NY Mets: The five best Mets managers in franchise history

New York Mets managers have led the organization to two championships, and seven playoff appearances. Which of those Mets managers is the best of all-time?

Who is the best manager in New York Mets history? It’s a debate I don’t think fans have enough. Is it because the answer is obvious or because we’re so torn on the topic?

The interesting thing about Mets managerial history is that one of the most well-known managers of all-time owns the worst winning percentage of any skipper. Case Stengel was the first manager in team history and he had to suffer through those grueling early days. By the time his job was over, he owned a .302 winning percentage as the Amazins’ leader.

Stengel is not one of our best managers in franchise history. It’s impossible to judge him anyway because of how bad those early Mets teams were.

The list of the greatest skippers to suit up for the Mets includes everything from longtime managers to former great players to a combination of both.

Who is the greatest Mets manager of all-time? We hope to answer the question.

New York Mets all-time greatest managers – No. 5: Willie Randolph

Willie Randolph may not be the first Mets manager that comes to mind. However, from 2005-2008, he helped lead this team out from the rough early 2000s and into a competitive era as brief as it was.

In his 555 games at the helm, the Mets went 302-253. This gave him an overall winning percentage of .544 which happens to be the second-best in franchise history.

Given this, why isn’t he higher on our list?

Randolph only made it to the postseason once with the Mets. The 2006 run was the lone time he got to taste playoff success with them. The collapse in 2007 does some damage to his ranking as should the length of time he spent with the club. Randolph failed to make it through the 2008 season. If the results in the standings stay the same, it might be for the best.

After all, the Mets had yet another poor finish in 2008 under Jerry Manuel.

Randolph got results rather quickly which may have led to his downfall in some ways. Because the team went backward after 2006, he’s not remembered for what he is: a pretty darn good Mets manager.