All Mets 1965-2017 pitchers

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In putting together the All Mets team from 1965-2016 there were some positions that were somewhat threadbare. That's not true of the pitchers. There is greatness and depth. We'll start with the guy I think is the consummate Met.

Starting pitcher: Tom Seaver Tom had great stuff and pitched with tremendous intelligence. Seaver helped the Mets transition from expansion team patsy to world series champion. In Tom's 12 seasons with the Mets Tom had five 20 win seasons. In 1969, the year of the “Miracle Mets” Seaver went 25-7 with an ERA of 2.21. His WAR that season was 7.2. In 1971 and 1973 it was over 10. He led the league in strikeouts five seasons. For his Mets career he finished at 198-124 with an ERA of 2.57. His total WAR for his 12 years with the Mets was 76.1. Tom Seaver, for me, the greatest Met.

Starting pitcher: Dwight Gooden If Tom Seaver was ice, Dwight Gooden was fire. Doc burst on the scene in 1984 and won the National League Rookie of the Year award with 17-9 record to go with an ERA of 2.60. He also led the league in strikeouts with 276. The next year was the greatest of his career when he went 24-4 with an ERA of 1.53. He had a WAR of 12.2 for the year. While Doc never had another season like that, he did have seven more seasons of double digit victories. Doc spent 11 years with Mets, going 157-85 with an ERA of 3.10. Doc finished with a WAR of 41.6.

Starting pitcher:  Jacob deGrom  Jacob slots in nicely behind Seaver and Gooden.  Unfortunately for Jacob he's played for mostly bad Mets teams.  Through 2020  he's put up a career record of 70-51 with an ERA of  2.61.  His best season to date was in 2018 when he won the NL Cy Young.  That season he went 10-9 with an ERA of 1.70. Jacob should benefit from what will likely be better Mets teams going forward.

Starting pitcher: Jerry Koosman I think of Jerry as being Robin to Tom Seaver's Batman. Jerry had a won and lost record of 140-137 with the Mets. That's extremely deceptive. In 1977 Jerry went 8-20 even though he had an ERA of 3.49. The next year was even worse, with Jerry going 3-15. That year his ERA was a respectable 3.75. The next year Jerry pitched for the Twins and won 20 games. The moral of the story? Won and lost records can be deceptive. For his 12 years with the Mets Jerry posted an ERA of 3.09 and a WAR of 39.5.

Starting pitcher: David Cone I slotted Cone as the number 5 but from here on, it could easily have been Cone, Fernandez, Jon Matlack or Ron Darling. I gave Cone the edge because he after a spectacular season in 1988 where he went 20-3, he had three consecutive 14 win seasons. I recognize won and lost records don't tell a lot of the story, but David's peripheral stats were in line with that. That's my pick, but I'm not dogmatic about it.

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Relief pitcher: John Franco While Franco didn't have the dominant stuff of many closers he did a nice job for the Mets in his 14 years with the team. During that time John picked up 246 saves to go with an ERA of 3.10. Francos' won and lost record was below .500 at 48-56, but still, by virtue of longevity and effectiveness Franco nailed down the number one slot.

Relief pitcher: Billy Wagner Want a closer with heat? Wagner was your man. Wagner averaged 10.9 Ks per 9 innings in his time with the Mets. His save totals in his three full seasons with the team were 40-34-27. Wagner nails down the second slot in the Mets pen.

Relief pitcher: Tug McGraw I've gotta believe Tug deserves a spot on this team. Tug started a few games as a Met, but turned in his best work out of the pen. He was a key member of thew Miracle Mets bullpen and had some excellent seasons thereafter. Tug, “Ya gotta believe” McGraw earns a spot on the team.

So there it is. There's plenty of room for discussion. How does that compare to your all Mets team?