The 2010s: Introducing the New York Mets’ all-decade team
A decade does not easily mold to baseball’s sense of time. Ten years are too long, especially these days, for a singular narrative arc to explain them, for a succinct summary to encapsulate them.
The teams with the best record in the American League and the best record in the National League this decade combined to win zero championships. The team with the 13th-best record won three; the team with the 25th-best record came one game from winning two.
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The Mets occupied, almost as comprehensively as they could, the middle ground of the 2010s. Their 793-827 record ranked third in the National League East, tied for eighth in the National League and tied for 15th in baseball. They finished with a winning record three times out of 10; a hitter would term that a success, I suppose.
New York’s collective sample screams of mediocrity, and yet there seem to be a few distinct eras of Mets baseball contained within this 10-year chunk. The 2010-14 Mets appear a jumble, a time when Brad Emaus, Collin Cowgill and Andrew Brown — I think his first name was Andrew — were getting Opening Day starts. Erics Campbell and Young Jr. played — a lot. The Mets won between 74 and 79 games in five straight years, which is absolute baseball purgatory.
The 2015 Mets changed that, especially from August through October. (November was not so kind.) No team that finished beneath the Mets in the National League standings this decade got to experience the high of a pennant, as New York nearly made the most of its lone division title by beating the Dodgers and Cubs to earn a trip to the World Series in 2015. The Mets made it back to the postseason with another impressive run late in the season in 2016.
Even as the final three years of the decade brought team disappointment, New York could bask in a series of incredible individual moments and accomplishments. Jacob deGrom has emerged as the game’s finest pitcher, with a two-year stretch that can rival any other in franchise history. Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil look like franchise cornerstones. The Mets managed to say goodbye to David Wright perfectly.
Trying to construct an all-decade team for the Mets reveals how fractured these 10 years have been. Was Wright really still starting on Opening Day in 2016? Ike Davis played how many games? Remember when Matt Harvey was good?
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I soldiered on, nevertheless. For each player, I counted the totality of their contributions — total games played, total wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs — but slotted them in at the position they played the most. Wilmer Flores, for example, counts as a shortstop, since that’s where he played the most. Same with Brandon Nimmo in left field and Jeff McNeil at second base.
This is of course a fun exercise, and it’s meant to be one that sparks disagreement and debate, even if we can all agree, deep down, that I executed my process flawlessly.
Although Travis d’Arnaud never sustainably lived up to the hype of being the main returning piece in the R.A. Dickey trade — though Noah Syndergaard helped make that trade an obvious win for New York — he was the best of a pedestrian carousel behind the plate for the Mets. He started three Opening Days and played more than 400 games for New York, and he was at the very least an easy improvement over Josh Thole.
Had Pete Alonso debuted a year earlier, it’s possible two outstanding years within this decade would have been enough to beat out Lucas Duda’s consistency in the middle of the decade. But Duda’s 125 home runs led all Mets in the 2010s, and he posted an OPS better than .800 (with an OPS+ of 122) over eight seasons with New York. He memorably got hot right after the 2015 trade deadline when the Mets surged into first place, and he was regrettably wayward with a throw home in that season’s World Series.
You could have made a good deal of money back in 2009 had you bet on Daniel Murphy holding down second base defensively in the major leagues for nearly the entire decade. Remember, he was a first baseman and a notoriously poor outfielder at the end of last decade, and he missed all of 2010 with a gruesome knee injury incurred while attempting to settle in at second.
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Murphy was a model of consistency during his five years with the Mets this decade, posting solid but not spectacular numbers year in and year out. He of course exploded down the stretch in 2015 and into one of the greatest offensive runs in postseason history, and he is more responsible for the pennant that hangs in Citi Field than any other member of the organization. (Murphy’s homers that postseason came against Clayton Kershaw, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks and Fernando Rodney. Only one came with the Mets ahead by more than a run.)
Yes, the Mets should have re-signed him. We all know that now.
This was always going to be the easiest call on the board, but yes, I was surprised, too, that David Wright started on Opening Day each of the first seven years of this decade. It was not until 2015 and 2016 that the injuries became too much for Wright to overcome on a consistent basis — but it’s worth pointing out that, when he played, he always did so productively.
Even despite those injuries, Wright was the Mets’ best position player this decade, and it isn’t particularly close. In this decade, he hit .282/.362/.460, made three All-Star teams and remained the embodiment of everything the organization wants to be.
Even though he left for Miami as a free agent following the 2011 season, José Reyes ended up playing the third-most games at shortstop for the Mets this decade — and doing so quite a bit better than Rubén Tejada. He won the club’s only batting title with a .337 average in 2011, which ranks as probably the finest offensive season a Mets shortstop has ever had.
It is a shame, brought on by Reyes himself and his 2016 suspension for domestic violence, that the long-time fan favorite is no longer perceived as such.
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” may have been popularized in last decade’s “The Dark Knight,” but it’s found particular resonance with the Mets and with Yoenis Céspedes. The last three years, in which Céspedes has played a total of 109 games thanks to various ailments to his lower half, have obscured just how good he was for the season and a half prior. His arrival at the trade deadline in 2015 reinvigorated a stagnant offense, turning it into a behemoth that won the division and the pennant. He was nearly as good for the full length of 2016, helping carry an altogether makeshift team to the postseason.
After Carlos Beltrán’s sustained brilliance in the second half of the last decade, the Mets have been unable to find a worthy successor in center field. They’ve tried plenty of corner outfielders in center, with guys like Céspedes, Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson all getting continued run at the position, with little defensive success.
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Juan Lagares earns this nod because, at the very least, he could handle center with his glove. The back of his baseball card cannot do justice to how good he was with that glove when he first came on the scene, routinely making breathtaking grabs and throwing out anyone and everyone trying to score from second. (It also does not do justice to how well Lagares ran the bases.)
The offense that was better than league-average in 2014 floundered afterward, plummeting thanks to injuries and irregular playing time. One hopes that, by the time The Athletic summarizes the 2020s, the Mets will have finally found themselves a center fielder.
The toughest call at any position, and the one in which I’m going against the overall WAR leader. In choosing Curtis Granderson over Michael Conforto, I’m emphasizing the outsized role Granderson played in the two most important years of the decade for New York.
Granderson was the linchpin for that 2015 offense — a daily presence atop the order while chaos reigned around him. He had 128 more plate appearances than anyone else on that team, and his on-base percentage was easily the team’s best. He was also terrific that postseason, with 15 hits, three home runs and 12 RBIs across the three rounds. He justifiably earned down-ballot MVP consideration that season.
Granderson is the best free-agent signing the Mets made this decade, just ahead of Asdrúbal Cabrera and Bartolo Colon. Right field is also the position where, judging by the redundancy between Opening Day starter and the player who played the most games there, actually went according to plan for New York this decade.
What about a bench?
There is no basic graphic for an all-decade bench, but like, why even construct a 2010s Mets team if it doesn’t have Wilmer Flores on it? Flores was a consistent contributor and fan favorite for parts of six seasons, even when he didn’t have an everday position.
Kevin Plawecki is the backup catcher, just ahead of René Rivera and Anthony Recker. As d’Arnaud’s caddy for multiple seasons, Plawecki often saw extended time when d’Arnaud hit the disabled list. Kirk Nieuwenhuis was a solid pinch-hitter that could play all three outfield spots defensively, and he delivered one of the most memorable home runs of the decade off the bench. Mike Baxter provided perhaps the most memorable defensive play of the decade — and hit .350 as a pinch-hitter. Kelly Johnson only hit .262 as a pinch-hitter for the Mets, but five of his 11 pinch hits left the yard. He gets the nod over Dominic Smith for the last spot.
It is not particularly close as to who would get the Opening Day nod from this group: Jacob deGrom has accumulated 50 percent more wins above replacement than any other Met this decade, including Wright. Over the last two seasons, he has cemented his place as the Mets’ best pitcher since Dwight Gooden, and he’d be the frontline starter for a whole bunch of franchises this decade.
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I’d fill out the rest of the rotation with Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, R.A. Dickey and Zack Wheeler, in that order.
Syndergaard has not fully backed up the promise he showed in 2015 and 2016, but he’s still been one of the game’s better pitchers in the back half of the decade. Harvey was absolutely brilliant for parts of three seasons; his downfall since the end of 2015 is one of the most remarkable and unforeseen developments of the decade for any star player.
While Dickey did not accumulate as much WAR as Jon Niese, he was outstanding in his three seasons as a Met, and he was the trade piece that brought Syndergaard and d’Arnaud to New York. Wheeler rounds out the top five thanks to his strong finishing kick the last two seasons.
Jeurys Familia threw twice the relief innings of anyone not named Bobby Parnell for the Mets this decade, and he delivered some of New York’s best-ever relief seasons. His difficulties in the postseason in 2015 and 2016, his domestic-violence suspension in 2017 and his horrendous season in 2019 have left him a persona non grata with the fan base entering 2020.
The rest of the all-decade ‘pen includes Bobby Parnell, Addison Reed, Seth Lugo, Jerry Blevins, Francisco Rodriguez and, sure why not, Carlos Torres.
Parnell had the best single stretch of any Mets reliever this decade, retiring 26 batters in a row during the 2012 season. He had as electric a fastball as any New York hurler, until Tommy John surgery derailed his career in 2014.
Reed was one of Sandy Alderson’s best trade additions, becoming a vital piece of the back end for parts of three seasons. According to FanGraphs’ WAR, his 2016 season was the best by any Mets reliever this decade. Lugo has been the Mets’ best reliever the last two seasons; he tied Parnell’s stretch of 26 straight retired this past season. Blevins was a reliable lefty who could get righties out, too, for two-plus seasons. Rodriguez saved 48 games in the first two years of the decade for New York. In the absence of any other notable performances, the last slot goes to Torres, who was fourth behind Familia, Parnell and Hansel Robles in bullpen innings this decade.
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What if the Mets could construct a lineup out of the best individual seasons from this decade?
Glad you asked.
Looking at things this way, Alonso’s rookie season finds its way right into the middle of the order. Ángel Pagán makes an appearance with his excellent all-around season in 2010, and the 2015 Mets are unsurprisingly heavily represented. The hardest call might have been which of Murphy’s seasons to take, given his year-to-year consistency, but the postseason performance in 2015 is an obvious tiebreaker. D’Arnaud’s 2015 is the most productive year by a New York catcher even though he played in just 68 regular-season games.
What if The Athletic had existed previously and performed this exercise at the end of every decade?
This reveals just how hard it was for the Mets to find a regular right fielder between Darryl Strawberry and Curtis Granderson, as well as New York’s penchant for left-handed arms at the end of the game. Only Wright, Edgardo Alfonzo, Dwight Gooden, Bud Harrelson, Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee and Tom Seaver make more than one appearance; Alfonzo is the only to do so at multiple positions. The 1980s team is probably the best here, although the 2000s Mets could give them a series.
(Top photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
