DENVER — Yorvit Torrealba does not think too much about the Mets anymore. But bring up the team withdrawing its contract offer to him in November 2007 and the emotions come back quickly.
“I haven’t forgot about it,” the Rockies catcher said Friday.
The Mets and Torrealba agreed on a three-year, $14.4 million deal that would make Torrealba the team’s replacement for Paul Lo Duca. But just a few days later, before the contract was signed, the Mets backed out, telling Torrealba that his physical raised concerns about his right shoulder.
“In my eyes, they gave me a three-year deal then they wanted to back out of it when they agreed to it,” Torrealba said. “They regretted it. Maybe they didn’t think I was worth it. That’s the way I look at it.”
The Rockies re-signed Torrealba for two years, $7.25 million, a significant loss for Torrealba. His shoulder has been fine and he’s now in the middle of Colorado’s playoff run. His two-run home run off of Cole Hamels on Thursday helped tie their NLDS with the Phillies, 1-1.
Game 3, scheduled for last night at Coors Field, was postponed until tonight due to snow and freezing temperatures here.
Torrealba said he doesn’t look back on the deal with the Mets.
“Everything worked out perfect because this is where I wanted to be,” he said. “This is the team that gave me an opportunity to play. I have the best teammates ever. We’re in the playoffs and it’s been a great experience with this team.”
Torrealba filed a grievance against the Mets last year, one he said is still pending. The one bad taste he has left from the failed negotiations is from general manager Omar Minaya. He said the GM spoke with his wife and young son about coming to New York, raising their expectations before backing out of the deal.
The home run on Thursday was another chapter in Torrealba’s strange year. He struggled early in the year as a backup to Chris Iannetta. In June, his 11-year-old son was kidnapped in Venezuela. The boy was released unharmed a few days later, but Torrealba left the Rockies for a month.
“Unbelievable,” Torrealba said when asked to describe the season. “There are no words for it. I wasn’t even playing in the beginning. When I finally had a chance to play was when my son was kidnapped. They were playing really well without me. At one point they gave me a chance and I basically turned my season around. We started winning and now we’re in the playoffs. It’s unbelievable.”
Torrealba was a huge part of the Rockies’ surge to the NL wild card, hitting .310 in the final month of the season with 17 RBIs.
“You have to give him an awful lot of credit for that none of us here can understand what might be going through one’s mind and where it would go from there once you do get resolution to it is losing his son for a period of time via kidnappers in Venezuela,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “To come back and perform in the manner in which he has, I think it tells you an awful lot about the individual and who he is, not only as a baseball player but as a person, also.”