Continuing the wins above replacement (WAR) series, here are the best seasons by Mets second basemen per Sean Smith's WAR database:
| Rank | Year | Player | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000 | Edgardo Alfonzo | 6.5 |
| 2 | 1999 | Edgardo Alfonzo | 6.1 |
| 3 | 1986 | Wally Backman | 3.5 |
| 4 | 1973 | Felix Millan | 3.3 |
| 5 | 2006 | Jose Valentin | 3.3 |
| 6 | 1990 | Gregg Jefferies | 2.9 |
| 7 | 1994 | Jeff Kent | 2.9 |
| 8 | 1964 | Ron Hunt | 2.8 |
| 9 | 1995 | Jeff Kent | 2.8 |
| 10 | 1963 | Ron Hunt | 2.7 |
| Tied | 1966 | Ron Hunt | 2.7 |
| Tied | 1988 | Wally Backman | 2.7 |
And the bottom 10:
| Rank | Year | Player | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 1962 | Charlie Neal | -0.3 |
| 39 | 1998 | Carlos Baerga | -0.3 |
| 40 | 2008 | Luis Castillo | -0.4 |
| 41 | 1977 | Felix Millan | -0.5 |
| 42 | 2005 | Miguel Cairo | -0.5 |
| 43 | 1972 | Ken Boswell | -0.6 |
| 44 | 1974 | Felix Millan | -0.6 |
| 45 | 1981 | Doug Flynn | -1.2 |
| 46 | 1978 | Doug Flynn | -1.7 |
| 47 | 1979 | Doug Flynn | -2.0 |
Quick thoughts:
- That's a huge dropoff between the top two Alfonzo seasons and third place. Backman picked the right time to have a career year.
- The biggest gap between best and worst season belongs to Felix Millan. Amazingly, they were in back to back seasons.
- Contributions from the likes of Valentin made all the difference for the 2006 Mets. Replace the 2008 trio of Castillo/Easley/A. Reyes with 2006 Valentin and the Mets likely would have made the playoffs.
- Doug Flynn, yikes.
For more on Mets second basemen, check out Alex Nelson's retrospective at Mets Geek: Part 1 and Part 2. Finally, enjoy this picture of our current and future(?!) second basemen exchanging an awkward fist pound:
