Fanfare and exciting storylines met the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate as they headed east from Las Vegas for their first season on the east coast since 2012 in Buffalo. The Mets made the move to purchase the Syracuse affiliate following the 2017 season. They had learned their lesson when they became effectively stuck in Vegas until their player development contract expired following the 2018 season. With a year left on the contract, the Mets decided to get out ahead of their rivals in the Nation’s Capital and purchase the franchise out from underneath them.
Instead of hours-long red eye flights cross country, minor leaguers in transition only have to deal with 50-minute flights between Central New York and LaGuardia. After six painful years, that alone is enough to celebrate.
For the affiliate’s inaugural season in orange and blue, a squad of aged-out major league veterans was amassed. 21 of the 25 players that filled the Opening Day roster had previously accrued service time at the major league level. That included the likes of postseason heroes like Rajai Davis and Gregor Blanco, former Mets Ruben Tejada, Rene Rivera, Travis Taijeron, and Dilson Herera, former division rivals like Danny Espinosa, and even a former superstar in Carlos Gomez. The only starters in the Opening Day lineup without big league experience were third baseman David Thompson, and of course, quarterback-turned-outfielder Tim Tebow.
Heading into the season, Tebow was perhaps the team’s biggest story. The fact that the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback had even been assigned to the highest level of minor league ball had caused national headlines. Speculation that he could make the jump to Queens soon quieted to a mere whisper. The outfielder batted a measly .163 with a .495 OPS and four home runs in 77 games, while continually looking overmatched by the velocity of the fastball and the spin of the advanced breaking balls that get thrown in Triple-A.
Although Tebow did not hit, many Syracuse Mets did rake in newly supercharged offensive International League. Of players with over 200 at bats, six hitters notched an OPS above .800. That included the team’s three leading power threats: Rivera pounded 25 home runs, and Herrera and Taijeron notched 24 a piece.
Photo by James Farrance Photography
Ruben Tejada proved to be an unexpected catalyst for the Syracuse club in 2019. Tejada was last seen in Mets colors in the 2015 playoffs, when he famously got laid out by the Dodgers’ Chase Utley in the Division Series. Tejada signed back with the Mets on a minor league deal toward the end of spring training in 2019, and found his way to Syracuse by the end of May.
Tejada raked to the tune of a .326/.404/.471 slash line with six homers in 73 games, eventually earning a brief promotion back to the big-league level. On June 19th in Charlotte, Tejada homered in the first inning, tripled in the third, doubled in the fourth, and singled in the sixth to complete a reverse-ordered cycle. This came just weeks after teammate Travis Taijeron accomplished the feat on May 31st.
On the pitching side, Drew Gagnon led the staff for the second straight season. Gagnon posted a team-best 2.33 ERA across a team-leading 88 and two-thirds innings. It allowed Gagnon to get his first true extended look in Queens.
Corey Oswalt was strong when healthy. The righty only made 16 starts this year, but he won ten of them along with a 2.91 ERA. Right-hander Chris Mazza tossed 76 innings with a 3.76 ERA, earning the 29-year-old his first big-league callup.
In the bullpen, the most eye-popping stats belong to Stephen Nogosek. The right-hander, acquired in 2017’s Addison Reed trade, pitched in 24 relief outings for Syracuse and allowed just four earned runs, good enough for a 1.15 ERA.
Tim Peterson and Paul Sewald both had strong seasons out of the bullpen. Peterson, with a 2.95 ERA, got some looks in the ninth inning. He accrued a team-best nine saves.
The Syracuse season came down to the last few days. 140 games were not enough to decide the champion in the North Division. Syracuse won on the season’s final day to force a tiebreaker with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at 75-65.
Photo by Ed Delany, MMN
In that tiebreaker, Syracuse came out swinging with a five-run first inning. Veteran Ervin Santana tossed six strong frames and entered the bottom of the seventh with a 7-1 lead in the ballgame. However, the wheels quickly unraveled for Santana, as he allowed a homer and three straight singles to knock him out of the game. Relievers Nick Rumbelow and Nogosek did their best to escape the inning, but Scranton tacked on five of their own to cut the score to 7-6.
In the eighth inning, Syracuse attempted to put any worries aside by scoring six more runs, with punctuating doubles from Jason Krizan and Tejada. In the bottom half, Nogosek gave up Kyle Higashioka’s second homer of the game and followed it by loading the bases on a hit-by-pitch and two walks. Brooks Pounders and Eric Hanhold followed Nogosek and were hardly better. The Railriders scored eight runs in that eighth and went ahead to win 14-13.
It was a devastating loss to end the Syracuse season and a devastating day for the entire organization, as the Mets blew a 10-4 lead to the Nationals in Washington, D.C. later that night. It was a fitting end to a generally successful inaugural season but one marked by inconsistent pitching and explosive offense in Triple-A.
MMN Top 30 Prospects
Batting Leaders
G: Danny Espinosa (129)
PA: Danny Espinosa (542)
AB: Danny Espinosa (473)
R: Danny Espinosa (75)
H: Danny Espinosa (121)
2B: Dilson Herrera (29)
3B: Arismendy Alcantara (6)
HR: Rene Rivera (25)
RBI: Danny Espinosa (84)
SB: Rajai Davis (20)
BA: Ruben Tejada (.326)
OBP: Luis Guillorme (.412)
SLG: Arismendy Alcantara (.508)
OPS: Ruben Tejada (.875)
Pitching Leaders
W: Corey Oswalt (10)
ERA: Drew Gagnon (2.33)
G: Tim Peterson and Paul Sewald (41)
GS: Corey Oswalt (16)
SV: Tim Peterson (9)
IP: Drew Gagnon (88.2)
K: Chris Flexen (92)
WHIP: Drew Gagnon (1.071)