Some things hurt more than others.  That was the case when I read a recent NJ.com headline: “Ex-Met prospect With Steroid Past Impressing Yankees.”  I didn’t need to see any more to know exactly who the article was talking about, Cesar Puello.

Cesar Puello is one of my all time favorite Binghamton Mets.  The kid had an other worldly season in Binghamton in 2013, a key part of the B-Met wave that drove the Mets AA team to the Eastern League’s regular season championship and the first of three-consecutive playoff appearances.

Puello was one of the only real five-tools position guys I’ve seen during the last several years in Binghamton.  He was highly entertaining on the baseball diamond and fun to watch.

Apparently the Yankees are discovering Puelo’s assets.  In the NJ.com piece Yankee manager Joe Girardi is quoted as saying, “He throws extremely well.  His at-bats have been pretty good.  From what I’ve seen he has good range in the outfield.”

Girardi is particularly intrigued with Puelo’s success hitting left-handed pitching.  Puello hit .312 against lefties for Las Vegas in 2014, .421 against southpaws for Binghamton in 2013 and .304 against left-handers as a St. Lucie Met in 2012.

“We’re watching him,” Girardi told Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.  “He’s one of those guys you start thinking about.  He’s had a lot of success off of left-handers, and if you run into a lot of left-handers, you think about it.  I’m paying attention.”

Puello’s 2013 season in Binghamton was of break out dimensions.  He batted .326 with 16 HR’s, 22 2B’s and 73 RBI’s.  Puello also stole 24 bases as a B-Met.

The luster off Puello’s star faded when it was learned he was one of 13 professional baseball players suspended for his involvement in the Biogenesis, performance enhancing drug scandal.  Puello was suspended for 50 games starting late in the 2013 season and never seemed to get untracked when he returned the following year.  Puello missed almost the entire 2015 season with a stress fracture in his back and was released by the Mets.

Puello sat at my table during the 2013 Welcome Back dinner in Binghamton.  Even though he didn’t speak English at the time, the kid was loaded with charisma and made a lasting and positive impression on the B-Met dinner patrons.  I was also told by a MetsMerized photographer who followed the team that Puello was a beast in the weight room, spending long hours training throughout the season.

My Met loyalties don’t find me pulling for too many Yankees, but in the case of Cesar Puello, I’m only wishing the best.