New York Mets best players at each position since the year 2000

Even though the last twenty years haven’t included a championship, some of the greatest New York Mets ever have suited up for the franchise.

There have been many greats to put on the New York Mets uniform and many fan favorites. The franchise has seen players such as Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Gary Carter the list goes on.

Each Mets great gave memories that we as fans will never forget whether it was bringing a World Series to Flushing or just bringing pure dominance to the club. The Mets history has seen Cy Young winners, Rookie of the Year winners, and batting title champs.

Some of these we have even seen in recent times. Since 2000, it has been mostly a dark period for the Mets. They did make two World Series appearances in 2000 and 2015 but they have only seen the postseason four times in that time frame; one being an elimination in a one-game Wild Card round.

During these times we also have seen many great memories from certain players. Players that were happy to be a New York Met and gave the crowds at Shea Stadium and Citi Field moments they will never forget.

Some fan favorites of the 2000s are players such as Wilmer Flores, Endy Chavez, Paul Lo Duca, Johan Santana, and Curtis Granderson. These players were not perennial all-stars while being on the Mets but they played hard every game and gave fans a reason to cheer for them.

Yes, I know that small list may turn heads but I never said they were great. Now here we are going to take a look at the greatest Mets at each position since 2000.

The Infield

In 1999 the Mets were said to field one of if not the greatest defensive infield of all time. Unfortunately, this list begins in 2000 so it’s going to be tough to live up to some of those names of that 1999 infield. Let us take a look:

First baseman: Carlos Delgado

Carlos Delgado became a Met in November of 2005. Formerly a member of the then Florida Marlins, Delgado was traded to the Mets for Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit.

Delgado spent four years with the Mets from 2006-2009 where he was the everyday first baseman. His last season was cut short due to injury. During his time in Flushing Delgado hit .267 for the team and hit 104 home runs to go along with 339 RBIs.

In two of his three full seasons, Delgado finished top-12 in the MVP voting with one being ninth place in 2008. He was a huge piece to getting the Mets back to the playoffs and NLCS in 2006.

In his first season with the Mets, he hit thirty-eight home runs which capped off his tenth consecutive season with at least thirty home runs making him the fourth player to do so at the time.

Second baseman: Edgardo Alfonzo

Edgardo Alfonzo, or Fonzie as he was known, is the lone survivor from the 1999 infield. There have been many second basemen in the past twenty years for the Mets and it has not been very good.

Alfonzo was a great Met as he started for the team in 1995 but right here we are only looking at the three seasons he played in the 2000s. Yes, he only played three seasons in the 2000s but the Mets did not do a great job replacing the Amazin’ great after his tenure there.

Alfonzo is always be known as one of the best defensive players the Mets have had in their history. His fielding was never a question to fans. He also backed it up with his bat.

In 2000 Alfonzo made his only all-star appearance when he batted .324 with twenty-five home runs and ninety-four RBIs. 2001 his batting dropped a little but he finished strong in his last season getting his average over .300 once again.

Shortstop: Jose Reyes

Jose Reyes is arguably the greatest shortstop in franchise history. The Mets were always known to have great defensive shortstops which Reyes was also apart of. The difference with Reyes was his batting and base-stealing was on another level from the rest.

Reyes was a four-time all-star for the Mets and also won a batting title in 2011. Reyes was exactly what you wanted a lead-off hitter to be like. In his time with the team, Reyes had a .334 OBP and 408 stolen bases. If Reyes got on base there was a solid chance he was scoring.

He is the all-time Mets leader in stolen bases and triples. On top of that, he led the entire league in stolen bases in 2005, 2006, and 2007 as well as led the league in triples in 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2011. Reyes brought a spark to the team as well as a spark to all Mets fans in attendance.

Third baseman: David Wright

No question in doubt about this one. David Wright is the greatest third baseman in Mets history. Injuries came into play around 2011 to cut his career short which was definitely on pace to end as a hall-of-fame career. Now let’s get to the good parts.

Wright was a seven-time all-star, two-time gold glove, and two-time silver slugger winner. In 2013 Wright was named captain of the club.

Wright spent his entire career with the Amazin’s where he finished with a .296 career batting average which we all know would have been over a .300 if the injuries didn’t catch up.

Wright retired while being the franchise leader in hits, RBIs, total bases, runs scored, doubles, walks, sacrifice flies, extra-base hits, and times on base.

In a six-year stretch from 2005-2010, Wright finished with over 100 RBIs in five of those six seasons. The greatest third baseman in Mets history as well as one of the greatest all-around in team history.

The outfield

Rusty Staub, Cleon Jones, Lenny Dykstra, Darryl Strawberry are just a few of the greatest outfielders to ever put a Mets uniform on. The Mets have had some big bats recently in the outfield now let’s see which three made the cut:

Left fielder: Yoenis Cespedes

Yes I know it has not been the best between Cespedes and the Mets but let us be honest when Cespedes got here he changed the direction of this team.

The Mets acquired Yoenis Cespedes during the 2015 trade deadline while in a division race and bringing in Cespedes did just what the fans wanted. Cespedes recorded 17 home runs and 44 RBIs in his 57 games with the Mets to finish 2015 and led the Mets to their first NL East crown since 2006 and a trip to the World Series.

The following year Cespedes followed that huge finish with an all-star caliber 2016. He recorded 31 home runs and drove in 86 runs and gave the Mets their second straight postseason appearance when they fell short in the NL Wild Card game.

Cespedes finished his Mets career with a .279 batting average, 76 home runs, and 205 runs batted in. His strong arm was also a huge plus in the outfield and not many runners would test that arm; if they were smart.

Centerfielder: Carlos Beltran

No argument hear Carlos Beltran deserves this spot. Carlos Beltran will go down as one of the greatest free-agent signings in Mets history when he signed a seven-year contract worth $119M following the 2004 season.

Beltran spent seven years with the Mets from 2005 to 2011 and he was nothing short of the term Amazin’ while being in Flushing. People love to bring up the NLCS strike when they hear Beltran and the Mets but if it wasn’t for Beltran the Mets might not have made it that far.

In 2006 Beltran tied the Mets single-season home run mark at the time with 41 home runs and he also brought in 166 runs batted in. 2006 was also one of his five all-star appearances with the Mets.

While being with the Mets Beltran also won two silver slugger awards as well as three gold gloves. Beltran did it all with the Mets offensively and defensively and it is one of the many reasons he was a fan favorite here in New York.

Right fielder: Michael Conforto

Michael Conforto wins out the right-field job on the All-2000s Mets team. When you think about the 2015 Mets playoff run obviously the first thing that comes to mind is Yoenis Cespedes but the call-up of Michael Conforto had a huge part in that run. Conforto was called up on July 24th of 2015 and you couldn’t have asked for a better time. Conforto played 56 games to finish the season and batted .270 while hitting nine home runs with 27 RBIs.

Conforto showed off the power when he hit two home runs in Game 4 against the Royals in the 2015 World Series. 2016 was a bit of a sophomore slump but he picked it right back up in 2017 with his first all-star appearance.

From 2017-2019 Conforto hit 27-plus home runs in each of the three seasons and in 2019 finished with a career-high 92 RBIs. Defensively Conforto has played all three outfield positions but it was clear he is more valued in either of the corner outfields positions.

Conforto is only 27 years old and showed us fans and hopefully the team that he is worth a contract extension that we all hope comes very soon.