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To say the 2017 season has been a disappointment for the New York Mets baseball team, its players and coaching staff, its fans, and the media is an understatement. Past season success and expectations had the ball club competing with the likes of the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers for supremacy in the National League. The only thing the 2017 Mets have in common with the before mentioned teams is the fact that they are all the names of teams that play Major League Baseball.
As the season comes to a close, there are still some postseason battles going on, particularly both leagues’ two Wild Card berths. Though the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees have the advantage at the moment for the top Wild Card spots, there is still a chance they can be caught. And as we speak, there are a total of ten teams within three games of a Wild Card spot.
The Mets made a series of well reported trades, moving veterans Lucas Duda, Addison Reed, Jay Bruce, Neil Walker, Curtis Granderson, and Rene Rivera (waiver claim) during the months of July and August. Because of that, every current division leader (and projected 2017 division winner) has either a 2015 or 2016 postseason New York Mets player on their current roster. Reed is currently pitching for the Boston Red Sox, Bruce is playing for the Cleveland Indians, Granderson for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Rivera for the Chicago Cubs. In addition, Tyler Clippard is currently pitching for the Houston Astros and if you did not want to be reminded about Daniel Murphy playing for the Washington Nationals, 2016 Mets outfielder Alejandro De Aza is playing for them as well. Also, 2015 Mets bench coach (and 2018 Mets manager) Bob Geren is currently holding the same position for the Dodgers.

Among teams currently holding a Wild Card spot at the moment, only the Minnesota Twins currently have a recent playoff Mets player (Bartolo Colon). They also currently employ 2015 Mets pitcher Dillon Gee. The Los Angeles Angels have relief pitcher Fernando Salas, whom the Mets acquired at the end of last August. Also, the Angels have 2015 Mets September call up Eric Young, Jr. The Tampa Bay Rays acquired Duda from the Mets in the beginning of July and also have Mets 2015 farmhand Cesar Puello on their roster, an outfielder the Mets released after spring training in 2016 before he went on to play for the Yankees and Angels organizations.

The Brewers added second baseman Walker in a trade with the Mets and also have 2015 Mets relief pitcher Carlos Torres. Finally, the St. Louis Cardinals have two 2015 Mets minor league pitchers: Matt Bowman (acquired as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Mets after the 2015 season) and John Gant (in a trade that sent left hand pitcher Jaime Garcia to the Atlanta Braves, but acquired by Atlanta in the 2015 trade with the Mets for Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe). The other pitcher that went from the Mets to the Braves in that 2015 trade was right handed pitcher Robert Whalen, who has pitched for the Seattle Mariners this season but currently is not on the team’s 40 man roster.

Players with ties to the Mets organization from 2015-2017 are sprinkled in with mostly every projected postseason team. Only the Yankees, Diamondbacks, and Rockies do not have a representative of a recent Mets team. The most popular World Series prediction at the moment has the Dodgers facing the Indians. Curtis Granderson against Jay Bruce. If that is the case, perhaps it could be a rematch of the battle that existed in New York and the media this off season. Of course, the talk then was about which of the two was going to be traded before the season. Imagine a key at bat late in a World Series game featuring the Red Sox and Nationals, Daniel Murphy stepping up to the plate against Addison Reed. Both were key members of the 2015 Mets postseason run but both came up short in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. How about a Wild Card game with Bartolo Colon pitching against the Rays and Lucas Duda? How about a big moment in a big postseason game with the likes of Clippard, Salas, or even Torres on the mound?

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