5 former Mets players still without a job with spring training games approaching

Eduardo Escobar and Daniel Vogelbach agreed to minor league deals with the Toronto Blue Jays late last week. The pair of Opening Day starters for the New York Mets will look to earn their way back into Major League Baseball with a hot spring or maybe just a strong stint in Triple-A if they don’t impress enough in camp.

They were far from alone in the free agent market. A relatively slow offseason for most teams and some big-time free agents, a couple more former Mets remain available with spring training already beginning.

1) Tommy Pham

Who’s Tommy Pham going to lead to the World Series this year? He began the 2023 season as a part-time player for the Mets. Guaranteed to start whenever they faced a lefty, he played his way into a more significant role. Pham did more than platoon with Vogelbach. He won starts away from Mark Canha as well.

Once the team decided to flip the script and sell at the trade deadline, he found himself sent out to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The little team that could found themselves winning a Wild Card spot and eventually a trip to the World Series. Reality did set in for them. The mightier Texas Rangers were prepared.

Pham is a curious free agent case. About to embark on his age 36 season, teams will be hesitant to commit to more than a year. No one saw him as an everyday player last year in free agency. Did he do enough in the regular season for them to reconsider?

Curiously, Pham is a theoretical fit for the Mets in some ways even now with the roster looking pretty much set. The minor league option they have on DJ Stewart could be used to give them an extra boost. However, the path to playing time would be tough. The Mets didn’t sign Harrison Bader to a $10.5 million deal to sit. Brandon Nimmo is in left field. Starling Marte will cover right field. Unless they pull the cord on Mark Vientos at the DH spot, Pham is bound to land elsewhere.

2) Noah Syndergaard

Noah Syndergaard will always remain an intriguing big league pitcher. His larger than life persona itself will have general managers stirring about the possibilities. It’s still shocking to see how he hasn’t converted to a reliever at this stage. Then again, with how much money starters are getting paid, moving to a role he doesn’t have experience in wouldn’t be the wisest financial decision.

Tommy John surgery in 2020 threw a wrench in Syndergaard’s budding career. He pitched just two innings in two seasons and by the time he left the Mets he was already nearly in his 30s. An okay 2022 season split between the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies was enough for the Los Angeles Dodgers to sign him to a one-year deal worth $13 million. Still not even close to the $21 million the Angels paid him the year prior, he found a way to make the contract look even worse.

Syndergaard made 12 starts for the Dodgers last year and would finish with a 7.16 ERA. He was traded at the deadline to the Cleveland Guardians where he’d make another half-dozen starts. The 5.40 ERA was an improvement. However, he struck out less than 5 batters per 9.

All Syndergaard has going for him now is the intrigue of what he did so many years ago with the Mets. A cool nickname only gets you so far in this game.

3) Aaron Loup

Aaron Loup’s one year with the Mets was good enough where he’d never have to buy another beer in this city. We already know Busch Light is his drink of choice.

Loup was a member of the 2021 Mets whose status in our memory went from a gleeful and fun group to one that haunts us in more ways than one. Loup was a part of the fun of the season. Even as the team faded in the final two months, he remained his usual productive self.

Going 6-0 with a 0.95 ERA landed him a cushy two-year deal worth $15 million with the Los Angeles Angels. He wasn’t nearly as good there. He went 0-5 with a 3.84 ERA in year one. In 2023, Loup found himself pitching to a 6.10 ERA for an Angela club that somehow managed to have an even more epic collapse than the year prior.

Loup is a free agent and last year’s numbers coupled with his age don’t bode too well for a major league deal. The only hope he may have is if someone views him the same way the Mets did with Jorge Lopez. It wasn’t long ago when Loup was a fantastic reliever. In the right situation, could he thrive again?

4) Dominic Smith

It definitely feels like Dominic Smith has been away from the Mets for more than one season. Maybe it’s because for most of the 2022 campaign he was in the minor leagues. It’s easy to remember how Darin Ruf (another unemployed ex-Met for what it’s worth) didn’t hit a home run for them. Neither did Smith in 2022.

Outside of his great runs with the Mets in 2019 and 2020, Smith has put up consistently lousy numbers. He spent last season with the Washington Nationals where he managed to bat .254/.326/.366 but once again finished with about the same number of home runs and RBI as he always does. It doesn’t seem to matter how much playing time he gets. Smith had 12 home runs and 46 RBI in 586 plate appearances. He had 10 home runs and 42 RBI in 199 trips to the plate in 2020 alone.

There isn’t much free agent appeal with Smith. He’s a first baseman (definitely not a left fielder) who doesn’t hit for power. He had a good defensive season for the Nationals, but if there’s one position where you punt the defense and go all-out with offense, it’s the one he plays.

A minor league contract with an invite to spring training is the likely offseason outcome for Smith. Our final still unemployed Mets player, who often found himself on top prospects lists with Smith, will be much more fortunate.

5) Amed Rosario

Amed Rosario may need to first see Tim Anderson sign before he gets his gig. It has been a long, strange trip for Rosario since leaving the Mets. Traded to Cleveland as part of the package for Francisco Lindor, he actually put together two decent and very identical years with the Guardians. They tried using him in the outfield at times. Shortstop remained his primary position.

Rosario received a bit of a blast from the past in 2023 when the Guardians traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for ex-teammate Noah Syndergaard. The Dodgers used him at second base more. Career defensive numbers seem to suggest he’d be better there anyway.

Suitors for Rosario do exist. It’s just a matter of coming to terms on a deal. His pedestrian numbers from last year didn’t do him too many favors, slashing .263/.305/.378 overall. Still, an infielder who hit over .280 in 2021 and 2022 is appealing especially when he does have some pretty speed.

The time Rosario spent with the Mets seemed over in the blink of an eye. It came post-playoff run and before they got Lindor—obviously. Often finding himself among the top prospects in MLB, he never reached the pinnacle of where the experts thought he could. He’ll have a major league contract this year, but maybe not at the price or length he’s hoping to receive.

This article was originally published on risingapple.com as 5 former Mets players still without a job with spring training games approaching.