Thanks for Playing a Little Longer

Good news — the Mets made the playoffs in 2022! Less good news — the Mets were bounced from the playoffs very quickly in 2022! Middling news for the 2022 Mets — they get postseason shares!

You go to the postseason, you earn a little extra scratch. It’s how baseball works. You go far in the postseason, the scratch can be significant, even for well-heeled major league baseball players. We saw that in 2015. You go not so far, it’s more a token of esteem. We saw that in 2016. In 2022, the Mets got their foot in the door before the door slammed on them. It was enough for what big leaguers probably consider shoelace money.

As explained by Forbes, each of the four teams eliminated in the first round — the Mets, the Cardinals, the Guardians and the Blue Jays — lost their way to 0.8% of the gate receipts that went into filling MLB’s brimming postseason pot, or $806,331 out of $107,510,840. That’s not $806,331 per player. That’s $806,331 for each of those teams to divide up internally. Your mainstay players do the dividing: full shares, partial shares, cash awards. Team employees, particularly those who work the clubhouse, might be rewarded from this pot as well. It’s a whole thing.

More of a thing when you get Win the World Series or at least Get to the World Series money. Probably not that much of a thing when it’s Lost in the First Round Money in an industry where the annual minimum salary is $700,000. But not everybody you saw put on a Mets uniform this year was necessarily living the high life. The Mets dressed 64 players in 2022, 61 of whom played at least once. In some cases, that meant a day or two of service time tacked onto a minor league living. Extra bucks awarded because the team whose dugout they passed through eventually made the National League Wild Card Series aren’t going to be insignificant to the here-and-goners. Every little tangible bit is no doubt appreciated by players on the fringes. I’d guess the concept of getting something for making the playoffs, even if it amounts to a slight bonus that isn’t going to elevate one’s quality of life any higher than it already stands, sits well with all involved, superstars included. It’s the same reason the players can’t wait to put on those commemorative t-shirts they get for clinching. Somebody hands you something not everybody is eligible to receive, you tend to accept it and hopefully remember to say thanks.

The Mets doled out their ’22 postseason shares in real life already. Of course they doled them out in ’15 and ’16, too, but that didn’t stop us from undertaking the exercise as we saw fit. Thus, after circumstances dictated a six-year pause, we now resume our sacred self-imposed responsibility of disbursing Mets Postseason Shares Like They Oughta Be from the pot of $806,331.

Starling Marte — He’s our MVM, he gets the most bountiful scoop: $30,000.

Brandon Nimmo — He’s The Dean, he gets almost as much: $29,500.

Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor — Everyday studs, basically never missing a game: $29,162 each.

Edwin Diaz — The first Met closer since maybe Jesse Orosco, maybe Tug McGraw, maybe ever who a fan could actually look forward to pitching in a game with that game on the line. Not “not worry too much about,” but relish as a weapon to vanquish the enemy. The trumpets were only part of the sensation and the 32 saves barely begin to describe it: $28,532.

Jeff McNeil — He won a batting title with an average of .326, so let’s make his share $28,326.

Seth Lugo — I’m a sucker for seniority: $27,500 and a fond farewell for Seth’s seven years as a Met.

Adam Ottavino — Effectively took over doing what Lugo used to do and did it effectively: $27,000.

Luis Guillorme and Drew Smith — Their first manager was befuddled rookie skipper Mickey Callaway, so they had to forget whatever they learned in 2018 in order to persevere as they have since. That’s gotta be worth something: $26,018 each.

Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha — Solid individuals and players, Escobar producing in clumps, Canha a little steadier if not as spectacular: $25,000 each.

Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt — Super important figures in establishing the frontline pitching strength and tenor of the team, but geez, did both not come through when needed most in Atlanta and against San Diego. Still glad they were here: $22,500 each.

Jacob deGrom — Winner of the only postseason game the 2022 Mets won, loser when it comes to clear-cut legacy by a) bolting and b) making it sound as if the Texas Rangers have cornered the market on “vision”. Oh, and one of the all-time Met greats: $20,048.

Tomás Nido — He’d be pretty good if he could hit as well as he can bunt: $19,500.

Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco — I really wish they had made the postseason rotation decision harder on Buck Showalter. Still, a quality four and five: $19,450 each.

Trevor Williams — He’d go a week or two without pitching and suddenly be out there keeping us in a game, not an easy feat: $19,014.

Tylor Megill and David Peterson — Megill was the Opening Night starter, epitomizing alongside Peterson the security blanket of depth. Would really love to see them get more of a chance before waking up one day in the not too distant future and realizing they’ve been around longer than I’ve realized: $17,500 each.

Joely Rodriguez — To invoke that awful “hill I’ll die on” cliché, the hill I’ll die on, or at least hang out near for a few minutes when it comes to the 2022 Mets, is Joely Rodriguez was a pretty decent lefty to have come out of the pen now and then: $17,000.

Trevor May — Made me more nervous than Rodriguez ever did, came through enough. By all indications, a mensch: $16,500.

Dom Smith and J.D. Davis — We’ll always have 2019, fellas, and you should always have a little piece of 2022: $11,019.

Travis Jankowski and Terrance Gore — Jankowski pinch-ran 13 times before getting squeezed off the roster. Gore is a specialist of the genre and pinch-ran five times during an abbreviated tenure with the club — plus the Mets won all ten games in which he participated in any capacity, which is the most winning games without a loss any Met from any era can claim. Together as the Mets’ primary pinch-runners, they embodied the tactical aggressiveness Buck Showalter brought to bear…which sounds more insightful than admitting I just happen to be fascinated by pinch-running: $11,000 each.

Daniel Vogelbach — Pinch-running is valued here, but designated hitting remains on probation. Still, when the Mets traded for Vogey, they were saying they were taking the half-position more than half-seriously. What he could do he did very well. What he couldn’t do made him and the lineup spot he was acquired to fill less than whole: $10,500.

James McCann — Caught a five-man no-hitter one night, recorded at least five hits the rest of the year: $10,005.

Adonis Medina, Yoan Lopez, Stephen Nogosek and Colin Holderman — Bacon-savers! They saved our bacon! Whether it was getting a few huge outs or soaking up some orphan innings, the members of this bunch took a few for the team and came up big once in a while: $9,500 each.

Mychal Givens — Filled the thankless role of veteran reliever who comes over in a pennant race, gets lit up, garners no goodwill, then pitches pretty OK when available the rest of the way. Also the first Met pitcher to pinch-run since Steven Matz in 2019: $9,000.

Tommy Hunter — One gets the feeling he returned because Buck Showalter liked him in Baltimore. That was probably the reason Givens was here. Didn’t do a ton, but didn’t do much harm: $8,900.

Chasen Shreve — Silent Generation Met (whose only year pitching before the home folks was 2020, which is to say he pitched before no home folks) turned Recidivist Met. The curiosity factor alone made his second stint worthwhile: $8,800.

Patrick Mazeika and Michael Perez — Every game Mazeika ever played felt like a novelty; walloped an enormous homer in May. Perez plugged a hole for a few days in August and made me wonder why he couldn’t stick around. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, catchers, baby, catchers: $8,750 each.

Nick Plummer — Hit the Nick Plummer Home Run one night along with another the next night. Plummers, baby, Plummers: $8,700.

Nate Fisher — Of the eight Mets to take part in exactly one game in 2022, Fisher made the most indelible impression, throwing three shutout innings as part of the mind-boggling 10-9 Damn Thing win in Philadelphia. No Fisher, probably no winning the Damn Thing, after which we couldn’t add with absolute certainty, “…and that’s why the Phillies will never win the pennant this year!” Why Nate wasn’t asked to take part in a second game is too much of a mystery to be answered by something as mundane as “numbers crunch,” though that was probably it: $8,600.

Khalil Lee — Homered in a loss at Angel Stadium the second Saturday of June, but I could swear he homered in a win at Dodger Stadium the first Saturday of June. Let him benefit from my foggy recollection: $8,500.

Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez — An investment in tomorrow: $8,400 each.

Tyler Naquin — Tyler Naquin is the first Met since Craig Paquette to have “qu” in the middle of his last name, the fourth overall. Jose Oquendo and Al Pedrique were the others. Tyler Naquin is better off with this nugget as his calling card rather than any of his statistics from down the stretch: $8,004.

Sean Reid-Foley — Pete Crow-Armstrong seemed a good bet to become the first Met with a hyphenated last name upon his being selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2020 draft. But before the Mets could promote PC-A, they elevated SR-F in 2021. And then they traded PC-A to make the matter moot. SR-F pitched seven times this April before sustaining a partially torn UCL. Sean Reid-Foley will have to work his way back from Tommy John surgery, but he maintains his hyphenated distinction: $5,350.

Ender Inciarte — The Mets’ primary pinch-runner when Jankowski and Gore weren’t. Captured by SNY cameras exchanging warm greetings with Keith Hernandez shortly before Keith took the field for his number retirement ceremonies. Trying to remember anything that isn’t connected to his robbing Yoenis Cespedes of a game-winning home run in 2016 is otherwise futile. But if Keith could be nice to him…: $5,317.

Jake Reed — The competition was fierce, but Reed wins the coveted “I all but forgot he was on the team this year” award. Five games, too! How embarrassing for both of us: $4,905.

Travis Blankenhorn — Played one game as a 2022 Met. He was the DH on July 22, a loss to the Padres. Batting eighth, Travis flied out, struck out and grounded out. Maybe the Mets weren’t going to be the National League team to benefit most from implementation of the designated hitter after all: $4,400.

Matt Reynolds — On the NLCS roster in 2015 but Terry Collins couldn’t figure out a way to get him into a game, costing Matt the rare opportunity to make his MLB debut under the bright lights of the postseason. A Met utilityman in 2016 and 2017 for 115 games. Recidivisted for exactly one game in 2022 before the Cincinnati Reds, an organization comprised largely of utilitymen, picked him up and started him a career-high 67 times. Thanks for passing through again: $3,600.

Deven Marrero and Yolmer Sanchez — Six Mets made their third base debut in 2022. These are the two you don’t remember. No worries; they don’t remember you, either: $3,550 each.

Alex Claudio, Sam Clay and R.J. Alvarez: Three contestants ready for a reboot of To Tell the Truth. They’ve already stumped the panel: $3,533 each.

Bryce Montes de Oca — A pitcher who totaled fewer than four innings but features a name that comes in four parts: $3,504.

Jose Butto — Threw the not promising start that dug the hole that set the stage for the stunning performance of Nate Fisher the pitcher, not to be confused with Nate Fisher the fictional funeral director from Six Feet Under. Butto’s career didn’t die from his emergency audition; he’s still considered a prospect: $3,500.

Rob Zastryzny and Thomas Szapucki — You say Zastryzny, I say Szapucki… Rob’s ERA in one inning of Met relief was 9.00, which appears unsightly until compared to Thomas’s 60.75 compiled in his one Met start. Let’s call the whole thing off: $3,453 each.

Joey Lucchesi — Not one of the 64 Mets who dressed in 2022. On the IL the whole year, which is the epitome of bad timing for a pitcher who introduced us to the word “churve” in 2021. Here’s wishing Lucchesi a full recovery…and a better name for his signature pitch: $3,425.

Gosuke Katoh, Kramer Robertson and the even harder to spot Connor Grey — Suited up as Mets. Never played as Mets. Sent packing as Ghost Mets. Let’s surprise them if we can find them: $650 each.

Darin Ruf — The kindest thing one can say on behalf of Darin Ruf’s two months as a 2022 Met is until rosters expanded, he was only one of 26: $26.

Robinson Cano — He wanted Willie Mays’s number? Fine: $24.

As long as we’re indulging the fantasy of disbursing Met postseason shares, let’s keep the theme going and visit Mets Fantasy Camp via a revealing interview with recent Mets Fantasy Camper Kerby Valladares on National League Town.