When the Mets signed Jose Iglesias to a minor league deal in early December 2023, it was pretty much the 34-year-old’s last chance at continuing his major league career. He had just spent all of 2023 in the minors, toiling around a few organizations who never gave him a call-up, and had not had a season worth more than 2 fWAR since 2014.
When he didn’t make the team out of spring, Iglesias was ready to hang it up and go home, but the Mets promised him that if they needed another backup infielder in 2024, he would get the call, so he stuck around and saw it through.