Time for the aughts is running out, though the last Mets' baseball of the decade was played almost three months ago. It wasn't such a bad stretch: 815-805, a game per season above .500, two NLCS appearances, one pennant, Joe McEwing. What's not to like? The Mets had all sorts of seasons from 2000-2009.
- Two great seasons (2000, 2006)
- Two good seasons (2007, 2008)
- Three mediocre seasons (2001, 2002, 2005)
- Three terrible seasons (2003, 2004, 2009)
Willie Randolph was at the helm for one decent, two good, and one great season, and he was treated like a baby-eating pariah. Art Howe managed two of the three terrible teams and he was likewise driven away like a kitten-punching hobo. This isn't about the managers, though. A lot of good players flashed the orange-n-blue over the past ten years, and this series is about them.
Catcher
No surprises here: it's Mike Piazza. He was the Mets' catcher for more seasons -- six -- than anyone else this decade. His combined WAR of 14.8 was five times higher than the next closest guy on the list, Paul Lo Duca, who managed 2.8 WAR in two seasons with the Mets. Piazza hit the same number of homeruns -- 157 -- as every other player who caught at least one game for the Mets in the past decade*. Ramon Castro's 33 homeruns are the second-highest total for a catcher over that period, to give you a feel for how far behind Piazza everyone else lags. Just look at the list. It's Piazza and a bunch of nothing, basically. He dominates the pack in both quantity and quality of performance.
| Num | Player | Seasons | PA | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Piazza | 6 | 2,902 | 14.8 |
| 2 | Paul Lo Duca | 2 | 1,039 | 2.8 |
| 3 | Ramon Castro | 5 | 785 | 2.8 |
| 4 | Vance Wilson | 5 | 713 | 2.5 |
| 5 | Brian Schneider | 2 | 578 | 1.2 |
If the fact that Brian Schneider's two cruddy seasons with the Mets were enough to land him in the top five isn't enough to convince you of how sad this non-Piazza group is, I'm not sure what will. Maybe go hang out here instead.