Good luck to Darin Gorski, minor league free agent

Baseball America recently released its list of minor league players who declared free agency. About two weeks ago, news that Vic Black was leaving hit and this details guys like Black, who spent time in the majors, along with guys who fall into the category of minor league lifers. In all, 23 former Mets farmhands are now free to sign with other teams. Your dreams of seeing Edioglis Villasmil toe the mound at Citi Field are probably over but it’s not impossible that a few of these guys may come back to the organization.

One guy that hopefully will move on to greener pastures is old pal Darin Gorski.

So much in life depends upon being in the right place at the right time and it’s no different with professional athletes. If you’re a star, you’re going to get your chance, even if you have to wait longer than you should have, like Edgar Martinez. But if you’re not a star, sometimes you need to catch a break. And playing the right position, in the right org, at the right time can make the difference between a multiple-years-in-the-majors career (and the money that comes with that) and having to go back to work in a regular job like the rest of us schmucks.

Let’s look at two guys the Mets drafted late in the Omar Minaya era, who both are now age 28. The Mets grabbed Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the 2008 draft and got Gorski a year later. Nieuwenhuis was the higher pick (3rd vs. 7th) but let’s not pretend that a guy from an NAIA school had his ticket punched to the majors the day he was drafted. Both of these guys had an uphill climb to Queens.

But Nieuwenhuis had the fortune to be in an org not swimming in major league quality outfielders. Also, guys who were highly thought of, like Lastings Milledge and Fernando Martinez, busted. Jason Bay was brought on as a high-priced free agent and ended up getting concussed twice and saw his career end. Angel Pagan was sent out of town and his replacement was kicked to the curb after one disappointing year. Matt den Dekker was traded. Michael Cuddyer and John Mayberry Jr. were imported and didn’t exactly set the world on fire.

This is not to suggest that everything went right for Nieuwenhuis, because that’s never the case. But is it really so hard to imagine a few things in the above paragraph playing out differently and Nieuwenhuis now in the position Gorski’s in and declaring minor league free agency? Instead, he’s played parts of four years in the majors and seems in good shape to add a fifth season in 2016. It’s reasonable to assume that his combined stints in the majors have netted Nieuwenhuis a million dollars at this point. Gorski likely hasn’t made a quarter of that amount.

Meanwhile, shortly after Gorski was drafted, the Mets added a bunch of higher-ceiling pitchers to their organization who have mostly cashed in. That’s great for the Mets – and their fans! – but not so ideal for the major league ambitions of a guy who in an alternate organization would likely be in a much better spot.

And to make matters worse, the Mets switched their Triple-A affiliate to a hitter-friendly park in a hitter-friendly league just in time for Gorski to have to ply his trade there. After putting up numbers in Double-A in 2013 that compare favorably to any pitcher currently on the Mets (1.94 ERA, 0.864 WHIP, 3.05 K/BB), Gorski’s reward was a trip to Las Vegas. In parts of three seasons in the desert, Gorski has a 5.36 ERA and a 1.662 WHIP.

In 2013, the Mets were going nowhere and had spots available late in the year in their rotation. They could have promoted from within and given those starts to a homegrown guy who had dominated in Double-A. Instead, they chose to dumpster dive and bring in Aaron Harang and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Perhaps another organization would have done differently. We saw the 2015 Reds employ a rotation made up of nothing but rookies once they dealt Johnny Cueto.

It’s extremely unlikely that even if all of the stars had aligned perfectly that Gorski would have been a star. But you don’t have to be a star to have a long career in the majors, especially as a lefty. Several years ago, I made the comparison to Mark Redman and that still seems reasonable. Redman ended up with a 10-year major league career, despite a lifetime 4.85 ERA and a 1.430 WHIP.

A 10-year career is not in the cards for Gorski at this point. But here’s hoping he goes to an organization whose Triple-A affiliate is in a neutral or even a pitcher’s park and with a GM who will give preference to promoting guys from within. It would be nice to see him catch a break and get a chance to pitch in the majors before he calls it a career.