UnforMETable, Episode 27: Duaner Sanchez

Welcome to UnforMETable, an Amazin’ Avenue Audio show that looks back on less heralded, more obscure, but quintessential Mets players from the past.

Coming off a season a bit like 2019, with a promising young core that threatened but missed the playoffs, Omar Minaya entered the 2005 offseason intent on bolstering one of that season’s great weaknesses—the bullpen.

Along with signing closer Billy Wagner, Minaya engineered a trade for promising Dodgers set-up man Duaner Sanchez. The righthander was dynamic in the eighth inning, providing a stabilizing bullpen presence for a team cruising to the 2006 National League Eastern Division title. Until a fateful cab ride in Florida just prior to the…