Back in 2015, Hansel Robles was a revelation for a Mets bullpen needing an additional arm.

He made some further strides in 2016. After that, he was much worse. What made it so frustrating was his stretches of just absolute dominance.

As we all know, he’d follow that with a complete and utter inability to get an out. Inevitably, he’d be there pointing to the sky again and again and again.

It was the finger point that was the most frustrating. In his mind, that 500 foot blast was a pop up to second.

Part of the frustration really was how despite his talent, he just couldn’t get the results. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t trying.

In the offseason, he worked with Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez. Maybe his work with Pedro crossed him up with his old work with Dan Warthen and his current work with Mickey Callaway and Dave Eiland.

Maybe it was too many cooks in the kitchen. Maybe it was him ignoring all four and doing his own thing. Who knows with him?

As always with Robles, no one quite knew the answer.

Robles being designated for assignment makes the second time this season the famed pitching gurus failed to get through to a pitcher. The other time was Matt Harvey.

At the moment, the Mets decision to designate Harvey for assignment does not seem to have come back to haunt them even with Harvey showing flashes. It also helps Devin Mesoraco has been much better than the Mets could have ever imagined.

That doesn’t mean it was the right decision to designate Harvey for assignment. It wasn’t.

For proof of that, look no further than Jason Vargas, who is 2-6 with an 8.60 ERA and a 1.832 WHIP while averaging just over four innings per start. Really, when he takes the mound, the only people he’s fooling is the Mets front office and coaching staff.

This same coaching staff and front office are once again fooling themselves by replacing one of their guys with another AL Central pitcher.

Heading into this season, Chris Beck had a career 6.38 ERA, 1.760 WHIP, and a 5.2 BB/9. To that end, this year is his career year with him posting a 4.18 ERA, 1.479 WHIP, and a 4.2 BB/9.

Despite these being career bests, they’re poor numbers, which is why a very bad White Sox team released him. For some reason, despite trusting their internal talent, the Mets picked him up, and he’s been worse.

And yet, it’s Robles, a guy who has actually performed well in his career and had some glimpses this year, who would be designated for assignment.

It should also be noted Marcos Molina still keeps his spot on the 40 man roster despite his losing his velocity and pitching very poorly this year. In fact, his last start for Binghamton lasted just 3.1 innings. In that start, he allowed 13 runs (10 earned) on 11 hits.

How do you look at either Molina or Beck and decide Robles is the real problem?

Sure, you can be frustrated with Robles and believe he has done more than enough to be designated for assignment. What he hasn’t been is worse than Beck or Molina.

We shouldn’t be surprised by this at all as this front office constantly makes just plain decisions like this all the time. After all, Jose Reyes and Rafael Montero continue to be members of this organization while a score of more talented players have left this organization in their stead.