New York Mets

Catchers & Infielders:

• C – Mike Piazza
• C – Todd Hundley
• 1B – Pete Alonso
• 2B – Edgardo Alfonzo (3B)
• SS – Jose Reyes
• 3B – David Wright
• CI – Keith Hernandez (1B)
• CI – Howard Johnson (SS/3B/LF/CF)

Outfielders:

• LF – Yoenis Cespedes (CF)
• CF – Carlos Beltran (RF)
• RF – Darryl Strawberry (CF)
• OF – Michael Conforto (LF/CF/RF)
• LF – Jeff McNeil (2B/RF)
• CF – Cleon Jones (LF)

Starting Pitchers:

• SP – Tom Seaver
• SP – Dwight Gooden
• SP – Jacob deGrom
• SP – Matt Harvey
• SP – Jerry Koosman
• SP – Jon Matlack

With every team, we started building their all-time 25-man and 40-man rosters by using the Hall of Fame as a starting point, figuring that a player enshrined in baseball’s immortal Hall would certainly qualify to make his team’s all-time roster.

Almost all the Hall of Fame members are easily identifiable with one team so it’s a simple way to start every roster with near-inarguable selections.

Notable players the Mets had to fight for were Gary Carter, David Cone, Keith Hernandez, Carlos Beltran, and Mike Piazza.

David Cone

Kansas City: 3 seasons, 1 All-Star, 1 CYA, 14 WAR, 3.29 ERA, 27 Wins, 10 CG, 344 K, 448 IP, 4 SHO

N.Y. Mets: 7 seasons, 2-time All-Star, 0 CYA, 19.4 WAR, 3.13 ERA, 81 Wins, 34 CG, 1172 K, 1209 IP, 15 SHO

N.Y. Yankees: 6 seasons, 2-time All-Star, 0 CYA, 20.3 WAR, 3.91 ERA, 64 Wins, 7 CG, 888 K, 922 IP, 1 SHO + 4 World Series Titles

Keith Hernandez

St. Louis: 10 seasons, 2-time All-Star, 1 MVP, 34.4 WAR, .299 AVG, 662 Runs, 595 RBI, 81 HR, 81 SB + 1 World Series Title

N.Y. Mets: 7 seasons, 3-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 26.6 WAR, .297 AVG, 455 Runs, 468 RBI, 80 HR, 17 SB + 1 World Series Title

Gary Carter

Montreal: 12 years, 7-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 55.8 WAR, .269 AVG, 707 Runs, 823 RBI, 220 HR, 34 SB

N.Y. Mets: 5 years, 4-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 11.4 WAR, .249 AVG, 272 Runs, 349 RBI, 89 HR, 2 SB + 1 World Series Title

Carlos Beltran

Kansas City: 7 seasons, 1 All-Star, 0 MVPs, 24.8 WAR, .287 AVG, 546 Runs, 516 RBI, 123 HR, 164 SB

New York: 7 seasons, 5-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 31.1 WAR, .280 AVG, 551 Runs, 559 RBI, 149 HR, 100 SB

Mike Piazza

Los Angeles: 7 years, 6-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 32 WAR, .331 AVG, Runs 443, 563 RBI, 177 HR

N.Y. Mets: 8 years, 6-time All-Star, 0 MVPs, 24.6 WAR, .296 AVG, Runs 532, 655 RBI, 220 HR

Two of these decisions are obvious – David Cone’s best years were as a Met, and Gary Carter’s time in Montreal outshines his seasons in the Big Apple.

Mike Piazza and Carlos Beltran are both tough decisions, but a slight edge puts them both on the Mets roster.

The tricky one is Keith Hernandez – statwise he should be in St. Louis, but he would be buried in their farm system behind a pile of other first basemen, while he could be playing and contributing for the Mets.

Expansion teams have it hard enough competing against 120-year-old franchises, so Keith Hernandez will man first base (and be falsely accused of spitting on Kramer) in New York.

As with every team, we are trying to build an active roster with 13 position players and 12 pitchers, and then a 15-player inactive roster of guys who just missed the cut, but remain valuable as callups in case of slumps or injuries.

The 13 active position players are usually two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. The stats are built around the average of the player’s best three consecutive seasons.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame gets us started, but not too much. Cooperstown gives the Mets Mike Piazza and Tom Seaver.

The Hall of Fame gives us the first two of our 40-man roster, and WAR (Wins Above Replacement), a great stat for looking at the all-around contribution to a team for both hitters and pitchers, can help us with the rest.

We get lots of help here, as in order we find: David Wright, Darryl Strawberry, Carlos Beltran, Edgardo Alfonzo, Jose Reyes, Keith Hernandez, Mike Piazza, Howard Johnson, Mookie Wilson, John Stearns, Bud Harrelson, Cleon Jones, Kevin McReynolds, Jerry Grote, Tommie Agee, Dave Magadan, Wayne Garrett, Lee Mazzilli, and Michael Conforto.

Young star Pete Alonso gets consideration as well, and since every team needs at least three catchers we’ll look at Todd Hundley too.

Once plugged into the simulation software, we looked at their OPS (on-base + slugging percentage) and their defensive rankings and they break down like this:

CATCHER: Mike Piazza, Todd Hundley
FIRST BASE: Pete Alonso, Keith Hernandez
SECOND BASE: Edgardo Alfonzo
SHORTSTOP: Jose Reyes, Howard Johnson (sometimes)
THIRD BASE: David Wright, Howard Johnson (sometimes)
LEFT FIELD: Kevin McReynolds, Michael Conforto (sometimes)
CENTER FIELD: Carlos Beltran, Tommie Agee
RIGHT FIELD: Darryl Strawberry, Michael Conforto (sometimes)

Hundley surprised me by winning the backup catcher job over John Stearns, but his 3-year average stats were superior.

That leave inactive roster options Cleon Jones, Mookie Wilson, Lenny Dykstra, John Stearns, Gregg Jefferies, Dave Magadan, Dave Kingman, and Lee Mazzilli.

For the pitching staff we’re looking for six starters and six relievers. Bear in mind that across the whole game you will see dynamic, outstanding starting pitchers that can’t crack an all-time rotation but are better served as relievers on a team than sitting inactive.

Hall of Famers are automatically on the roster so Tom Seaver has a reserved seat. With 22 players on the total roster we have room for 18 more pitchers.

Once we dug into the career WAR rankings (as a Met) we came up with these names: Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman, Jacob deGrom, Al Leiter, Sid Fernandez, Jon Matlack, David Cone, Rick Reed, Ron Darling, Noah Syndergaard, R.A. Dickey, Craig Swan, Jesse Orosco, John Franco, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Armando Benitez.

Standout reliever Randy Myers is in the conversation as well.

We looked at their overall numbers in the simulation software and leaned heavily on ERA to come up with these designations:

STARTING ROTATION: Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jerry Koosman
RELIEVERS: Jon Matlack, David Cone, Armando Benitez, Randy Myers
SET-UP: Jesse Orosco
CLOSER: John Franco

New York’s staff looks incredible – remember that Matt Harvey and Dwight Gooden are pitching at the average of their best three consecutive seasons, and they fit in right with Tom Terrific and deMan.

The inactive pitcher options are Rick Reed, Ron Darling, Al Leiter, Sid Fernandez, Roger McDowell, R.A. Dickey, and Craig Swan.

So how did we do?

Can you remember Matt Harvey for his “Dark Knight” dominance?

Are you starting Kevin McReynolds or Michael Conforto in left field?

Would you keep David Cone in the bullpen?

What batting order would you suggest versus lefties and righties?

Let us know in the forums below and if you make a compelling case we will adapt it in-game. We want every squad to be the best they possibly can be and appreciate your help fine-tuning the Mets for Eternal Baseball.

Photo Credits:

• Citi Field by Cathy T
• Citi Field, June 10 by David Berkowitz
• Mets vs. Braves by Josh Hallett
• Citi Field, New York by Daniel