Selecting the Mets All-Wilpon Team Part 3: Bench & Honorable Mentions
Which Mets best represent the dysfunction and turmoil of the Wilpon era.
It’s time to name the Mets All-Wilpon Team bench and honorable mentions.
Click here for the:
Bench/Indefinite Injured List
Outfield: Ryan Church
You don’t have to be a brain surgeon, a trainer, or even Roger Goodell to know that if you have a concussion you shouldn’t fly.
On May 20, 2008 Church suffered a concussion when sliding into second base in an attempt to break up a double play. The Mets had him fly to Colorado two days later. He was used as a pinch hitter. He wasn’t placed on the disabled list until June 10th.
Church, who was in his first season with the Mets and on the verge of a breakout year, would never be the same. The concussion and how it was handled effectively ended his career as the post-concussion symptoms lingered for multiple seasons.
When recounting his concussion with Baseball Prospectus’ Rich Macleod Church said “I should have never gotten on that plane.” To make matters worse, and to kick a man when he’s down, manager Jerry Manuel questioned Church’s toughness later that season. Church called Manuel’s remarks a “low blow.”
Sadly, Church will go down as a tragic “what if” in Mets history instead of the cornerstone of a contender that he showed flashes of before his injury. In his first 42 games as a Met he slashed .311/.379/.534 with nine homeruns, 32 RBI and a .913 OPS
Fun fact for the trivia heads, Church also recorded the last out in Shea Stadium.
Outfield: Jason Bay
Jason Bay is why many of us have trust issues. Let’s rip this band-aid quickly and get it over with.
The Mets had a gaping hole in left field and a desperate need for a right handed power bat after the 2009 season. The best option on the market was Matt Holiday whose approach would have better fit the cavernous Citi Field dimensions. A Scott Boras client, Holiday would sign for seven-years and $120 mil with St. Louis.
The Mets instead opted for Bay at four-years $66 mil, hoping his power surge while playing in Fenway Park would translate to, again, the cavernous Citi Field dimensions. Spoiler alert: it did not translate.
Bay was plagued by injuries — including a concussion and broken ribs — throughout his time as a Met. Meanwhile, when he was actually healthy he looked completely lost at the plate seemingly from the start. Bay slashed .234/.318/.369 with a .687 OPS and 26 home runs in his Mets career which spanned three seasons. He was bought out following the 2012 season.
Infield: Luis Castillo
Luis Castillo stunk.
Castillo was brought in via trade during the 2007 pennant chase to fill in at second base and was fine. What’s not fine is the four-year, $25 mil deal that off-season heading into his age 32 season.
Castillo spent time on and off the DL and the bench as he was hobbled by foot problems and declining performance. He would complain about both on-and-off the field issues such as playing time and team obligations. After no-showing a team visit to a veterans hospital, Castillo said “You see people with no legs and with no arms, being in a hospital like that, I don’t like to see that.”
Above all Castillo is remembered most for dropping a ninth inning Alex Rodriguez pop-up in shallow right field leading to a crushing walk-off loss at Yankee Stadium.
Castillo was released during Spring Training in 2011 before playing out the final year of his contract.
Infield: Ike Davis
In the infamous Jeffrey Toobin interview from 2011, where Fred Wilpon bashed stars Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Jose Reyes on the record, there was one player Wilpon complimented.
“Good hitter. Shitty team — good hitter.”
That player was Ike Davis. Everything fell apart for Davis almost immediately.
Ike Davis collided with David Wright in May of 2011 and was originally misdiagnosed with a calf sprain. He actually had a bone bruise and cartilage damage in his left ankle. He missed the remainder of the 2011 season as the Mets tried to figure out what was wrong and how to treat it. One of the steps along the way was wearing a boot that actually stalled the healing process.
In 2012 Ike was back, but then he wasn’t. Why? Valley fever!
Yes, that’s right. Valley fever!
Despite the lingering effects of valley fever, Ike would still finish fifth in the NL in homeruns that season with 32 while his average and OPS plummeted.
In 2013 the power fell off, too. His lack of production soon forced him into timeshare with Lucas Duda and eventually off the team via a trade with the Pirates.
Davis could win at Mets bingo with mismanaged injuries, obscure airborne disease, and squandered potential, but he has one square that isn’t on the board at all. The owner once said he was good.
Infield: Justin Turner
Every team has their fair share of non-tenders, players to be named later, and roster casualties who blossom in new settings. Justin Turner is perhaps the most notable one for the Mets during the Wilpon era.
Turner was set to earn less than $1 in 2014 had he been tendered a contract but he was let go as the organization reportedly grew tired of his perceived lack of hustle.
On a roster where the Mets not only needed infield depth but a legitimate presence at third base given David Wright’s health, Turner was deemed expendable in favor of Eric Campbell. Turner became an MVP candidate when given regular playing time in Los Angeles.
It’s easy to attack the organization, and to an extent ownership, for moves like this, but there is no knowing if Turner would have become the same star he grew into had he stayed with the Mets (something Turner has acknowledged himself).
But Turner earns a spot on the All-Wilpon bench as not just the most glaring example of a player who got away, but as a representative for all the players who got away in the last two decades which include, but are not limited to Colin McHugh, Darren O’Day, and Daniel Murphy.
Catcher: Kevin Plawecki featuring locker dildo
I’ll be honest. I’m not sure this has anything to do with the Wilpons, but it’s hilarious and even this team hasn’t had ill will toward backup catchers leaked to the press — at least not yet. So Kevin Plawecki and his special toy make the cut for adding another page to the special brand of novel embarrassment reserved for the Mets experience.
Honorable Mention: Bobby Bonilla
Bobby Bonilla Day is a real thing and is a constant reminder that the Mets are better at being mocked on social media than anything else they’ve done during the Wilpon era.
While Bonilla last played for the Mets in 1999, the Wilpons were directly tied to the terms of his buyout. Instead of paying Bonilla the remaining $5.9 mil he was owed at the time, payments were deferred until 2011.
While payment deferrals aren’t uncommon in baseball the reasoning and fallout on the Mets side of the agreement is extremely Mets. The Wilpons thought they could get more money by investing the nearly $6 mil with ol’ pal Bernie Madoff. We know how that played out.
Madoff’s ponzi scheme crashed and burned in 2008 before the Wilpons paid Bonilla anything. Now, still reeling from the Madoff fiasco, they’ve paid him $1 mil every year for the last nine years. Payments run through 2035.
In terms of baseball moves, the Bonilla buyout was actually not bad. It freed up cash for the Mike Hampton acquisition which led to David Wright. Mets fans know this, but “lOLmEtS” gets more clicks.
Honorable Mention: Mike Piazza
Piazza has never said a bad thing about the Wilpons, nor has there been anything controversial about his relationship with ownership.
However, the fact that Piazza held a press conference in 2002 to confirm his sexuality amid rumors that he was gay is disgusting and something that should never have happened in any organization in any field then or now, and it’s something that certainly wouldn’t have happened if the ownership group maintained the slightest amount of integrity or respect for themselves, their players, or their organization.
Stay tuned throughout the week for the All-Wilpon starting lineup and scapegoats, and recap the starting rotation here, bullpen here, and bench and honorable mentions here.
