The New York Mets have, on occasion, overhyped their young prospects. Yes, the organization has, in fact, produced home-grown stars like Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden as well as David Wright and Jose Reyes. But the truth is, the home-grown talent has been pretty much few and far between. The hype, though, has been bountiful.
There are three players in Mets history who just didn’t turn out the way the organization thought they would, or at least the way they SAID they would.
1) Roy Staiger lasted a bit longer than some of the Mets right handed hitting third base experiments before him, but not much longer
New manager Joe Frazier when he was promoted to the big club from AAA Tidewater, wanted his Tides third baseman with him. He was going to be this big reliable RBI bat in the middle of the Mets lineup and he was an amazing fielder at the hot corner – he was finally going to be that right handed power-hitting third baseman in the Mets lineup.
He would, in reality, be just another to pass through that revolving door of third basemen. Staiger was the Mets first round selection of the secondary phase of the 1970 draft and struggled going up through the minors. But Frazier insisted on installing Staiger at third base in 1975. And Staiger was horrible, both offensively and defensively.
Staiger would last only a season and a half, garnering 446 at bats in a Mets uniform, and hit 4 home runs in his Mets career. The Mets unloaded him as quickly as they unloaded Frazier. Neither one of them worked out as promoted. At least the Mets found out quickly.
2) Gregg Jefferies took a while to get Mets management to give up on him, but the love was lost from others very quickly
As much as Davey Johnson LOVED offensive players, and as much as Joe Frazier wanted Staiger, Johnson DIDN’T want Jefferies. Jefferies was going to be this super offensive player who could hit equally well from both sides of the plate, with power. And he was a shortstop too. Johnson loved to have offense at shortstop.
But Jefferies was quickly moved from shortstop because he was brutal there. So he was moved to third base. But the Mets had Howard Johnson at third base. So the Mets tried him in the outfield and he butchered every ball that came to him – it seemed that way anyway. So they stuck him at second base, displacing not one, but two fan favorites – Wally Backman and Tim Teufel. But not only were they FAN favorites, they were favorite teammates as well.
When you bring in an unwanted young player and displace two guys loved by their teammates, the veterans will make their displeasure known. And it was a debacle.
If that is what caused the failure of Jefferies in a Mets uniform is unproven. However, what IS proven is that Jefferies never emerged as the super impact player he was believed to be by the Mets, or even the magazine that put him on the cover as the Minor League Player of the Year for two consecutive years.
Jefferies would go on and be a “productive” player for the St. Louis Cardinals, after a short stint with the Kansas City Royals, but he certainly never became the player he was so hyped to be by the Mets.
3) Fernando Martinez was projected to be the next big superstar of the Mets, but that star never appeared
Fernando Martinez was going to be the THAT guy. Think Vlad Guerrero, Jr., Fernando Tatis, Jr., or Juan Soto. He was going to be that kind of special.
It took the Mets a few years to figure out he wasn’t that special. Maybe they knew all along, but they kept saying that he just needed more seasoning after they signed Martinez as an amateur free agent in 2005.
Four years of seasoning and he finally made his debut with the big club in 2009 at the age of 20. He hit .176 with one home run in 100 plate appearances. The next season he played in only seven games, with 18 at bats. The following season he had 22 at bats with one home run and struck out seven times.
If you are THAT guy and THAT special how many years do you need?
Martinez hit all of two home runs in his Mets career before he was simply waived prior to the 2012 season. And although he was picked up by a couple of other organizations, apparently no other organization thought as highly of him as the Mets did, and he was out of baseball soon after.
So when you get excited about Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio, just remember, they may just be the next Roy Staiger, Gregg Jefferies, or even Fernando Martinez. Don’t get your hopes up too high.
