If ever a list was put together noting actions and events that were quintessential New York Mets, that list would probably include continually opting for the unusual move that eventually backfires instead of choosing the more obvious and safer option; trades for veterans well past their primes that everyone except the front office knew would backfire; bizarre injuries that seem to happen only to the Mets; and big tease sprints toward the playoffs that ultimately collapse, bre

To say that injuries derailed the 2017 Mets would be an understatement. So numerous and so serious were the ailments that befell the team that they would crush preseason optimism into a 70-92, fourth-place finish, cost the manager and the head trainer their jobs and prompt a major revision in the team’s medical practices. The optimism? Start with Yoenis Cespedes, the biggest bat in the lineup, signing a four-year, $110 million contract. Second baseman Neil Walk

If the old baseball adage holds true that sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make, consider this corollary that applies to the 2015 New York Mets: Sometimes, the best trades you make are the ones that happen because one you did make falls through. A convincing argument could be made that the Mets made it to the World Series largely because the July trade that would have sent Wilmer Flores and Noah Syndergaard to the Milwaukee Brewers fell through