When New York Mets fans look back at contracts they often try to focus on the bad ones. Bobby Bonilla, Jason Bay, Oliver Perez, I could go on but won't. Fans often fail to look at the good ones.
Some Mets players have been under very good contracts in the last decade and have helped the Mets build around them because of that. Some of them have even been signed in the Steve Cohen era despite his willingness to throw money around at anyone.
Let's look at the five best deals the Mets have made where they got a ton of value for the money they spent.
5) NY Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson - 4 years/$60 million dollars
After years of refusing to spend other than a massive David Wright extension, the Mets finally made a big move. They signed Curtis Granderson to a four-year $60 million dollar deal. The goal of this deal was to find someone to protect Wright in the order. While that wasn't how it played out, the Mets can still be satisfied with all Granderson did in his tenure with the club.
The Mets made Granderson their primary leadoff hitter in 2015 and he had an outstanding year. He'd slash .259/.364/.457 with 26 home runs and 70 RBI. Granderson was getting on base at a very high level thanks in large part to his 13.3% walk rate.
The Mets ended up winning the National League East and making the postseason for the first time since 2006. Granderson, an experienced postseason performer, made the contract worth it with his performance alone. In the NLDS he had seven hits in 18 at-bats including a three-run double that gave the Mets the lead in a pivotal Game 3 victory.
The Mets swept the Cubs in the NLCS thanks in large part to Daniel Murphy but the World Series was the Curtis Granderson show. The Mets would fall in that series to the Royals in five games but that was not because of Granderson. He'd hit three home runs and drive in five runs in that series defeat.
The following season he'd hit another 30 home runs and would be one of the few Mets to remain healthy all season. He was a big reason the Mets were able to squeak into the first Wild Card spot. Granderson made one of the more unbelievable catches in Mets postseason history when he crashed into the center field fence to rob Brandon Belt of extra bases and more importantly keep the game in a scoreless tie. The Mets would lose the game, but that catch kept them in it.
Granderson was traded from the Mets to the Dodgers at the 2017 deadline with the team out of contention. He was a great player for this franchise and who knows, maybe we can see him in the broadcast booth one day.