NY Mets worst free agent signing: Oliver Perez

At least Oliver Perez wasn’t hurting teammates? Regardless of those brownie points, the worst free agent signing the Mets ever made was reuniting with the still active in 2022 lefty.

Perez first joined the Mets in mid-2006 where he was downright awful. In 7 starts after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Perez was 1-3 with a 6.38 ERA. It was an omen.

Because he was under contract, the Mets proceeded with the promising young lefty starter. He was much better in 2007, making 29 starts and going 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA. He was a little worst in 2008, going 10-7 with a 4.22 ERA but he did lead the league with 34 starts. The team decided they would re-sign him to a three-year deal worth $36 million. How bad could he possibly be?

Perez went 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA in his first 14 starts in 2009. By 2010, the deal was a complete failure. Perez was 0-5 with a 6.80 ERA in 7 starts and another 10 relief appearances. The Mets, with $12 million still owed to him for 2011, released him prior to the 2011 season.

Perez would famously reinvent himself as a left-handed reliever in 2012 with the Seattle Mariners. A decade later, it has been a role he has maintained for better or worse.

Mets fans, though, will remember him most for how bad of a free agent signing he was.