Okay so it wasn’t Barry Bonds…but Bonds wasn’t the big fish until a year later. First came Bobby Bonilla. And the Mets went all in on the New York product. And while history will show that Bonds was a bit of a malcontent and miserable person, at least he was one of the most productive players in the history of baseball – steroids or not.
But prior to the 1992 season, the Mets chased, and captured, Bobby Bo with a contract for 5 years and 29 million dollars. That contract actually made him the highest paid player in Major League Baseball. And, yes, the Wilpons were owners at the time.
Bonilla would never be worthy of his compensation and would make things worse by being a problem in the clubhouse. He was sent packing in a trade to Baltimore in 1995. He bounced around with the Orioles, the Florida Marlins (winning a World Series title in ’97), and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets would for some reason sign him again prior to the 1999 season and he was even more brutal than his first time around.
His contract has actually become fodder for fans to mock July 1 as “Bobby Bonilla Day” since he gets his deferred payment of $1 million dollars every year until 2035.
Jason Bay bounced around early on in his career, even spending time in the Mets system. He finally got his chance with the Pittsburgh Pirates and became a reliable hitter in the middle of the lineup.
Bay was sent in a trade to the Boston Red Sox near the deadline in the 2008 season, and then had a career year for the Sox in 2009, leading the team with 36 HR and 119 RBI. Bay was the big hitter available after that season, and the Mets made the big splash prior to the 2010 season signing Bay for 4 years and 66 million.
Unfortunately, Bay would never come remotely close to duplicating his prior production. He went from the band boxes in Pittsburgh and Boston to the pitcher-friendly Citiffield. That didn’t help. But what really hurt was that he GOT hurt. And he couldn’t stay on the field. It turned out to be a horrible investment.
When an owner is so adept at judging investments, you would THINK that they would make better decisions than the one, the ONES with an “s”, when signing Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
Although they were signed a year apart, this future Hall of Fame tandem who toiled together very successfully for the Detroit Tigers years earlier, have to be really considered as one event. Because the intent, and in reality, they were tied at the hip. The Mets doubled down with the thought of having them reunited for a 1-2 at the top of the rotation would reap huge rewards.
Prior to the 2022 season, Scherzer signed with the Mets for 3 years at 43.3 million dollars, the largest AAV in MLB history at the time. A year later, almost to the day, Verlander was signed for 2 years for the same 43.3 million dollars AAV. Think about that…$86 million committed to TWO players.
Scherzer was pedestrian at best in 2022 and had to sit out a game here or there because of nagging injuries. Verlander was injured from the onset, and didn’t pitch until midway through the 2023 season.
While there were hints of brilliance, the fact is that neither were effective enough to match the monies they were paid. It became very clear that they were closer to the end of their respective careers than they were to the beginning.
Both Scherzer and Verlander were quickly dumped in a fire sale near the 2023 deadline…not quite the treatment for a dynamic duo that will surely enter the Hall of Fame some years down the road.
Watching the two in their decline was sad…even sadder was realizing that the Mets would be picking up the tab for them to pitch…TRY to pitch…elsewhere.
The bigger more expensive fish isn’t always the best. A two-pound lobster is sweeter and more tender while a 10-pounder will be rather bland and tougher. Think about that.
