Pete Crow-Armstrong is absolutely tearing it up for the Chicago Cubs. The youngster OF has emerged as a bona fide MVP candidate in 2025. He was on pace for a rare 40-homer, 40-steal season at the All-Star break. Plus, his stat line has been stunning: 25 home runs, 71 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases. PCA leads the entire baseball with a +16 Outs Above Average, leaving him as a human highlight reel in center and a painful daily reminder to Mets fans of what could have been.
That lasting pain was given fresh life by Cavaliers sensation Donovan Mitchell. The lifelong Mets fan tweeted on July 17, “Just found out Pete Crow Armstrong was on the Mets lol I’m sick.” It was hilarious and heartbreaking to hear that confession. But some in the Mets faithful seized on his late discovery.
They instantly labeled him a “fake fan” for not being aware of the disastrous trade. It was a particularly pointed accusation given Mitchell’s familial history with the organization. His father is an influential, long-tenured team executive. Plus, Mitchell literally grew up around the Mets’ clubhouse.
Just found out Pete Crow Armstrong was on the Mets lol I’m sick
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) July 17, 2025
The resentment comes from the degree of the mistake.
The Pete Crow-Armstrong trade does not serve as a footnote in Mets history. It is a critical failure. The Mets selected PCA, a defensive standout from the renowned Harvard-Westlake School, in 2020. He was their best prospect and a potential future cornerstone. But on July 30, 2021, while the team was in first place, the front office made a decision that went down in infamy. They traded an injured PCA to the Cubs for a two-month stint of shortstop Javier Báez.
That “win-now” gamble backfired spectacularly. The Mets folded after that, ending with a 77-85 record and once again falling short of the playoffs. Báez departed in free agency, and the Mets were left with nothing. They had exchanged six years of a future superstar for two months of a player. The long-term expense of that mistake is still being tallied every time PCA steps on the field for Chicago.
The regret of the organization is so great that it put them in desperation mode. As SNY’s Andy Martino reported in 2023, the Mets front office actually tried to trade their own superstar slugger, Pete Alonso, to the Cubs to get back Crow-Armstrong. The Cubs, of course, declined. That the Mets were even willing to trade the “Polar Bear” to help rectify this mistake shows how deeply the wound cuts.
This deep institutional regret explains why the reaction from the fanbase to Mitchell’s tweet was so immediate and intense.
The digital court of Pete Crow-Armstrong fandom: A Breakdown of the backlash
Some fans immediately questioned where Mitchell’s allegiance lay! They went with an ultra-aggressive response: “Fake fan.” This contradicts Mitchell’s entire life story. Mitchell’s father is a longtime Mets executive. And he was raised around the clubhouse and legends like David Wright and Pedro Martínez. His public support has always been behind the same. But the ignorance of one failed transaction from four years ago was enough to question his long-standing support for the club.
One even questions, “Bruh you been a met fan for how long come on now.” This comment weaponizes his history. The argument is that a true lifelong fan, whose connection dates back to the 2000 Subway Series, should have felt the pain of the PCA trade in the moment it happened in 2021, not years later, regardless of his own demanding NBA career.
The final form of criticism used biting satire to frame his ignorance as a monumental failure. One user sarcastically wrote, “Imagine being a “Mets fan” and not knowing that…….” To understand the scale of the satire in this statement, we have to turn to another sport with a global, passionate, and often unforgiving fan base: Football. This is like a lifelong, Manchester United diehard tweeting in 2025, “Just found out we sold that Ronaldo kid to Real Madrid back in ’09, I’m sick.”
But thankfully, fans’ comments aren’t all about his loyalty. “They calling you a fake fan lil bro.” The logic here is based on witnessing Mitchell’s public persona as a fan of the New York Mets. If you remember, Mitchell engaged in public banter with the New York Knicks vet Josh Hart, an avid Yankees fan, during the most recent Subway Series, trolling him on X when the Mets had a commanding lead.
And at the end, one comment used dark humor to point out the irony! “Hahaha maybe you should dont be a mets fan.” This is not a literal suggestion but a bitter warning. He was always vocal for the team. Remember when he said after a crucial Pete Alonso homer, “I was at dinner. I screamed. Fell out of my chair. The (people sitting nearby) in the restaurant thought there was a roach, the way I screamed.” And it’s not just one occasion, there are so many. So, for the fan, it’s better to stop claiming himself as a true Metsy.
But let’s cut him a little slack, shall we? Maybe he missed the trade, maybe he forgot, or maybe his post, too, was a simple joke. Do you think that’s a possibility?
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