NL East rival steals 2021 playoff hero from Braves in clearly desperate move

For Atlanta Braves fans, Eddie Rosario's time(s) with the team will be best remembered for when he basically singlehandedly beat the Dodgers in the 2024 NLCS (with a lovely assist from Tyler Matzek) to get to the World Series. He was a one-man wrecking crew who came up time after time to get Atlanta back to the Fall Classic where the team ultimately took down the Astros. It was a wonderful time.

Unfortunately, the rest of his tenures with Atlanta were far more forgettable. He still had his moments here and there, he only managed a .697 OPS the next two seasons with the Braves as vision problems and overall ineffectiveness plagued him. Rosario would end up signing with the Nationals and after he flamed out there, the Braves took one last chance on him this year before DFAing him after he hit .154 in 24 games in 2024 in Atlanta.

Well, Rosario has yet another new team as of Thursday and it is yet another NL East as Rosario ultimately decided to sign a minor league deal with the Mets.

Braves News: Eddie Rosario signs minor league deal with the Mets

If we are being honest with ourselves, this move is unlikely to move the needle much. Rosario is a shadow of his former self at this point and if he sees significant playing time in New York, something has gone horribly wrong for the Mets and we would love to see it. In all likelihood, Rosario will just hang out in the minor leagues and could maybe be brought up to shore the Mets' bench up at some point.

In some ways, this move by the Mets reeks of desperation. New York is two games out of a playoff spot at the moment as they were completely unable to take advantage of the Braves' summer slump and just lost in brutal fashion to Oakland on Thursday. The Mets are basically looking for scratch off lottery tickets to give themselves a chance in 2024 and are hoping that Rosario could turn into something again or at least give them some useful intel.

We'll know soon enough if the Mets will be a factor in the wild card race as the Braves have one more series against New York towards the end of September. One hopes that Atlanta will have locked up a playoff spot by then because the prospect of getting bounced by Rosario and the Mets that late in the year would be absolutely crushing.

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