People have been asking us all winter what we’ve been doing to pass the time during the MLB lockout. I’ll tell you what we do here at MMO — we come up with ideas that not only help us stay busy, but will help you all stay busy, too.
Talking about the best teams and/or players in New York Mets history is always a good debate to have — especially during the cold winter months — but what if we created our own teams with players from different eras? That’d be fun, right? Well, we thought it was, and we think you’ll agree. We’ve created eight different Mets teams, all of which consist of a catcher, first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, three outfielders, two starting pitchers, one relief pitcher, and a manager. We took the top eight at each position (as well as the top 24 for outfielders and top 16 for starting pitchers) with the goal of splitting them up across eight teams and making them as evenly matched as possible.
We used four players twice, given their multi-positionality: Edgardo Alfonzo (2B/3B), Jeff McNeil (2B/OF), John Milner (1B/OF) and Dave Magadan (1B/3B).
What we’ll be doing over the next eight days is introducing each of the squads and taking a look at their perceived strengths and weaknesses. Once that’s complete, the fun will start with some good ol’ fashioned Twitter polls so you can decide which ones would be victorious if they faced one another. We’ll open up the voting on February 8th, so mark your calendars accordingly.
The Squad: Team 3
Strengths
Is anything getting past this defense? You have a six-time gold glover at third base, the greatest defensive first baseman of all time, a stellar defender in Reyes, and McNeil is no slouch at second. In the outfield, Lagares can grab any ball in the gap.
Combine those defenders with the pitching excellence of Doc and Glavine and you have one heck of a squad.
This team is built to get on base rather than hit home runs. Hernandez, McNeil, and Reyes compliment the booming bats of Strawberry and Ventura while TDA when healthy can knock some balls out of the park.
Team three boasts the best base stealer in team history. Reyes scored 119 runs in 2007 to go along with 78 stolen bases. Is it possible he could top those numbers leading off for a team with Hernandez and his .400 on-base percentage batting second?
Lastly, the team is managed by seven-time World Series winner and Hall of Fame inductee Casey Stengel. Stengel ended his managerial career with the expansion Mets but there’s no reason to not believe he could lead this team to success after finishing first or second in 11 of 12 years with the Yankees.
Weaknesses
Where this team could fall short is its overall lack of power on offense. Strawberry, Ventura, and Milner are the only players to have more than one season where they hit 20 or more home runs. Some players could hit 20 or more like d’Arnaud but they were never healthy enough to play a full season and reach that mark. McNeil can do it after hitting 23 in 2019 but he’s only his 14 in his 235 games outside that year.
Past teams
With an emphasis on defense, solid baserunning, and keeping the line moving this team is Keith’s dream. Is it yours too? If you missed teams one and two be sure to click the links below and check them out.
