Over the weekend, beloved New York Mets radio announcer, Howie Rose, posed the following question:

That began a spirited debate on the ol’ Twitter machine, and it’s spilled out over to MMO, where Brian Wright and I are taking opposing sides.

Matt Musico Selects:

Michael Conforto, Dominic Smith, Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso

This is a fascinating discussion, and one that’d get more fascinating if the limitation of just including four hitters was lifted. But still, this quartet is the best group offensive players New York has produced for a couple of reasons:

  1. They’re all mostly young and towards the beginning of their careers, providing them with plenty of future opportunities.
  2. It hasn’t taken long for us to already bring them up in this conversation and have a hefty number of people not say it’s outrageous.

From the standpoint of each above player’s physical prime, the best is either yet to come or they’re in the midst of it. Once the 2021 season gets underway next spring, the oldest of these four will be McNeil. He’ll be entering his age-29 season, while Conforto will be playing in his age-28 campaign. Smith and Alonso will both be playing in their age-26 season.

What they’ve accomplished collectively to this point is also pretty damn good. Three of them have already appeared in an All-Star Game, and Dom would’ve gotten there in 2020 if there was an opportunity. Alonso has hardware for his Rookie of the Year performance and for leading the league in homers, along with finishing seventh in the 2019 National League MVP voting. If Conforto and Smith keep doing what they’re doing right now, it wouldn’t be shocking to see either — or, heck, even both — get some votes down the ballot, too.

Conforto stands out from this bunch because of how much big-league service time he’s racked up, allowing him to already place himself among the franchise’s best hitters. He’ll finish inside the top 15 in career fWAR and has an outside chance of squeaking into the top-10 for homers by the end of this year, and he’s already within the top-10 for wRC+.

Both McNeil and Alonso have experienced their fair share of bumps in the road during 2020 (more Alonso, obviously), but each of these guys can get penciled into the middle of the lineup to be a powerful run producer. Alonso is the best example of a pure power hitter, but each of Conforto, McNeil, and Smith have shown they’re capable of producing in the average and power departments at the same time.

Even if you think these four aren’t quite the best group of four homegrown offensive players in franchise history, there’s a good chance it’ll happen within the next few years (just extend Conforto, Uncle Stevie).

Brian Wright Selects:

Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Wally Backman

I’ll preface my argument with some disclaimers. First, I agree with Matt, especially if they stay together long term (#ExtendConforto). So, for the sake of a good discussion, I’ll frame this a bit differently. Do you go strictly with pure skill and potential? Do you go with how they did together? Do you go with how they performed even beyond their Mets career? I decided to mix each of these variables. At no fault of their own, the collective experience of the current quartet temporarily gives the edge to a group that helped produce a World Series ring in 1986.

Heading that group is Darryl Strawberry, the No. 1 overall pick in 1980 and the greatest hitting talent ever cultivated by this organization. The Mets’ home run king hit 252 out during his eight seasons in Queens while also holding the best career OPS+, the second-best slugging percentage, claiming the 1983 Rookie of the Year, and being chosen for seven All-Star Games.

Mookie Wilson is the only player to be in a Mets uniform for each year of the 1980s. He experienced both the cellar and the penthouse and became a central figure in the critical moment that symbolized their championship season. When he left New York in 1989, Mookie had collected 1,112 hits and was the franchise leader in stolen bases and triples.

We all know who had the most famous at-bat in 1986, but who had the second-best WAR during that season? Lenny Dykstra, at 4.7, was runner-up to Keith Hernandez — making the most of his opportunity when Wilson nursed an early season eye injury. He then kept that starting center field spot for the majority of the year and delivered multiple clutch hits in the postseason. Beginning in 1985 and ending with a trade to Philadelphia in June 1989, Dykstra (a 13th round pick in 1981) was a spark plug at the top of the order and totaled a 16.6 bWAR while rarely sporting a clean uniform.

Kevin Mitchell was in New York for a good time, but not a long time. He was traded not too long after the 1986 championship celebration for Kevin McReynolds — a deal which, in retrospect, chipped away at the swagger and personality of the title-winning club. The embarrassment of riches on the ‘86 Mets roster left this rookie without a chance to play full-time. In limited action at six different positions, the versatile San Diego native clubbed 12 home runs. Afterwards, he was dealt to his hometown before quickly moving on to San Francisco, where he got a chance to truly showcase his talents. As a Giant, he became an MVP and a power threat on a pennant-winning team.

Combining talent and accomplishment, this homegrown foursome has the upper hand over Conforto, Alonso, McNeil, and Smith…so far.