The top five Cy Young snubs in Mets history

Though they arrived in the expansion era, the New York Mets have been prolific at producing Cy Young winners throughout their history. As of 2021, there have been seven Cy Youngs won by Mets pitchers, which is tied for the second most all-time for a single franchise behind the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, who collectively have amassed 12 Cy Youngs.

Even with Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, R.A. Dickey, and Jacob deGrom all taking home the hardware at least once during their careers, there have still been several seasons in which Mets pitchers finished in the top three in NL Cy Young voting but did not win the award. 

If even one of these close calls swings differently, the Mets are alone in second place all-time for team Cy Young wins.

It’s always interesting to revisit past Cy Young votes and reimagine them in today’s era. As new stats become more or less emphasized by Cy Young voters (like wins), some of these old voting breakdowns begin to look rather archaic, and some obvious snubs, by today’s standards, can emerge. So, let’s rank the top five biggest Cy Young snubs in Mets history, starting with number five.

5. Jerry Koosman – 1976

For nearly a decade, the Seaver-Koosman tandem was at the top of the Mets’ rotation most seasons. Seaver’s career ultimately earned more glory, and rightfully so, but Koosman was an elite competitor and among the upper echelon of National League pitchers throughout his Mets tenure. His highest-profile season came in 1976, when he finished in second to the San Diego Padres’ Randy Jones for the NL Cy Young Award.

Unlike some of the other winners on this list, Jones had a very strong case. He led the NL with 40 (!) starts, 25 complete games, 315 1/3 innings, and a 1.027 WHIP. However, Koosman did best him in several areas, including ERA (2.69, to Jones’ 2.74), strikeouts (200, to Jones’ 93), ERA+ (121, to Jones’ 119), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.03, to Jones’ 1.86), opponents’ batting average (.221, to Jones’ .229), and fielding independent pitching (2.83, to Jones’ 3.18). 

There is something to be said for a pitcher throwing more innings than anyone else in the league and still pitching at an extremely high level, which Jones did in 1976. However, one could argue that on average, across his starts, Koosman was a slightly better pitcher than Jones that season.

1976 was a strong year for all three of the Mets’ top pitchers, as Jon Matlack and Seaver both finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in the NL Cy Young vote.

4. Johan Santana – 2008

When the Mets traded for Santana before the 2008 season, it was one of the biggest blockbuster acquisitions in franchise history. In his first season with the orange and blue, the two-time Cy Young winner nearly added another trophy to his case, finishing third in NL Cy Young voting behind Tim Lincecum and Brandon Webb.

If you dig a little deeper into the numbers, the race gets even tighter. Santana led the NL with a 2.53 ERA, which was nearly a tenth of a run better than the eventual winner Lincecum (2.62) and over three quarters of a run better than the second-place finisher Webb (3.30). Santana also racked up 7.1 WAR (per Baseball Reference), which far exceeded the 5.6 bWAR that Webb put up. 

Maybe WAR isn’t your scene. Fine. But Santana also led the NL in innings (234 1/3), had a lower WHIP (1.148) than Lincecum (1.172) and Webb (1.148), averaged fewer walks per nine innings (2.42) than Lincecum (3.33) and Webb (2.58), and finished higher in the MVP race (14th) than Lincecum (23rd) and Webb (17th).

Of course, there are myriad stats out there to rank pitchers by, so Santana’s case here is not a complete runaway. But I have a feeling that in the context of 2008 voters, Santana having fewer wins (16) than Lincecum (18) and Webb (22) cost him some votes. In today’s voting climate, his win total would have mattered far less, and he might have won his third Cy Young.

2. Dwight Gooden – 1984

Gooden’s historic 1985 season looms very large in Mets pitching lore, and with good reason – his ERA was a microscopic 1.53, which is the lowest single-season ERA by a starter in Mets history. But his magical rookie season one year prior was also among the best in the National League, and arguably warranted him winning the Cy Young two years in a row.

This case is, in my opinion, egregious. In 1984, the NL Cy Young was awarded to Rick Sutcliffe, who was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Cubs midseason. In his 20 National League starts, he posted a 2.69 ERA, but for the year, his total ERA was 3.68. Even just factoring in Sutcliffe’s NL rate statistics after the trade and ignoring counting stats, Gooden bested him in the following categories: ERA (2.60), WHIP (1.073), strikeouts per nine innings (11.395), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.781), and FIP (1.69). 

If you factor in the full season and include counting stats, Gooden also led the NL in strikeouts (276) and WAR for pitchers (5.5). 

This could be my lack of first-hand knowledge talking, but I fail to see why Sutcliffe was deemed a better Cy Young candidate than Gooden, other than the fact that Gooden was the obvious NL Rookie of the Year and perhaps the voters did not want to give him two awards in the same season. Either way, in retrospect, it’s a head scratcher.

1. Tom Seaver – 1971

Finally, we have one of Tom Terrific’s greatest seasons, and the biggest Cy Young snub in Mets history to date. In 1971, Seaver had one of the most brilliant campaigns in his Hall of Fame career, but finished second to a fellow future Hall of Famer, Fergie Jenkins, in the NL Cy Young voting. When unpacking both of their seasons from today’s baseball perspective, it’s hard to understand why.

In 1971, Seaver led all of baseball with a 1.76 ERA, which was over a run better than Jenkins’ 2.77 mark. He led the NL in strikeouts with 289, exceeding Jenkins’ 263. He led the Majors with a razor-thin 0.946 WHIP; Jenkins trailed him with a 1.049 mark. Seaver also led the NL in a few other stats that we use today but did not exist in 1971: WAR for pitchers (10.2), FIP (1.93), and ERA+ (194).

Where Jenkins bested him was in the “workhorse” categories -- the Cubs hurler tossed 30 (!) complete games out of 39 (!!) starts, pitched 325 innings, and won 24 games, all of which led the NL. Still, if you go by ERA, WHIP, and WAR, Seaver was statistically the better pitcher that season, and he won 20 games to boot.

I am fairly confident that today’s awards voters would have given Seaver the nod for that year’s Cy Young, even though Jenkins had an extremely impressive season. It’s hard for me to ignore that a pitcher finished second with an ERA over a run better than the eventual winner, but again, the awards voting landscape in 1971 was far different than it is today.