I never realized how good he was before coming to the New York -- an All-Star in 2016, a 2.92 ERA in 348 games from 2013 to 2018 -- but, as they usually do with most relievers, the Mets picked him up a year or two late and what they got was a guy who gave them a 4.67 ERA in 30 total appearances.

His 2019 stint wasn't terrible (3.68 ERA in 16 G) and the Mets were on the upswing when they got him. But like they usually do, the Mets chose to try and bolster the club with underqualified cogs that don't quite give them enough oomph to push them over the edge, and Brach was part of the 2019 edition of those maneuverings. So perhaps I maligned him too much when he arrived and didn't appreciate him enough that year because I saw him as a weak signing.

But he tanked in 2020 and then he disappeared, and that was that.

So, of course, he didn't respond to me when I wrote him through the Orioles in 2015. But it's my fault, I think, as I sent my request to the team's regular address, when perhaps I would have been better off sending it to its spring training address.