Whole list after the jump:
Let’s break this up into groups of ten. Click on the name for the original post about the player:
1 – Tom Seaver, P
2 – Dwight Gooden, P
3 – Jerry Koosman, P
4 – David Wright, 3B
5 – Darryl Strawberry, RF
6 – Edgardo Alfonzo, 2B/3B
7 – Carlos Beltran, CF
8 – Keith Hernandez, 1B
9 – Jon Matlack, P
10 – Mike Piazza, C
I have a number for the value of each player’s career, which is what this list was mostly based on. Tom Seaver’s number is 133.5. Doc Gooden’s and Jerry Koosman’s combined total is 125.1.
11 – Al Leiter, P
12 – Cleon Jones, LF
13 – Howard Johnson, 3B
14 – Jose Reyes, SS
15 – David Cone, P
16 – John Stearns, C
17 – Bud Harrelson, SS
18 – John Olerud, 1B
19 – Sid Fernandez, P
20 – Ron Darling, P
Two weeks ago in Florida, I was sitting in the media room when an gruff man sat down at the table next to me. He picked up a copy of Baseball America on the table, and flipping through it, began violently ripping all the subscription cards out of the magazine — this caught my attention because my father does the exact same thing. Anyway, it turns out the man was John Stearns, now a scout for the Mariners and still an intimidating man. He left the magazine and subscription cards on the table when he departed.
21 – Johan Santana, P
22 – Dave Magadan, 1B
23 – Tug McGraw, RP
24 – Mookie Wilson, CF
25 – Lenny Dykstra, CF
26 – Gary Carter, C
27 – Rick Reed, P
28 – Kevin McReynolds, LF
29 – Tommie Agee, CF
30 – Lee Mazzilli, CF/1B
Wilson, Dykstra, Agee, and Mazzilli, all center fielders, all with nearly the exact same career value. I’m sure I had a reason for putting them in that order when I started, but I don’t remember what it was.
31 – Craig Swan, P
32 – Wayne Garrett, 3B
33 – Jerry Grote, C
34 – Todd Hundley, C
35 – Wally Backman, 2B
36 – Bobby Ojeda, P
37 – Bret Saberhagen, P
38 – Robin Ventura, 3B
39 – Jesse Orosco, RP
40 – Frank Viola, P
Wayne Garrett probably wins the title of most underrated Met — Alfonzo, Stearns, and Magadan are also in the running for that title — as he drew tons of walks and played decent defense, two things undervalued at third base. My guess is that you could make some sort of formula, based on walks, doubles, position, and defensive runs saved, to come up with some sort of “underrated player index.”
41 – John Franco, RP
42 – Rusty Staub, RF
43 – Armando Benitez, RP
44 – Tom Glavine, P
45 – Bobby Jones, P
46 – Bernard Gilkey, LF
47 – Lance Johnson, CF
48 – Steve Trachsel, P
49 – John Milner, 1B
50 – Ed Kranepool, 1B/PH
Of the current Mets, Angel Pagan or Mike Pelfrey could get into the top 50 in the next year or so, with Reyes and Santana possibilities to move up the list in the near future. Wright probably jumps Gooden and Koosman before he’s done, but has no shot at Seaver. I don’t think anyone ever catches Seaver.
Patrick John Flood (blog) 
I think Delgado should be on the list considering his HRs and great post season play in 2006. Seems to me you favor pitchers. You mentioned that if the all time Mets team played at a certain level they would eclipse the regular season wins record. You can pretty much do that with any team and the same result would happen if not a better one. Think about the all time Mariners team or even all time Expos team. Just saying.
Delgado is technically #50, but I had to drop someone to get Kranepool on. And I don’t know if it’s so much a matter of me favoring pitchers as it is that the Mets simply having far more good pitchers than position players.
I commend you on your list. Also, remind the readers that there is a big drop-off after the Top 14 as you had mentioned a Mets pyramid (not to be confused with a Mets pyramid scheme). By the way, with this being the 50th year of the Mets, perhaps any future list should end with the number of Mets years – nest year would be the Top 51. Regardless, consider that Ed Kranepool should always remain in the list even if it means moving ahead of Milner and Trachsel if there are new entries such as the case of Pelfrey and Pagan. … and Dave Kingman was a noticeable omission in your initial column of Mets who did not make the list.
Yeah, in retrospect I should have mentioned Kingman in the list of Mets who did not make the list. Kingman’s problem is that he didn’t do anything useful besides hitting home runs — didn’t get on base, didn’t field well, didn’t hit for a high average, nothing. He just hit home runs, and there’s only so much value in that if you don’t do anything else.
Kranepool will always have the #50 spot.
good god please no more of these crappy lists.
Bobo! I was worried we lost you.
I’ve been working for the man.
No don’t hate the list it was a lot of fun. I tuned in every week to find out who would be next. It was fun. I just have a couple of beefs Darryl over Wright. Darryl won a ring, Wright didn’t and probably won’t. I also think Piazza should be in at least the top 5. Throw all the sabermetricss aside for one second. Piazza Is the most beloved position player in Mets history. Why do you think he and Tom Terrific walked out of Shea last? David Wright was ducking out the side door after another collapse. He is your #3? no way!! D Wright is a very good Met but not better than Straw or Piazza. Patty I know you are gonna tell me about Mike having his best days as a Dodger, but his best season with the Mets beat any of Wrights best seasons. Wright has compiled very good numbers but he never put them in the playoffs 2 years in a row. C’mon Mike has to be higher on this list.
Actually, just based on the numbers, Mike Piazza comes out 15 or 16, so I had to fudge it a lot to get him into the top ten. Short version: Great hitter, great guy, one of the beloved Mets, but slow, poor defender, hit into a lot of double plays, and only played 80% of the games.
Where is Felix Millan? With all due respect to Wally Backman, Millan was the best Mets second baseman till Alfonso.An excellent fielder and a solid, pesky hitter. He was an integral part of the 1973 team that beat the Big Red Machine took Oakland to seven games.
fingers, Patrick mentioned The Cat in his 1/07/11 column about the Near Misses to the list, along with 13 other players.
Yeah, some list. Where’s Ed Bressoud???
This made me laugh.
Know what’s really funny? I REMEMBER Ed Bressoud.
Now that the Top 50 has been listed preceded by 14 Near Misses, there has to be mention of the Met who played his entire 12 year career with the Mets, tied with 5 other players for most years played for the Mets, only exceeded by Kranepool, Franco and Harrelson, He wore the same number during his entire career and his number is on the outfield wall at New Shea. And everyone on the team wears his number on April 15th. Of course I’m talking about the ultimate #3 catcher, Ron Hodges.
Santana at #21? I’m not a Mets fan, but he has 40 wins with the team. I know he’s a great pitcher, but seems a bit premature to me.