Top 50 New York Mets
There was a time when New York City had three teams, the Giants, the Dodgers and the Yankees but they were left with one when California baseball claimed the first two. The Big Apple is certainly large enough to handle a second team and the Mets came to fruition in 1962.The Mets were dreadful through the 60’s but the “Miracle Mets” shocked the world and won the World Series in 1969. They would return in 1973, though in a losing effort and another long period where they were not competitive, but by the late 80’s they enjoyed a resurgence and would win their second World Series in 1986.
This would be the last World Series that New York would win but they did win the NL Pennant in 2000 and 2015.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics and post-season accolades. This is a list up to the end of the 2024 Season.
A New York Met for all but two games of his professional career, Craig Swan may have had a losing record over his career, but he was a good player overall who was certainly capable of flashes of brilliance. Swan’s best year was 1978 when he surprisingly won the ERA title. Of note, he also was the National League leader in ERA+.
With the flowing blonde hair and tall frame, Noah Syndergaard, has the nickname of "Thor". Many days, he pitched just like it.
With the 10th overall pick in 2014, the New York Mets drafted Michael Conforto, who would first crack the Majors the year after.
A two-time Cy Young Award winner with the Kansas City Royals, Bret Saberhagen still was a good Pitcher when he was traded to the Mets. In the strike-shortened season of 1994, Saberhagen would finish third in Cy Young voting and led the NL in BB/9 and SO/BB with numbers that were far better than his Cy Young-winning seasons in KC. As a Met, Saberhagen posted a record of 29-21 with a 3.16 ERA.
A bench player for the Mets in their 1986 World Series Championship win, Dave Magadan seemed to constantly fight for a starting job in the lineup. Magadan would eventually become one (only to always have to look over his shoulder) and would produce some decent hitting for New York, the best of which was the 1990 season where he batted .328, which was good enough for third in the NL.With New York, Magadan batted .292 with 610 Hits.
The American League Rookie of the Year in 1966 for the Chicago White Sox, Tommie Agee became a major fan favorite in his second year with the Mets, which not coincidentally was the season of the “Miracle Mets”.
A member of the 1969 Miracle Mets as a rookie, Wayne Garratt would compete professionally for the team for seven and a half seasons. Garrett would spend time predominantly at Third Base and his best season was in 1973 where he had 129 Hits with 16 Home Runs. He would blast two more Homers in the 1973 World Series.
Mets fans may not have a great memory for Armando Benitez as he is more known for the Saves he blew (especially in the playoffs) than the ones he made, but there is no question that he closed a lot of games for New York.
The best season of Bob Ojeda’s career was in 1986, the season after he was traded from the Boston Red Sox, the team he would help his new team beat in the World Series. Ojeda would finish fourth in Cy Young voting that year and would go 51 and 40 as a Met.
While the third season as the Mets closer has not yet gone according to plan for Jeurys Familia, his first two seasons in that role were excellent. Familia led the NL in Saves in 2016, which saw him also go to the All Star Game and receive a smattering of MVP votes. 2017 was a horrible year for the Dominican hurler as he was suspended for 15 Games for domestic violence and his play on the field also plummeted. He was traded during the 2018 season to Oakland. He returned in 2019 as a Free Agent, where he played for…
Like Johan Santana, Frank Viola is far better known for his accomplishments in Minnesota, but still brought skills when he was traded to the New York Mets. In both of his full seasons with the Mets, Viola was an All-Star and would finish 3rd in Cy Young Voting in 1990, a year where he was a 20 Game winner and finished 2nd in WAR for Pitchers.
From the Dominican Republic, Juan Lagares was known for his glove, and while he was never a great hitter, he knew what to do in the Outfield.