Former NY Mets player is one of the most disrespected when it comes to Cooperstown

Certain milestones can put a player into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Those minimums have evolved. Starting pitchers no longer win the same number of games they used to. Someone reaching 3,000 hits is almost unheard of. Even 500 home runs in a career is an absurd amount. Several former New York Mets players have been drastically overlooked when it came to the Hall of Fame. One of the most disrespected is David Cone.

Cone has a complicated legacy with the Mets. Stolen from the Kansas City Royals in a trade, he blossomed into a star in 1988. He would end up wasted on some bad Mets teams in the early 1990s, eventually getting traded in 1992 midseason just in time to help the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series.

In the eyes of many, Cone is viewed more as a New York Yankees player than a Met despite playing in more games in more seasons over in Queens. His accomplishments with all five teams he suited up for are notable enough with him finishing with an impressive 194-126 record and 3.46 ERA all done during a time when offense reigned supreme.

What kept David Cone out of the Hall of Fame or at least hanging around on the ballot longer?

Cone might fall on the fringes of being a Hall of Famer. Being 6 wins shy of 200 doesn’t help. But other accomplishments should have earned him more than a pathetic 3.9% of the vote in his one and only time on the ballot in 2009.

A five-time All-Star, five-time World Series champion, and a Cy Young winner as well as a contender several times in his career, the accolades are seemingly right there. So are the numbers.

Cone’s 62.3 WAR is 54th all-time in MLB history for pitchers. It’s tied with CC Sabathia who goes into the Hall of Fame in 2025 and right behind Juan Marichal and Hal Newhouser at 62.8. It’s ahead of Hall of Fame pitchers Mickey Welch, Stan Coveleski, Bullet Rogan, and Early Wynn.

The trouble for Cone might be how he measures up against some of his peers. All-time greats such as Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens were already well-established when Cone’s career was taking off. He was later passed by players like Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez in the 1990s. Only in the strike shortened 1994 season was he honored with the Cy Young. Happening with the Kansas City Royals rather than the Mets or Yankees makes it easy for casual fans to overlook.

Cone could be a victim of hanging around a little too long. He only won 14 games after 1999 and saw his career ERA balloon from 3.19 to 3.46 in those final years. He barely added to his WAR total, climbing from 60.8 to 61.6.

Another theory, one which may have cost Billy Wagner from getting in earlier, is how well-traveled Cone was in his career. Was he a Mets player? A Blue Jay? Royal? Or what about a Yankee? Cone shared the wealth with his talent with all four of those teams in one way or another. He was a good Yankees player but on a team with several other more legendary ones.

To receive such little acknowledgement on the Hall of Fame ballot is ridiculous. He’s someone who deserves strong reconsideration right there alongside Keith Hernandez. It doesn’t matter if he’s wearing a Mets cap or not.