Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB. Once that is done, we will examine how each team honors its past players, coaches, and executives. As such, it is important to us that the New York Mets have announced that they will be retiring the number 15 of Carlos Beltran this season.

The news follows Beltran’s election into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year, and his plaque will have a Mets cap on it.

No date has been announced for the ceremony.

Beltran played for the Mets from 2005 to 2011, where he was a five-time All-Star, earning two Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves.  The Centerfielder had 149 Home Runs with a .500 Slugging Percentage for the team.

Beltran joins David Wright (#5), Gil Hodges (#14), Dwight Gooden (#16), Keith Hernandez (#17), Darryl Strawberry (#18), Willie Mays (#24), Mike Piazza (#31), Jerry Koosman (#36), Casey Stengel (#37), Tom Seaver (#41) and Jackie Robinson (#42).

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Carlos Beltran for his impending honor.

The New York Mets traded for Francisco Lindor before the 2021 season, and the Mets thought that had the infielder that they could build a contender around.  That might be the case in 2025, but in 2021, it looked like a colossal mistake.

Lindor, who signed a ten-year, $341 million extension, started off slow and was even booed by the Mets faithful.  He rebounded, finishing with 20 Home Runs, but the slow start had New York fans thinking it was another case of a large contract gone bad.  Since that time, Lindor had returned to MVP form. 

Lindor’s bat improved in 2022, smacking 26 Home Runs with 107 RBI, and he moved the HR numbers back over 30 in 2023 with 31.  Finishing 9th in MVP voting in both 2022 and 2023, Lindor exploded last year as the runner-up to the National League MVP (33 HR, 169 G, 29 SB, .844 OPS) and piloted New York to the NLCS.

Lindor is now over 30, and enters 2025 on the most loaded Mets team of his career.  He also has an outstanding three-year All-MLB Team 2 streak.

A World Series with Lindor leading the way will justify that big money.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2023 revision of our top 50 New York Mets.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Mets had one of the most disappointing years in baseball history, as they went all in, and come the trade deadline, they jettisoned top talent.  Despite this, three of their players climbed the all-time rank.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Tom Seaver

2. Dwight Gooden

3. Jacob deGrom

4. David Wright

5. Darryl Strawberry

You can find the entire list here.

Slugger, Pete Alonso moved to #17 from #24.  Jeff McNeil went from #27 to #22 and Brandon Nimmo climbed to #23 from #35.

We thank you for your continued support for our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB. Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives. As such, it is important to us that the

New York Mets have announced that next season that they will retire the numbers of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.

In the 1980s, the Mets had the two most exciting players in the sport in Gooden and Strawberry, and they would lead the team to victory in the 1986 World Series.

Drafted fifth overall in 1982, Gooden shot up from High-A to the Majors in 1984 while still a teenager, winning the Rookie of the Year (17-9), the Strikeouts (268), FIP (1.69) and WHIP (1.073) Titles and was second in Cy Young voting. “Doc” won the Cy Young in 1985, leading the league in Wins (24), ERA (1.53), Strikeouts (268) and FIP (2.13). This was his peak, as he dealt with injuries and substance abuse, which culminated in his suspension for the entirety of the 1995 Season. The four-time All-Star never played for the Mets after, leaving behind a 157-85 record and 1,875 Strikeouts.

Strawberry was the dynamic power hitter of the squad, using his tall and lanky frame to go deep and his gifted athleticism to become one of the most popular players of his day. The first overall pick of the 1980 Draft, Strawberry joined the Mets in 1983, winning the National League Rookie of the Year. The Outfielder then embarked on an eight-year streak of All-Star Games (the last was as a Dodger) with his peak period coming from 1987 to 1990. Strawberry joined the 30-30 club in 1987, and in 1988 was the runner-up for the MVP, winning the Home Run (39), Slugging (.545) and OPS Titles (.911). In 1990, his last year with the Mets, he was third in MVP voting. With the Mets, Strawberry belted 252 Home Runs, with a .520 Slugging Percentage, while also collecting two Silver Sluggers.

Gooden and Strawberry were not without controversy, as both had dealt with off-field issues that hampered their overall performance and arguably cost themselves a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden for earning this impending honor.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top 50 New York Mets.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, New York made it to the playoffs, though were bounced in the Wild Card round.  The 2022 season saw one huge rise, and two new entries.

As always, we present our top five, which had no changes.

1. Tom Seaver

2. Dwight Gooden                  

3. Jacob deGrom

4. David Wright

5. Darryl Strawberry

You can find the entire list here.

Notably, deGrom, who played for the Mets last season before signing with Texas as a Free Agent, did not do enough to move up from #3.

Power hitter, Pete Alonso, rocketed up from #49 to #24, and could make an eventual run for a top five spot.

Jeff McNeil debuts at #27, a reflection of his 2022 Season and the closeness of those in the bottom 25.

The other new entry is Outfielder, Brandon Nimmo, who enters at #35.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

As of this writing, Brandon Nimmo is set to enter his tenth MLB Season, all of which have been as a Met.

The Outfielder may not feel like a superstar, but he has been very productive, and was a highly-touted First Round Pick in 2011.  Nimmo debuted for the Mets in 2016, but was not a regular until 2018.  He only had 114 Hits, but had an OBP of .404 that year, and the led the NL in Hit by Pitch (22), showcasing his ability to get to First. 

Nimmo had numerous ailments from 2019 to 2021, but when healthy was consistently able to draw free passes, and display moderate power.  In 2022, Nimmo led the NL in Triples (7), and had his first 150-plus HIt year.  In 2023, Nimmo set personal bests in Hits (162), Home Runs (24) and Runs Batted In (68).  Last season, he only had 23 Home Runs and 128 Hits, but he helped the Mets reach the National League Championship. Nimmo could have an All-Star in him.

Jeff McNeil is still with the New York Mets as of this writing, where his orthodox style (he competes with a knobless bat) is considered a throwback of sorts, as he is a contact hitter who rarely strikes out.

McNeil has played multiple positions for the Mets (mostly between Second and Leftfield) after debuting in the Majors in 2018, and only needed one season to become an All-Star off a 23 Home Run/.318 Season.  McNeil batted .311 in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, and after battling injuries in 2021, exploded in 2022, with his second All-Star season and his first Batting Title (.326).  He also had career-highs in Hits (179), Doubles (39), and won his first Silver Slugger.

If McNeil wins another Batting Title, he could vault again up this list, but he is coming off his worst year with only 12 taters and a sub .240 Batting Average.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2022 revision of our top 50 New York Mets.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

The Mets looked at one time like they could make the playoffs in 2021, but faltered at the end, though we did see some movement in our top 50 from active Mets.  We also have one new entry to our list.

As always, we present the top five, which sees one significant change.  Jacob deGrom has passed David Wright for #3 on our greatest Mets ever.

1. Tom Seaver

2. Dwight Gooden

3. Jacob deGrom

4. David Wright

5. Darryl Strawberry

You can find the entire list here.

Michael Conforto advances from #43 to #38 and Jeurys Familia climbed up two spots to #46.

The new entry is 2019 Rookie of the Year, Pete Alonso, who debuts at #49.

The alterations remove Juan Lagares from the list.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

The baseball career of Pete Alonso has been short, but it has been potent.

Alonso won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2019, while leading the NL in Home Runs (53) and Extra Base Hits (85) while going to the All-Star Game and earning All-MLB 1 honors.  It was a great start, but it also exposed that the First Baseman was prone to striking out often, was slow, and was not a great defensive player, yet his power made Pitchers shiver.

Since that time, Alonso finished third in Home Runs in 2020 and 2021, and was second in 2022 year (40) in a year where he won his first RBI Title (131).  The power kept on gushing from Alonso's bat last year with 46 Home Runs and 118 RBIs, but his .217 Batting Average was his lowest to date.

The two-time Home Run Derby winner is one fo the top power hitters in Baseball and will rocket up this list if he stays a Met for years to come.  Alonso enters 2025 with 226 Home Runs, and will break 250 this year.

If you were to look at some of the all-time marks for Relief Pitchers, you would find John Franco in the upper echelon of those lists.  Unlike many of those hurlers, you would also see that Franco was not a journeyman who bounced from team to team.

Franco first cracked a Major League roster in 1984 with the Cincinnati Reds, where he played for six seasons and was an All-Star for three of them.  Franco led the National League in Games Finished twice and in Saves once as a Red, and the closer established himself as an elite closer during that time. 

In 1995, Franco was traded to the New York Mets, and while he was only an All-Star there once, he was a two-time leader in Saves and was the Mets’ closer for nearly a decade.  

As of this writing, Franco is in the top five in Saves, Games Pitched, and Games Finished.

Jon Matlack debuted for the New York Mets two years after their “Miracle Season” of 1969, but the southpaw found a home as part of a powerful Mets rotation of the 1970s.

Darryl Strawberry was at one time the most feared hitter in the National League, and a case could be made that he was also the most recognized.

Drafted first overall in 1980, Strawberry debuted with the Mets in 1983, winning the Rookie of the Year.  The electric Outfielder was an All-Star in 1984 and would be again the next six seasons in New York.  Strawberry was one of the reasons that Mets fans came to the park, hoping to see one of his Home Runs, and every year as a Met, he delivered at least 25 of them, including a league-leading 39 in 1988.  That season, he was second in MVP voting, losing to Kirk Gibson of the Dodgers, though Strawberry likely should have won.

The Mets won the 1986 World Series, and he was on top of the world, finishing in the top ten in MVP voting three other seasons.  The two-time Silver Slugger was exceptionally popular and well-known and was on top of the world, or so it seemed.

During this elite period as a Met, he was not exactly angelic.  He had fought openly with teammates, was abusing drugs, and was known to be selfish, often showing up late.  Needing a change of scenery, Strawberry signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a Free Agent in 1991, and he was again an All-Star with 28 Home Runs.  As it turned out, this was the end of his dominance.

Injuries and off-field issues reduced him to a shell of his former self, but despite this, he consistently found work throughout the 1990s, most notably winning three World Series Rings in a reduced role with the New York Yankees.  He retired with 335 Home Runs and 1,000 Runs Batted In, but it felt like he should have so much more.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives. Eventually, we are going to get to that of the Division I schools, and conferences.  As such, it is news that New York Mets have announced the date of three former players’ (Edgardo Alfonso, Ron Darling and Jon Matlack) induction into their franchise Hall of Fame.

The original plan was to induct these three, last year, but COVID-19 put a damper on those plans.  It will now take place on July 31, when the Mets host Cincinnati.

Edgardo Alfonso, Third Base (1995-02) 1,136 Hits, 120 Home Runs, 538 RBI, .292/.367/.445, 29.6 bWAR:  Alfonso was a Silver Slugger in 1999 and an All-Star in 2000, and in both of those seasons he belted at least 25 Home Runs and batted over .300.

Ron Darling, Pitcher (1983-91) 99-70, 3.50 ERA, 1,148 Strikeouts, 1.288 WHIP, 16.7 bWAR:  Darling was a member of the Mets 1986 World Series Championship Team, and was an All-Star in 1985.  The native of Hawaii won at least 15 Games three times.

Jon Matlack, Pitcher (1971-77) 82-81, 3.03 ERA, 1,023 Strikeouts, 1.195 WHIP, 15.2 bWAR:  Jon Matlack was the 1972 National League Rookie of the Year, and was an All-Star three years in a row from 1974 to 1976.  Matlack helped the Mets win the Pennant in 1973 and twice led the NL in Shutouts.  

Notably, the Mets also will be retiring Jerry Koosman’s number 36 on August 28 in a game against Washington.  He joins Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Casey Stengel and Jackie Robinson in earning this honor.

We will be watching both of these events.

There was a time that Dwight Gooden was the best Pitcher in baseball, but as we know, drug use rendered him a shell of what he was well before his time.  One of the incredible things about his career, though, was how long he played and remained a serviceable hurler.

Gooden’s first two seasons in the Majors were about as good as you could hope for.  As a teenager, he won the Rookie of the Year award and was the Cy Young runner-up.  He would win the latter award as a sophomore when he went 24-4, and led the league in Wins, ERA (1.53), Innings Pitched (276.2), Strikeouts (268), and FIP (2.13), and had a WHIP of 0.965.  While this would be his peak (only at 20), he remained an upper-tier pitcher for the rest of the decade.

This was around the time when drugs became a problem for Gooden, but he had three more top-ten finishes in Cy Young voting, and he helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series.  Granted, Gooden was abysmal in that Fall Classic, but he was a huge reason they got there.  His play suffered in later years, and he was suspended for the entire 1995 season due to cocaine.

Gooden would return and play five more seasons, but not with the Mets.  He played for the Yankees, won two World Series Rings, and threw a no-hitter in 1996.  That was good, but he was far from the player he used to be.  He also had stints with Cleveland, Houston, and Tampa, and after that, a final stint with the Yankees, where he won that third ring.

Had Gooden not gotten so heavily involved with drugs, it is easy to speculate that he would already be in the Hall of Fame.  As it stands, we have a very good hurler who, at one time, was the best in the business, but he could be considered a big what-if?  

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present the pre-2021 update of our top 50 Colorado Rockies of all-time.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League. 

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

There are no new additions, but there are two significant rank changes, one that effects our top five.  As always, we announce our top five immediately, but out full list can be found here.

1. Tom Seaver

2. Dwight Gooden

3. David Wright

4. Jacob deGrom

5. Darryl Strawberry

deGrom moves up from #5 to overtake Darryl Strawberry for #4. The other active player who jumped, was Michael Conforto, who rose from #47 to #43.

We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present the first revision of our top 50 New York Mets of all-time.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League. 

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

This is the first time that we have revised this specific list, which was first put up in 2016, and there are many changes, one of which affecting the top five.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories, which has altered the rankings considerably.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Tom Seaver

2. Dwight Gooden

3. David Wright

4. Darryl Strawberry

5. Jacob deGrom

The top four remains unchanged, but DeGrom ascent was astronomical, as he was at #40 when we put out our first Mets list in 2016.  Two straight Cy Youngs will do that!

Beyond DeGrom, the other significant jump was Noah Syndergaard, who jumped from #50 to #31.

We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.

The Dominican Republic has produced a plethora of excellent Shortstops, and Jose Reyes is one of the many that they provided.

Playing his entire career with the New York Mets, David Wright would become one of the better Third Baseman in his time in baseball.

Wright debuted in 2004, and he had his first of what would be seven All-Star Games in 2006.  Wright showed power with six 20-home-run years, speed with three 20-SB seasons, and a great batting eye with seven years over .300. He had the offensive stats and was an above-average defensive player who earned two Gold Gloves.

Wright retired with 1,777 Hits, a .296 Batting Average, and 242 Home Runs.  He could be a fringe candidate to advance to a second ballot, but regardless, he is among the leaders in every Mets offensive category.

From the Dominican Republic, Juan Lagares was known for his glove, and while he was never a great hitter, he knew what to do in the Outfield.

With the 10^th overall pick in 2014, the New York Mets drafted Michael Conforto, who would first crack the Majors the year after.