The Mets have the best-worst individual WAR performance since 2000

Which New York Mets player has had the worst individual season since 2000? According to Brooks Gate, it might not be the first one that comes to mind.

Instinct says one of the Mets pitchers from 2017 might be the answer. What about the early 2000s when the team employed countless free agent duds? It’s not them either.

The worst individual season for a Mets player according to WAR since 2000 happened only last year when Carlos Carrasco was worth -1.3. Amazingly, it’s significantly better than any other team’s worst performance.

The Mets had the best-worst player since 2000 on their 2023 roster

Nobody on the 2017 Mets had a WAR worse than Dominic Smith at -0.9. Even Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, and Zack Wheeler who had terrible years were at -0.3, -0.1, and 0 respectively. Despite also having ERAs of 6.70, 6.08, and 5.21, they had significantly better years than Carrasco just did.

Carrasco pitched about the same amount as Harvey and Wheeler that year. He made 20 starts and completed 90 innings for the Mets to go along with his 6.80 ERA on the season. We can’t compare Carrasco fairly enough to any past single seasons as WAR is a statistic measured against peers and heavily includes situations anyway.

The most amazing takeaway of all isn’t for Carrasco to be on this list, but for him to be the best while representing the Mets. Who would’ve guessed they didn’t have a worse player somewhere along the lines? Two dark stretches a decade apart and not a single other individual was allowed to remain on the field and watch his numbers decline.

Even Jose Reyes who hit .189 in 110 games for the 2018 Mets was deemed more valuable than Carrasco at -0.3 WAR. He was bested by several teammates that season anyway with Jay Bruce owning the worst at -0.9.

What about the worst WAR in Mets history? That’s a quest worth going on. It wasn’t any other time from 2000-2023. It didn’t occur in 1962 or 1993. Where do we begin?