The worst NY Mets defensive player in team history according to FanGraphs

Who is the worst defensive player in New York Mets history? According to FanGraphs, it’s one of the more well-known members in the franchise’s history.

Defensive ability can be difficult unless you watch the player perform. You just know a bad defender when you see it. Different eras of baseball have included varied expectations. It was acceptable for a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop to make 30 errors in a season in the 1960s. The standard is much higher.

There is no perfect way to measure defense and with certain numbers, they accumulate. At least according to FanGraphs’ defensive measurement, the worst defensive player in club history is the beloved Ed Kranepool.

Is Ed Kranepool really the worst defensive player in Mets history?

Kranepool’s -101.7 defensive rating is a distant last-place and even below the -86.9 posted by Lucas Duda.

As beloved of a Mets player as he was, Kranepool is one of those athletes whose numbers don’t measure up to today’s standards. Worth only 5.9 WAR overall according to FanGraphs, many poorly rated seasons with his glove drag down his overall total in this statistic.

Mostly a first baseman but also a corner outfielder, only his rookie campaign in 1962 measured with a positive result on defense. He played just 3 games. In 1967, he was awarded a -13.5 on defense for what can be considered his worst season with the glove. Baseball-Reference agrees. Kranepool was worth -1.4 dWAR.

The entire 1967 season featured Kranepool at first base where he committed 10 errors. He actually committed more in 1965 during his lone All-Star season when he made 12 flubs. More innings two years earlier and better metrics elsewhere helped this from becoming last on his personal list.

Throughout the years, many worse players took the field with more Swiss cheese in their gloves than Kranepool. Because of how long he was with the Mets, he had the distinguished advantage of building up enough negative results and a title on the same level as a film director winning a Razzie.