New York Mets 2013 Most Obscure Player Is...

2013 was not a banner year for the Mets. It was a bad year, full of bad players playing bad games on their way to a bad record in a bad division. So, deciding that a team of this caliber should not deserve an MVP, we have elected to hand out some alternative hardware for the end of the season. This year, we have taken a vote on the Mets Most Obscure Player.

The main criteria is that this person be the guy whose name you will hear in two years and say, "...who?" (Think Chin-lung Hu from 2011. 20 glorious at bats.) Now, on a good team, this award is cut and dried, and there is one player who got brought up to fill in an injury hole or right out of spring training who was quickly discarded. On the Mets, there were multiple candidates.

This is either Collin McHugh or a
Little Leaguer wearing his uniform.
Photo by Michael Baron

Collin McHugh was my personal recommendation. With one start and only seven innings pitched all year for the squad, he fits the criteria nicely. He left in a trade for Eric Young, Jr., and continued his season in Colorado, where he posted a 9.95 ERA, down slightly from his 10.29 in Queens.

Photo from Getty Images. God, look at that tan. Beautiful.

Rick Ankiel garnered a couple of votes. There is no reason to go too far into his back story, we all know it pretty well. He was a pitcher, went haywire, played outfield for the Cardinals, his production fell off, he was a free agent, we signed him, he sucked, and don't forget his awesome tan. However, I objected because you will NEVER, EVER forget that Ankiel played here. At least I won't.

No other known photos exist of Lutz
Photo by Michael Baron

Timothy O'Brien suggested Zach Lutz, a terrific candidate. Called up when Duda hit the DL, he did bat .300 in is time with the big league club. However, Lutz will not win the award. Tim was outvoted, and with Lutz still in the Mets system, there is the possibility that he does something of impact in the future. This damages his candidacy, leaving him a close runner up to...

The Mets, eventually, needed less Cowgill.
Photo by Michael Baron

Collin Cowgill, who will be taking home the award. This is most impressive because he was our Opening Day centerfielder and lead-off man! He hit a grand slam the first day of the season. And then that was it. He played some awful baseball after that, and was optioned to Las Vegas in the beginning of May. He was eventually traded to the Angels for some other crappy Minor League outfielder. But here he is, your inaugural Mets MOP!

If you feel we overlooked a player from this year (and the fact that we did would make them a terrific candidate), let us know.




The entire Effing Mets crew is on Twitter, by the way. Myself, @kmflemming. Rob Patterson can be found @RobPatterson83, but he's unbearable. Tim is @joshuetree, Jason is @jwil25, Craig is @petrags99, and Bryan's is @bdamis.

Seth's Twitter handle is extremely enthusiastic/cumbersome: @Lets_Go_Mets_17. We only get 140 characters Seth, cut some dead weight.