The Royals have two Mets currently in Jason Vargas and Francisco Pena.
Vargas was drafted by the Marlins in 2004 and was traded to the Mets in 2006 for Lindstrom and Owens. In 2008 he was part of the three team trade that sent him from the Mets to the Mariners. In 2012 he was traded to the Angels and in 2013 he signed as a free agent with the Royals. In 2007 he made two starts for the Mets allowing 14 earned runs over 10.1 innings. Last year was the best year of his career going 11-10 over 30 starts with a 3.71 ERA over 187.0 innings.
Francisco Pena signed with the Mets back in 2006 at the age of 16. For a long time he was supposed to be the Mets catcher of the future but as he started to grow into his frame, the power that was supposed to develop never came. In 2013 he ended up signing as a free agent with the Royals and last year made his major league debut, playing in a major league game but did not record a plate appearance.
This series of articles will take us across every organization in baseball and look for former Mets in the majors and minors to see how they are doing, leading up to a “Former Mets Team” to see how the current Mets stack up with pieces we have all over the place. I am still looking for Mets team members on the Pirates, Rangers, White Sox and Tigers. If you know any, please let me know!
