Have you ever wondered how the 1999 team would have faired if Tom Seaver pitched for them? How about Gil Hodges managing David Wright and John Olerud? All of your Met fantasies can finally come to life…simulated life that is.
The "How Bout Them Mets" staff has strategically drafted their ultimate Met teams featuring the greats of the past and present. We chose the certain players to formulate six teams based solely on their their numbers as Mets. Then we put our 25-man rosters into simulated games thanks to WhatIfSports.com. Like mentioned above, it’s all Met statistics. Taking Richie Ashburn in this draft would be a non-factor, but a guy like Mike Hampton, who had one great year with the Mets, becomes a valued pick.
Here’s a little sample of how the first couple rounds of went featuring some of the greatest Mets to wear the uniform.
The first round had all of the clear cut power house picks. In typical fashion, Brenden Welsh used the first pick of the draft to select the only man to wear the Met cap in Cooperstown, Tom Seaver. Greg Steiner then followed up with the second pick to take Jose Reyes. It was a strategical move if you know Met history. There aren’t too many shortstops that had the kind of numbers Reyes does. With that pick in, Harlan Green-Taub chose the second of the new generation Mets, making David Wright his third baseman.
Jonathan Ragus then followed picking the man who leads practically every offensive category for the Mets, Darryl Strawberry. Mark Krulish then used the fifth pick to choose Straw’s ‘86 teammate, first baseman Keith Hernandez. I kept the ‘86 train rolling as the last pick of the first round went to the strikeout doctor, Dwight Gooden.
The next round featured some obvious choices, and some interesting high picks. I kicked it off with Mike Piazza landing me the biggest bat of the late 90’s/early 00’s Mets. The next three picks were a trio of great Met pitchers, Mark taking Jerry Koosman, Jon landing David Cone, and Harlan drafting Al Leiter. Greg went for strategy yet again and took one of the Mets best 2nd basemen Edgardo Alfonzo. Brenden capped off round 2 by drafting ‘69 legend Tommy Agee.
Those first two rounds were a sign of things to come for the rest of the draft. There were steals, big picks, little picks, strange picks, just like a normal fantasy draft goes. Now all teams are formulated with 25 men on each roster, each team with one goal, to be the How Bout Them Mets Ultimate Met Team!
Here’s a nice sample of the starting line-ups and pitching staffs each team has drafted
Brenden Welsh: Brenden’s Mets
Manager : Jerry Manuel
Pitching Staff : Tom Seaver, Pedro Martinez, Mike Hampton, Oliver Perez. Closer - John Franco
Infield: 1B Ed Kranepool, 2B Felix Millan, SS Rey Ordonez, 3B Howard Johnson. Catcher - Ron Hodges
Outfield : Tommy Agee, Benny Agbayani, Kevin Mitchell
Bench: Ron Swoboda, Vince Coleman, Matt Franco
Greg Steiner: Gashouse Gorilla’s
Manager: Yogi Berra
Pitching Staff: Jon Matlack, Frank Viola, Brett Saberhagen, Rick Reed. Closer - Jesse Orosco.
Infield: 1B Rico Brogna, 2B Edgardo Alfonzo, SS Jose Reyes, 3B Len Randle. Catcher - John Stearns.
Outfield: Carlos Beltran, Bernard Gilkey, Cliff Floyd.
Bench: Roger Cedeno, Donn Clendenon, Jose Valentin.
Harlan Green-Taub: Harlan’s Mets
Manager: Gil Hodges
Pitching Staff: Al Leiter, Johan Santana, Roger McDowell, Craig Swan. Closer - Billy Wagner.
Infield: 1B Jon Olerud, 2B Jeff Kent, SS Bud Harrelson, 3B David Wright. Catcher - Jerry Grote.
Outfield: Lance Johnson, Lee Mazzilli, Moises Alou.
Bench: Brian McRae, Dave Magadan, Paul LoDuca.
Jonathan Ragus: Hatfield Mets
Manager: Bobby Valentine
Pitching Staff: David Cone, Ron Darling, Steve Trachsel, Tom Glavine. Closer - Armando Benetez.
Infield: 1B Carlos Delgado, 2B Carlos Baerga, SS Kevin Elster, 3B Bobby Bonilla. Catcher - Gary Carter.
Outfield: Darryl Strawberry, Mike Cameron, Butch Huskey.
Bench: Lenny Harris, Rickey Henderson, Todd Zeille.
Mark Krulish: The Marauders.
Manager: Davey Johnson
Pitching Staff: Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Bobby Ojeda, Mark Clark. Closer - Randy Myers.
Infield: 1B Keith Hernandez, 2B Wally Backman, SS Frank Tavares, 3B Ray Knight. Catcher - Todd Hundley
Outfield: Cleon Jones, Kevin McReynolds, Joel Youngblood.
Bench: Rick Cerrone, Joe McEwing, Jay Payton.
Randy Sobel: Sobel Slumdogs
Manager: Casey Stengel
Pitching Staff: Dwight Gooden, Bobby Jones, Sid Fernandez, Orel Hershiser. Closer - Tug McGraw.
Infield: 1B Eddie Murray, 2B Greg Jefferies, SS Jose Vizcaino, 3B Robin Ventura. Catcher - Mike Piazza.
Outfield: Lenny Dykstra, Dave Kingman, Rusty Staub.
Bench: Mookie Wilson, Wayne Garrett, Shawn Green.
Now obviously, we picked more players than this. Full draft results will be available upon request. Games begin this Friday and we’ll post the results of every game for the ten days straight that it runs. Let us know your favorite team or even post your own Ultimate Mets roster. Stay tuned to HowBoutThemMets.com these next ten days to find out what team prevails as the Ultimate Mets Champion!
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