The Top New York Mets Shortstops in Team History

Similar to catchers, shortstops play one of the most critical defensive roles in baseball. 

In this article, we take a close look at the top shortstops ever to play for the New York Mets - one of the two MLB teams in the Big Apple and a franchise that has won a pair of World Series championships since their start back in 1962. 

A Note About Wins Above Replacement

Wins Above Replacement (WAR for short) is a powerful baseball metric that’s used to measure the overall value that a player provides to his team. 

Unlike the majority of baseball statistics that focus on a specific component of a player’s performance, WAR is comprehensive in that it’s designed to reflect the total (e.g., both offensive and defensive) performance of any one player. 

As a result, we believe that WAR is the best statistic available to assess players. 

In this article, we rank the top New York Mets shortstops based on a player’s highest career WAR and highest single-season WAR, using the Fangraphs WAR calculation (also referred to as fWAR).

Continue scrolling to read more about these shortstops...

Top 3 Mets Shortstops by Career WAR

Please note: A player must have a minimum of 100 games played with the Mets to be eligible for the career WAR list.

#1. José Reyes, 43.9 career WAR

José Reyes played the vast majority of his 16 year MLB career as the shortstop for the New York Mets. He also spent time with the Colorado Rockies, the Miami Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Reyes hit .283/.334/.427 during his career and amassed 2,138 hits, 145 home runs, 719 RBIs and 517 stolen bases. 

He won the NL batting title in 2011 with his .337 average, and in 2006 Reyes earned a silver slugger award. He led the NL four times in triples, three times in at bats and three times in stolen bases.

Reyes’ lifetime fielding percentage as a shortstop was .973 with 2,092 putouts and 4,363 assists. Additionally, he led all NL shortstops twice in defensive games and once in double plays turned. 

#2. Francisco Lindor, 42.0 career WAR

The only active player on our list, Francisco Lindor broke into the majors in 2015 with the Cleveland Indians, and he joined the Mets in 2021.

Thus far in his career, Lindor has collected nearly 1,200 hits, 184 home runs and 581 RBIs. He's made four all star teams, won two gold gloves and two silver sluggers, and has received MVP shares for five of his eight years in the MLB.

Through the 2022 season, Lindor owns a .981 fielding percentage with 1,342 putouts, 2,568 assists and 574 double plays. 

#3. Asdrúbal Cabrera, 28.5 career WAR

Asdrúbal Cabrera played with the New York Mets for parts of three seasons (2016 - 2018) during the course of his 15 years in the big leagues. 

The two-time all star and one-time silver slugger winner owns a lifetime .270/.331/.410 slash line with 1,763 hits, 195 home runs and 869 RBIs.

Cabrera played in 1,079 MLB games at shortstop and owns a .975 fielding percentage at the position, with 1,465 putouts and 2,798 career assists at short.

Of note, he won a World Series ring with the 2019 Washington Nationals, hitting .286 during the Series.

Honorable Mentions

• Howard Johnson, 23.5 career WAR

• Roy McMillan, 20.0 career WAR

• Bud Harrelson, 19.1 career WAR

 

Top 3 Seasons by Mets Shortstops, Ranked by WAR

Please note: A player must have a minimum of 70 games played as a shortstop in one season with the Mets to be eligible for this single-season WAR list.

#1. 2022 - Francisco Lindor (6.8 WAR)

Francisco Lindor had a productive 2022, and yet somehow, he didn’t make the all star team! Nonetheless, Lindor’s 2022 campaign resulted in the highest single-season WAR of any Mets shortstop thus far in franchise history.

In 2022, Lindor played in 161 games for the Mets and hit .270/.339/.449 with 170 hits, 26 home runs and 107 RBIs. It was the first time in a season that he reached triple digits in RBIs.

Defensively that season, Lindor played nearly 1,400 innings at shortstop and maintained a .985 fielding percentage at the position. He led all NL shortstops in 2022 in putouts (198) and finished second among shortstops in the league for assists (385) and double plays (82).

Lindor wound up finishing in ninth place for the 2022 NL MVP award. 

#2. 2008 and 2011 - José Reyes (5.8 WAR)

La Melaza (aka José Reyes) had a 5.8 fWAR in both 2008 and 2011.

In 2008, Reyes batted .297 and collected a career-high 204 hits while leading the majors in at bats (688) and triples (19). On the field, he had a .974 fielding percentage with 221 putouts.

In 2011, Reyes led the NL with a .337 batting average and he led all of the majors with 16 triples. He collected 181 hits during the season, 101 runs and 39 stolen bases.

Defensively, Reyes had a .968 fielding percentage at shortstop and he collected 175 putouts over 1,087 innings on the field. 

In recognition for his strong season, Reyes was named to his fourth and final NL all star team in 2011. 

#3. 2006 - José Reyes (5.7 WAR)

José Reyes had an excellent 2006 campaign, resulting in a 5.7 fWAR. 

He led the major leagues in triples (17) and stolen bases (64) while collecting nearly 200 hits, batting .300 and making his first all star team. 

Reyes also set career-high marks in home runs (19) and RBIs (81) that season, earning him a silver slugger award and a top-10 finish for NL MVP.

Reyes manned shortstop for the 2006 Mets across 1,320.1 innings. He kept a .971 fielding percentage that season and had 176 putouts and 390 assists. 

List of All Mets Shortstops With a 2.0+ WAR Season

When a player has a season with a WAR that’s 2.0 or better, it typically indicates they had a productive year. 

A variety of Mets shortstops have met or exceeded this number since the franchise was created back in 1962. 

See the below list which identifies every New York Mets shortstop to have had a season with a 2.0 or better WAR.

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Mets Shortstops over the Last 10 Years

Please note: the list of shortstops below are ordered based on the number of games played in that season for the Mets. Shortstops who played the most games per season at the position start at the top. 

2013 Mets

• Omar Quintanilla (primary)

• Rubén Tejada
• Justin Turner
• Wilfredo Tovar
• Jordany Valdespin

 

2014 Mets

• Ruben Tejada (primary)

• Wilmer Flores
• Omar Quintanilla
• Eric Campbell
• Wilfredo Tovar

 

2015 Mets

• Wilmer Flores (primary)

• Rubén Tejada

• Kelly Johnson

 

2016 Mets

• Asdrúbal Cabrera (primary)

• Matt Reynolds
• José Reyes
• Wilmer Flores
• Gavin Cecchini
• Kelly Johnson

 

2017 Mets

• José Reyes (primary)

• Asdrúbal Cabrera 
• Amed Rosario
• Matt Reynolds

 

2018 Mets

• Amed Rosario (primary)

• José Reyes 

• Jack Reinheimer

 

2019 Mets

• Amed Rosario (primary)

• Adeiny Hechavarria

• Luis Guillorme

• Rubén Tejada

 

2020 Mets

• Amed Rosario (primary)

• Andrés Giménez

• Luis Guillorme

 

2021 Mets 

• Francisco Lindor (primary)

• Jonathan Villar

• Javier Báez

• Luis Guillorme

• José Peraza

 

2022 Mets 

• Francisco Lindor (primary)

• Luis Guillorme

• Deven Marrero

• Yolmer Sanchez

 

Complete List of All Mets Shortstops Over the Last 10 Years

The following list shows every New York Mets shortstop to have played in one or more defensive games at the position for the team since 2013. 

Each player is listed in alphabetical order by first name.

• Adeiny Hechavarria
• Amed Rosario
• Andrés Giménez 
• Asdrúbal Cabrera 
• Deven Marrero
• Eric Campbell
• Francisco Lindor
• Gavin Cecchini
• Jack Reinheimer
• Javier Báez
• Jonathan Villar
• Jordany Valdespin
• José Peraza
• José Reyes
• Justin Turner
• Kelly Johnson
• Luis Guillorme
• Matt Reynolds
• Omar Quintanilla
• Rubén Tejada
• Wilfredo Tovar
• Wilmer Flores
• Yolmer Sanchez

 

That’s a Wrap!

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Sources for this Article

• Baseball Almanac

• Baseball Reference

• Fangraphs

• New York Post