5 best Mets contracts of the last 10 years

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.

4) NY Mets infielder Asdrubal Cabrera - 2 years/$18.5 million dollars

After Chase Utley broke Ruben Tejada's leg and Wilmer Flores proved he couldn't play shortstop at the level the Mets needed him to, there was an opening at the posiiton. The Mets filled it by signing Asdrubal Cabrera to a pretty cheap two-year deal. His contributions made that deal more than worthwhile for the Mets.

Cabrera would slash .280/.336/.474 with 23 home runs and 62 RBI in his debut season with the club. Despite playing with a knee injury down the stretch, Cabrera was instrumental in getting the Mets back to the postseason for a second consecutive year including this memorable one against the Phillies.

Cabrera was one of few Mets who managed to do anything against Madison Bumgarner in the Wild Card Game as he singled and drew a walk against the left-hander in the Mets defeat.

Cabrera had a good 2017 season as well, posting a .785 OPS and a 110 OPS+. He played a lot of short, second, and third that season for New York providing excellent versatility.

The Mets would pick up the club option in Cabrera's contract and bring him back for the 2018 season. He'd hit .277 with 18 home runs in just 98 games before being traded to the Phillies for Mets legend Franklyn Kilome.

Cabrera is one of the more underrated Mets of all-time as his production is constantly overlooked by the likes of Yoenis Cespedes or that talented Mets pitching staff.

2) NY Mets relief pitcher Aaron Loup - 1 year/$3 million dollars

If you think that Ottavino deal was a steal for the Mets, Aaron Loup was even better than Ottavino was and was cheaper! Loup signed for $1 million dollars less and the Mets couldn't have asked for more than he gave.

The southpaw looked good for the Rays in the shortened 2020 season but other than that, hadn't been anything special in the majors. Justin Wilson was a reliable lefty the Mets had in 2019 and 2020, but he went to the Yankees for the 2021 season. That left the Mets scrambling.

I know I was not happy at the time to see Loup as the left-handed reliever the Mets would choose, but I'm proud to admit that I was wrong.

The veteran would post a 0.95 ERA in 65 appearances and 56.2 innings pitched. Yes, you read that right, 0.95! He allowed six earned runs in 56.2 innings, just phenominal.

Loup would have three separate stretches of 10+ appearances without allowing a single earned run. From July 5 to August 26, Loup would go 23 appearances and 19.1 innings pitched without allowing an earned run.

That streak was snapped when Juan Soto homered off of Loup, something you can't really be upset about. He then didn't allow a single earned run from that point until the end of the season, spanning 13 appearances and 12.1 innings pitched. Loup had a phenomenal run in his lone season as a Met.

1) NY Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom - 5 years/$137.5 million dollars

Jacob deGrom could've left New York earlier if he really didn't like it. At least in March of 2019 he was loving being a Met as he inked a five-year $137.5 million dollar extension to stay in New York until the 2024 season. The deal included an opt-out after the 2022 season which we all know, of course, he excercized and ended up in Texas.

Instead of harping on that, let's look into how great of a deal this ended up being for New York. Three years at $27.5 million dollars each might look crazy expensive, and it was, but deGrom was worth every penny and then some.

The first season after signing the extension he won his second straight Cy Young Award after posting a 2.43 ERA in 32 starts and 204 innings pitched. He had a 2.67 FIP and led the league with 255 strikeouts.

deGrom then followed that season with an even better 2020 campaign as he posted a 2.38 ERA in 12 starts and 68 innings pitched. He led the league with 104 strikeouts and an absurd 13.8 K/9. He only finished third in Cy Young balloting but it was clear he was the best pitcher in the game.

deGrom was on pace to maybe have the best regular season ever for a pitcher as he had a microscopic 1.04 ERA while striking out 14.3 batters per nine, but injuries ended his season prematurely after the first half. Injuries were the theme once again this past season, but deGrom was still electric when healthy.

Even with the injuries ruining his final two seasons as a Met, deGrom was so absurdly good, it's only fair to say this is the best contract the Mets have given out in the last de