The 2024 New York Mets saw their season get turned around from the moment they promoted Jose Iglesias from Triple-A. They went from a team that was 11 games over .500 and seemingly out of contention to one that was just two wins away from the World Series. Iglesias was one of the biggest reasons they managed to get as far as they did. Given that, the Mets letting him sign with the San Diego Padres was not seen as a popular decision by the fan base whatsoever. Ultimately, though, Iglesias' stock has dipped ever since he departed Queens.
The Mets letting Iglesias walk was shocking, given the impact he had last season and also given their lack of a proven alternative. The Mets wound up rolling with younger players in Iglesias' utility role, like Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña.
Those two have played well for the most part, while, again, Iglesias has had a rough go of it in San Diego.
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Mets were proven right by letting Jose Iglesias walk
Iglesias has played 30 games for the Padres and has slashed .228/.283/.272 with only four extra-base hits (all doubles). Among the 230 position players who have racked up at least 100 plate appearances this season, Iglesias ranks 207th with a 63 WRC+ and tied for 209th with -0.4 fWAR. To put it simply, he has been one of the worst position players in the game who has played semi-regularly.
Expecting Iglesias to repeat what he did last season with the Mets would've been foolish. I mean, he had a ridiculously unsustainable .382 BAbip. There's a reason he had to settle for a one-year, $3 million deal with the Padres in a utility role. Still, did anyone expect this? His OPS has dipped nearly 300 points from last year's mark, which is absurd.
Chances are, Iglesias will get it going eventually, to an extent. He has too long a track record to be this unproductive. Still, you can't help but give credit to Mets president David Stearns, here, for letting a player as popular and coming off as good a year as Iglesias had, walk. Padres fans can only hope he'll provide a similar spark to the one he provided the Mets down the stretch last season.