Braves' Vaughn Grissom: Being drafted by Mets would've been 'terrible'

The rivalry between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves has been heated for years and won't be cooling down anytime soon ahead of the fall months. At the start of Thursday's MLB action, the first-place Mets held just a one-and-a-half-game lead over the second-place Braves in the National League East standings, and the two clubs will meet in Atlanta for a pivotal series set to take place from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2. 

As noted by Baseball-Reference, infielder Vaughn Grissom had made only 15 appearances with the big-league Braves as of Thursday afternoon. However, the 21-year-old may have already become a fan favorite among the Atlanta faithful and also a hated villain in the eyes of New York fans thanks to a piece produced by Mark Bowman of the MLB website. 

Per Bowman, Grissom worried during the 2019 MLB Draft that the Mets were going to take a flier on him. 

"I thought I was going to be a Met, which would have been terrible," Grissom remarked for the piece. His fears went unrealized, and the Braves made him an 11th-round selection.

The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

According to Robert Sanchez of SNY, Grissom hit .429 with a .967 OPS in his first four career games against the Mets earlier this month. In total, Grissom is slashing .382/.424/.600 with three home runs, three doubles and 10 RBI in what is still a brief Atlanta tenure.

One wonders if Grissom will ultimately haunt the Mets for weeks and even years to come.