With David Wright taking his rightful place alongside Tom Seaver (No. 41), Mike Piazza (No. 31), Jerry Koosman (No. 36), Keith Hernandez (No. 17), Willie Mays (No. 24), Dwight Gooden (No. 16), and Darryl Strawberry (No. 18) as Mets players who have their number retired, there are a few others who are deserving of the honor.
When it comes to Wright, his inclusion was as close to a slam dunk as it gets.
Wright was a homegrown Met, spent his entire career (2004-2018) with the team, became captain, and was one of the best offensive players in the history of the franchise.
Before injuries derailed his career, Wright wasn’t just on pace to be the best Mets position player of all time, he was on pace to reach the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Through his first seven seasons (2004 to 2010), Wright hit .305/.383/.516 with 169 homers, 258 doubles, 664 RBI, 138 stolen bases, and an OPS+ of 136. From 2006 to 2010, Wright made five consecutive All-Star teams and was a Top 10 vote-getter for MVP each year.
With Wright getting honored, which Met should be next?
Gary Carter, No. 8
Carter’s stint with the Mets (1985-1989) was relatively brief, but his impact might have been the greatest.
Acquired via trade from the Montreal Expos before the 1985 season, Carter is viewed by many as the player who put the Mets over the top when it came to their ability to win the World Series — which they did in 1986 as Carter hit .255/.337/.439 with 24 homers during the regular season before getting huge hits in the NLCS against the Houston Astros and World Series against the Boston Red Sox.
It was Carter whose effervescent personality helped define those great Mets teams of the mid-to-late 80s, Carter whose hit won Game 5 of the NLCS, Carter whose two homers helped the Mets win Game 4 of the World Series, and Carter who started the two-out rally in Game 6 of the World Series with the Mets one out from elimination.
Carter was also team co-captain — along with Hernandez — from 1988 to 89.
Carlos Beltran, No. 15
When you say “Carlos Beltran,” there are still some Mets fans who immediately cringe and start talking about the wicked curve Beltran took for strike three in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS at Shea Stadium as the Mets’ World Series hopes died. Those fans are doing a great disservice to the tenure Beltran had with the Mets.
Quite simply, Beltran is one of the best two-way players the Mets ever had.
Beltran’s Mets career — 2005 to 2011 — looked like this at the plate: .280/.369/.500 with 149 homers, 208 doubles, and 559 RBI.
A four-time All-Star with the Mets, Beltran was one of the best hitters in baseball during that time while also being one of the best defensive center fielders in the sport.
And if you’re one of the fans who wants to harp on Beltran watching that curve that no one would have hit, you should also realize that the Mets probably don’t make it to Game 7 in 2006 without Beltran, who hit three homers earlier in the series.
While Beltran was tremendous with the Mets, his overall career is worthy of the Hall of Fame. Looking at his numbers, it’s fair to say he should go in with a Mets cap on his plaque if he makes it. And he’s trending toward reaching the Hall, with election seemingly likely by 2026.
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