A PAINFUL REMINDER
Amazin’s struggling as castoffs and rivals highlight All-Star Game
the 2013 campaign in their Madoffian frugality. Turner had options elsewhere for a major league deal, but ended up in a minor league pact with the Dodgers because he wanted to be close to his Southern California roots.
He won a roster spot, a job and a new path. Turner emerged as a star from 2014-16 and is now a first-time All-Star, winning the fan vote to get put on the NL squad.
“I’d like to say I am not surprised I am here, but that would be a lie,” Turner said. “To go from a utility guy in New York who was non-tendered to being an All-Star, yeah, that would be a lie if I said I thought that was possible. It’s pretty special to be here.”
This also is Michael Fulmer’s first time as an All-Star. The Mets’ second first-round pick in Alderson’s first draft in 2011, Fulmer roomed with Noah Syndergaard at Single-A St. Lucie in 2013, roomed with Jacob deGrom a couple of springs, and played in the minors with Steven Matz, Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo.
The Mets would not reverse their July 2015 deal that cost Fulmer and Luis Cessa to land Yoenis Cespedes, who energized a pennant-winning run. But the full cost is being felt now, with Cespedes in Year 1 of a four-year, $110 million deal in which he has been hobbled while performing below star — and All-Star — levels. Meanwhile, Fulmer is among the majors’ best starters — better this year than anyone in a Mets rotation that was so good not long ago that Fulmer was expendable.
Of course, the Mets are not the only team who can look around the All-Star Game and wonder what might have been. You think the Tigers would still like to have Robbie Ray teaming with Fulmer? The Braves Alex Wood? The Indians and Cubs Chris Archer? The Diamondbacks Ender Inciarte?
But for sheer magnitude of pain — an area in which the Mets are unfortunate experts — this All-Star Game is a salted wound, a bad situation made worse, a midsummer reminder that in 2017 things, so far, are halfbad.
MIAMI — As if the Mets did not endure enough injury in the first half, the All-Star Game felt assembled to specifically insult them.
Most of their talent went M-I-A in the first half, thus, just one, Michael Conforto, made it to MI-A-M-I for the Midsummer Classic. Conforto, as a Met, naturally spent time just before the break on the disabled list. Yet, he is the rare Mets success story in 2017 — not even assured a major league roster spot until late in spring training.
But the same was true about Aaron Judge, who emerged on the other side of the Triborough Bridge as the biggest story in baseball. AL All-Star manager Brad Mills said he was hitting Judge third Tuesday night so America could see him bat in the first inning, recognition of just how huge Judge has become.
Judge is one of five All-Stars for New York’s other team — Dellin Betances the oldest at 29.
Perhaps the only team the Mets would want to see have five AllStars less than the Yankees is the Nationals, who also have five AllStars. That includes Daniel Murphy, who is now two-for-two making the Midsummer Classic since departing Flushing.
As Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times pointed out to me, in Sandy Alderson’s first year as Mets general manager, 2011, the team broke camp with Brad Emaus as their second baseman, Murphy kept around as the 25th man and Justin Turner sent to Triple-A Buffalo.
Murphy, as always head-down self-effacing, said he was new to second base, Emaus was the farsuperior defender, out-hit him that spring and deserved the job.
Emaus would play 14 games for the Mets and never appeared in the majors again. Turner played well — but not great — in three seasons as a jack-of-all trades for the Mets, who released him after