All Mets team 1965-2016, position players

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In putting together this team I was struck by how few great positional players the Mets have had over the past 50 years. Of course, they compensated by having some truly great pitchers. While the Mets haven't had an abundance of great positional players, they did have some. So, here goes.

Catcher: Mike Piazza Here's one of the great players the Mets did have. Mike is one of a number of players who appears on two teams. Mike actually spent more time as a Met than a Dodger. From 1999-2002 Mike's home run totals were 40-38-36-33. In his 8 years with the Mets Piazza's 8 years with the Mets his total WAR was 24.5. While Piazza is the pick here, Gary Carter also had some memorable moments as the Mets catcher. Jerry Grote was an excellent defensive catcher who spent 12 years behind the plate and John “Bad Dude” Stearns had one of the collest nicknames of all time.

First base: Keith Hernandez At the top end of his career, Hernandez was a gold glove defender, had an OBP of around .400 and had a WAR of 5.0-6.3. That was good enough to nail down this position on this team by a wide margin. Ed Kranepool gets a mention primarily by virtue of his longevity if not his production.  Pete Alfonso may eventually take this position by virtue of his power hitting, but for now, Keith Hernandez is still the choice.

Second base: Edgardo Alphonso There has been a lot of wreckage at this position over the years. Alphonso had some nice years for the Mets. In 1999 and 2000 Alphonso had a WAR of 6.0 and 6.2. Those two years alone just about eclipse the totals of any other Mets second baseman. Daniel Murphy and Felix Millan would have been in the discussion if not for Alphonso.

Shortstop: Jose Reyes This was basically a two man race between Jose Reyes and Bud Harrelson. While Harrelson played 13 years for the Mets, his career WAR was only 18.6. Of course, Bud played at a time when shortstop was generally played by a guy who could catch the ball but couldn't hit much. That was Bud. Reyes was truly an exciting player in his heyday. Jose led the league in four times with totals of 17-17-19-16. He also lead the league in stolen bases three times. He also played some good defense. Reyes is the easy choice at shortstop.

Third base: David Wright Speaking of easy choices, here's one. Wright has been slowed by injuries in recent years so it's easy to forget just how good Wright was. In his prime Wright was good for about 30 home runs, 100 RBIs and a .300 average. In 2007 Wright had a WAR of 8.3. He followed that up with a WAR of 6.3 in 2008. Easily enough to beat out the competition for Mets third baseman.

Lefty Field: Kevin McReynolds From the mid 80s to the early 90s Kevin was good for a line of about .280-25-90. Not bad. Not really great either. Still, I put him ahead of Cliff Floyd and Cleon Jones. Cleon gets special recognition for his longevity and a great 1969 season where he had a WAR of 7.0. In summation, the Mets had some good left fielders, just not some great ones.

Center fielder: Carlos Beltran Beltran is the choice over Lenny Dystra. From 2006-2008 Beltran's home run totals were 41-33-27. During that time his defensive metrics were also excellent. In total, Beltran spent 7 years with the Mets, putting together a WAR of 31.3. Before I leave this position, a quick acknowledgment of one of my favorite Mets, Tommie Agee. Tommie had a couple of nice years as the Mets center fielder and some memorable catches in world series action.

Right field: Darryl Strawberry Here was an easy choice. For all of Strawberry's issues, he put up huge numbers for the Mets. I had forgotten how huge until I looked at them again. In his 8 years with the Mets he hit between 26-39 home runs. He had three years of over 100 RBIs. His total WAR was 36.5 for his Mets years. Darryl Strawberry, the Mets all time home run leader and best right fielder in their history.

So there's my all Mets team. How does it compare with yours?