Tom Brennan: Players Who Badly Under-Performed After Joining Mets; Ebbets Info

 

There are, infrequently, joyful Mets acquisitions of over-achievers.

Conversely, it seems all too frequently, acquirees are under-achievers.

Did you ever notice how infrequently it is that players acquired by the Mets over-achieve your expectations?  

Name a few, go ahead, I dare ya. I’ll start….

RA Dickey and Rick Reed are two.  The Knuckle Dragger and the Scab.

David Cone makes 3. 

A fourth? Piazza for Preston Wilson wasn’t crappy.  Wilson did, though, have a 141 RBI season, and 121 in another season, so the beloved Piazza wasn’t free.

Many Mets-acquired under-performers i.e., those who arrive and fall short of your and my expectations, have crossed the gates of Citi Field.

Here is one you may have forgotten about: 

Carlos Baerga, who had 20.1 WAR with Cleveland in slightly over 6 full seasons, while hitting over .300, but then put up a -0.3 WAR in 1,140 Mets PAs before moving on.  

Puzzling, right? Maybe not.

And Dave Kingman hit .219 as a Met, but a much more acceptable, power-laden, Schwarber-like .245 during the other 2/3 of his career. 

Puzzling, right? Maybe not.

Edwin Diaz?  A 1.96 ERA and 57 saves in 2018 with Seattle. A 5.59 ERA and 26 saves and 2-7 with the Mets in 2019. He couldn’t be saved from himself that first Mets season.

Puzzling, right? Maybe not.

Feel free to add your own under-performing favorites to my brief list:

2025: Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Jose Siri, Cedric Mullins, Ryan Helsley. Big list.

Puzzling, right? Maybe not.

Pre-2025: Keon Broxton, Darin Ruf, Albert Almora, Jr., Adrian Houser, Justin Verlander, Daniel Vogelbach, Ryne Stanek.

Puzzling, right? Maybe not.

OK, you’re on the clock.  Go…

See how many other acquired underachievers you can list in 5 minutes.

And…

Feel free to take another 5 minutes and list acquired over-achievers, if you’d like. 

If you can think of any. Don’t scratch your head too hard.

I think there is something in the water at Citi that causes most acquirees to underperform.

Either that, or the players hear Billy Joel’s song PRESSURE in their head.

“ Don't ask for help

You're all alone - Pressure

You'll have to answer

To your own - Pressure”

THIS HEADLINE SAYS IT ALL:

“Which version of Senga will emerge in 2026? Mets wish they knew” 

Anthony DiComo.

I wish I knew, too. How about you?  

20 game winner…or 20 innings?  Flip a coin.

ARIZONA?

Scottsdale won. Steve Sica will periodically provide updates.

EBBETS FIELD - INFO I SAW ON FACEBOOK:

“In 1912, Dodgers owner Charles Ebbets broke ground for his team's new Bedford Avenue ballpark after covertly purchasing 5 1/2 acres in 1911.

Construction took only one year, to build the new steel and concrete venue that would be eventually named Ebbets Field after its ambitious owner. Ebbets wanted to move his club from its old home, the aging Washington Park, as it was getting on in years and he wanted to avoid the same fate as many of the wooden ballparks met during that time - fire.

Ebbets was also pretty slick on how it went about the construction of his new ballpark, the area that he sought to build on was called "Pigstown" and was dirt cheap, but he secretly bought lots on the land over a four year period so not to tip off anyone on his intentions that would surely drive up the value of the real estate.

Ebbetts Field was christened on April 5, 1913 in an exhibition game against the Yankees and opened against the Phillies on April 9th for its first regular season game. At this time the Dodgers changed their name, which they did quite frequently. to the Superbas. In front of 10,000, the Superbas lost to the Phillies 1-0, as Philly ace Tom Seaton shut down the Brooklyn club giving up just six hits.”

- I wonder if Ray Savage was the head of construction on the build-out?