I’m starting a new category here on Mets Hot Corner called Mets Top 10. My wife suggested I start this to help break my writer’s block and as always she was right. I’ll be using statistics to create lists in the beginning, but I plan on making it more creative as time goes on. I’m also hoping to get fans involved through polls and surveys and eventually create a set of infographics to match.
This week’s list is all about WAR or Wins Above Replacement. This is an attempt by the sabermetric baseball community to summarize a player’s total contributions to their team in one statistic. There are a bunch of baseball fans who hate sabermetrics, but I really dig WAR and it lends itself to great conversations. So without further ado, here’s the Mets All-Time Top 10 by WAR.
#1 Tom Seaver (79 WAR)
The Franchise played 12 season for the Mets and had a career ERA of 2.57. Seaver had 171 complete games with 44 of those were shutouts. He had an astonishing 2,541 strikeouts and a win loss percentage of .615%. Seaver was elected to 10 all-star teams, was rookie of the year in 1967, and won the Cy Young 3 times. Tom Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.
#2 David Wright (50 WAR)
The Mets Captain is a career .298 batter with 1,746 hits and 235 home runs. Wright has been elected to 7 all-star teams, 2 gold gloves, 2 silver sluggers, and finished 4th in MVP voting back in 2007. He recently helped lead the Mets to their first World Series in 15 years this past season. David Wright has played his whole career with the Mets and has stated he bleeds orange and blue.
#3 Dwight Gooden (46 WAR)
Dwight Gooden, or better known as Dr. K, was the Mets firs round draft pick back in 1982. He won rookie of the year honors in 1984 and won the Cy Young award in 1985 after coming in 2nd the year before. Gooden posted a 1.53 ERA in 1985 and won 24 games with 16 of those being complete games. Inches 11 years with the Mets, Gooden had a 3.10 ERA, 67 complete games, and 23 shutouts.
#4 Jerry Koosman (36 WAR)
Koosman played 12 years with the Mets and was an integral part of the 1969 World Series team that defeated the highly favored Baltimore Orioles. Koosman sported an ERA of 3.09 and won 140 games for the Mets, completing 108 of them with 26 being shutouts. Koosman was elected to 2 all-star teams and finished 2nd in Cy Young voting back in 1968.
#5 Darryl Strawberry (36 WAR)
Straw was the overall 1st pick in the 1980 draft by the Mets and ended up playing 8 seasons with the Amazins. Darryl won the rookie of the year award in 1983, elected to 7 all-star teams, and won 2 silver slugger awards. He helped the team win the World Series in 1986 and hit a career high 39 home runs in 1988. Strawberry had 1,025 hits, 252 home runs, 733 RBIs, and stole 191 bases with the Mets.
#6 Carlos Beltran (31 WAR)
Carlos Beltran played 7 seasons for the Mets and helped lead the team to the NLCS in 2006. He had a batting average of .280, hit 149 home runs, and drove in 559 RBIs. Beltran was elected to 5 all-star teams, won 3 gold gloves, and 2 silver slugger awards. He was one of the team’s best center fielders and should always be remembered for his defense, as well as his offense.
#7 Edgardo Alfonzo (29 WAR)
Fonzie played 8 years in Flushing with a .292 batting average, 1,136 hits, and 538 RBIs. An all-star in 2000 and a silver slugger award under his belt, Alfonzo was better known for his defense and was part of the best infield ever as stated on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He is probably best known for his home run in the 1999 one-game playoff against the Reds which was all the offense the Mets would need.
#8 Sid Fernandez (29 WAR)
El Sid played 10 years for the Mets and sported a 3.14 ERA. Along with helping the Mets win a World Series in 1986, Fernandez was elected to 2 all-star teams, pitched 23 complete games, 9 of which were shutouts. Fernandez had an unorthodox pitching motion with a hesitation at the end followed by a sudden slingshot sidearm delivery, making him a major strikeout threat throughout his career.
#9 José Reyes (27 WAR)
Reyes was elected to the all-star team 4 times and led MLB in triples in ’05, ’06, ’08, and ’11 during his 9 year career in New York. He also led the NL in stolen bases 4 times and was the NL batting champion in 2011. Reyes is also the New York Mets’ all-time leader in triples and stolen bases. Aside from all that, he was one of the most energetic and charismatic players to ever wear a Mets uniform.
#10 John Matlack (27 WAR)
Mattock played 7 years with the Mets and compiled 1,023 strikeouts and a 3.03 ERA. He won rookie of the year honors in 1972, helped the Mets capture another pennant in 1973, and was a 3-time all-star. Matlack may be most notably known for taking a line drive off his skull suffering a hairline fracture, but came back 11 days later to pitch 6 shutout innings against Pittsburgh.
***UPDATE***
I received a few messages asking why other Mets players Such as Mike Piazza and Keith Hernandez weren’t on this list. The WAR numbers were based on Mets career numbers only, not as whole careers. Here are players 11-20 on the all-time WAR list for Mets players.
#11 Al Leiter (26 WAR)
#12 Keith Hernandez (26 WAR)
#13 Mike Piazza (24 WAR)
#14 Howard Johnson (21 WAR)
#15 Mookie Wilson (20 WAR)
#16 David Cone (20 WAR)
#17 John Sterns (19 WAR)
#18 Bud Harrelson (18 WAR)
#19 Cleon Jones (18 WAR)
#20 Ron Darling (17 WAR)