Former Mets In The 2012 Playoffs

When the regular season ends and the Mets' offseason diaspora sends its players far and wide, I waste little time shifting my rooting interest to whichever team is playing the Yankees. It's simple, it's satisfying, and, with the Yankees making the playoffs nearly every year, it provides a modicum of consistency for my October baseball watching. The characters and faces may change from year to year, but since I'm always wishing for horrible things to befall the Yankees, it feels like I've got a horse to cheer.

Notwithstanding my seething and enduring contempt for the Yankees — and, to a lesser but still burning extent, the Phillies and the Braves — I also like peeking at the other teams' rosters to find a sprinkling of former Mets broadcast around the league. This year is no different, with thirteen erstwhile Mets stomping around the playoff clubhouses of different teams. Here's where they've landed and whether you should lend them your support.

San Francisco Giants —

Joaquin Arias - Arias appeared in 22 games and hit .200/.250/.233 for the Mets in 2000, but is fondly remembered nevertheless for coming to town in the trade that sent Jeff Francoeur off to Frenchtober in Texas.

Root for him: If you want. I don't really care.

Guillermo Mota - Mota was terrific over the last five weeks of the 2006 season after arriving from Cleveland, and despite a mediocre postseason that year, the Mets signed him to a two-year deal even after he was suspended for fifty games for a performance-enhancing drug violation.

Most notably, while a member of the Dodgers Mota hit Mike Piazza not once, but twice, both of which precipitated bench-clearing kerfuffles. The first impelled Piazza to grab Mota by the shirt/neck when the latter passed by the Mets' dugout; the second occasioned a trip by Piazza to the Dodgers' clubhouse in search of Mota, who had already made a hurried retreat.

Root for him: Hell, no.

Xavier Nady - Nady hit a respectable .264/.326/.487 with the Mets in 2006, having arrived the previous offseason from the Padres in exchange for Mike Cameron. The Mets sent Nady packing again at the 2006 trade deadline, acquiring Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez in the process. In the years since, Mets fans have had a puppy dog yearning to bring Nady back, an odd albeit charming predilection for a corner outfielder with a career .756 OPS.

Root for him: Yes.

Angel Pagan - Pagan was a really nice player for parts of four seasons with the Mets, so much so that, when accounting for defense and positional scarcity, he's #42 on our Top 50 Mets list. He was injury-prone and was often accused of on-field absent-mindedness, but he was good and likable and the Mets were better with him than they are without him.

Root for him: Yes.

Marco Scutaro - Scutaro actually had about 140 plate appearance with the Mets in 2002 and 2003, but they lost him off waivers to the A's in October 2003 and he has since put together a nice little career as a middle infielder.

Root for him: Okay.

Cincinnati Reds —

Miguel Cairo - The Mets inexplicably gave Cairo 367 plate appearances in 2005, which he used to hit a startlingly inept .251/.296/.324. He played for the Yankees both immediately before and after his stint in Queens, and frankly I'm amazed he's still playing baseball.

Root for him: No, thanks.

Wilson Valdez - Valdez got some reps at shortstop in 2009 when Reyes missed most of the season. Wil "The Spill" wasn't much of a hitter then and he remains so to this day.

Root for him: I could hardly care less.

St. Louis Cardinals —

Carlos Beltran — Quite simply one of the best players the Mets have ever had. He was widely and inexplicably disliked by Mets fans because he was introverted; because his seemingly effortless athleticism made his game appear to lack effort; and because he struck out looking that one time. The truth is that any fan who can't get past these predominantly superficial hang-ups frankly doesn't deserve Carlos Beltran anyway.

Root for him: Always.

Washington Nationals —

Nobody, though Jesus Flores was a Mets minor leaguer before the Nationals selected him in the 2006 Rule 5 draft.

Baltimore Orioles —

Luis Ayala — Ayala allowed twelve runs in eighteen innings for the Mets down the stretch in 2008. Never mind that he struck out fourteen and walked just two, all of those runs contributed to a Mets' bullpen ERA of 4.52 in September that helped turn a 3.5-game lead on September 10 into a three-game deficit by season's end.

Root for him: Generally, No, but against the Yankees, Yes.

Endy Chavez — Chavez hit .288/.330/.386 in three seasons with the Mets in a part-time role. He has a career .309 on-base percentage in nearly 3,000 plate appearances. He has hit an average of one home run every 102 at-bats. None of that matters, though, because of this.

Root for him: Yes.

Darren O'Day — Omar Minaya shrewdly plucked O'Day from the Angels in the 2008 Rule 5 draft, and the righty reliever made four appearances before a decidedly less shrewd roster bungling left O'Day unprotected and, in short order, a member of the Texas Rangers. Since 2009, O'Day has a 2.33 ERA, 188 strikeouts, and 49 walks in 204 innings, but it's not like the Mets could've used some bullpen help these last few years.

Root for him: Yes.

Omar Quintanilla —Q made 80 plate appearances for the Mets this season, hitting an admirable but steadily declining .257/.350/.371 before the Mets slung him to Baltimore for "future considerations," i.e., "cash" or, possibly, bupkis. Quintanilla hit just .232/.284/.354 with Baltimore.

Root for him: Yes.

Detroit Tigers —

Octavio Dotel — A 25-year-old Dotel pitched for the Mets in 1999 and somewhat famously sat in the bullpen as Kenny Rogers walked in the winning run in Game 6 of the NLCS. That offseason, Dotel was packaged with Roger Cedeno and consigned to Houston in the deal which brought Mike Hampton and Derek Bell to New York. He's fourth among active pitchers with 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, but he has also nearly always struggled with his control.

Root for him: Sure, why not?

New York Yankees —

It's fortunate for ex-Mets that none of them play for the Yankees, because I sure as hell wouldn't be rooting for them. You can bet your ass that even David Wright would get the stink eye if he ever dons the evil laundry.

Oakland Athletics —

No current Athletic has ever played for the Mets, which is a shame because after the Orioles — for whom I'd root even if they weren't playing the Yankees — the A's are my next-most-liked team, even if Billy Bean's shit doesn't work in the playoffs.