Despite a great season, the Mets’ MVP drought will extend another year

Back when the Mets had Old Timers Day in the 1970s, they would have people from other teams be honored that day because the franchise didn’t have enough history to field two teams with enough stars on both squads. But with over 60 years of fielding MLB teams, that’s no longer the case. Everyone who showed up for this year’s Old Timers Day was a Met.

But the 1962 expansion franchise went thru a bunch of other growing pains throughout the years. A kid in the 1970s heard all about how the Mets never had a real third baseman. That may sound trivial to 21st Century fans but trust me – it was a big deal. How big of a thing was it? The Mets traded a future five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner in Amos Otis and followed up by trading Nolan Ryan in ill-fated attempts to get a third baseman.

Finally, Howard Johnson came aboard in the 1980s, followed by Robin Ventura in the 1990s and David Wright in the 21st Century and you never hear about the Mets not having a third baseman in franchise history.

It took until 2011 before Jose Reyes won the first batting title by a Met. And, of course, it took until 2012 before Johan Santana threw the club’s first no-hitter. Not many talked about the batting title, especially compared to the trivial third baseman issue. But everyone – even fans of other teams – talked about the no-hitter one. It was especially surprising given how many very good and great pitchers the club had through the years.

So, what’s left for the franchise?

The Mets are still looking for their first MVP. Genearly, the MVP comes from a player having the best year on a team that made the playoffs. That limits the years that the Mets could realistically have a chance. And the fact that the Mets rarely had one of the best players in the game limited things further. Still, let’s look at the years the club made the playoffs:

1969 – Tom Seaver was their best player but generally voters have preferred MVPs to be a position player and it’s hard to argue with the year Willie McCovey had.
1973 – Seaver had a much better case for winning award this year but it went to Pete Rose. It probably should have been given to Joe Morgan, instead.
1986 – Mike Schmidt won the award. He was tied with Keith Hernandez with a 5.8 fWAR and the fact that it didn’t go to a player from the team that dominated still rankles today. Gary Carter actually finished ahead of Hernandez in the MVP voting this year.
1988 – This is the one that most people will point to as the one where the Mets got robbed. Kirk Gibson finished first, while Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds finished second and third, allegedly splitting the “Mets vote.” Gibson beat them both in fWAR and also had the narrative of his competitiveness dragging the Dodgers to the NL West title.
1999 – Robin Ventura had a very strong case but it was a deep field and ultimate winner Chipper Jones was a hard choice to argue against for the award.
2000 – Mike Piazza finished third but if anyone got robbed this year, it was Barry Bonds. The voters gave it to Bonds’ teammate Jeff Kent, likely as an FU to Bonds.
2006 – Ryan Howard won the award with his gaudy RBI numbers. But Carlos Beltran was better. The problem was that Albert Pujols would have been just as good of a pick as Beltran.
2015 – Bryce Harper had a monster year, winning two of the three triple crown categories, missing only in AVG, where his .330 mark finished second. Mets didn’t have anyone close to winning, with trade deadline acquisition Yoenis Cespedes placing 13th.
2016 – Kris Bryant was the deserving winner. The Mets’ best option was Noah Syndergaard, who finished tied for 19th in the actual voting.

Which brings us to 2022.

The Mets have clinched a playoff spot and have an excellent chance of finishing the year with 100 victories. But they don’t have a strong MVP candidate, which on the surface sounds like nuts. If he had 33 starts, Max Scherzer might have been the guy. But if it’s hard for a pitcher to win the award in any year, it’s impossible to do it in a season with 9-10 weeks spent on the IL.

Their best candidates are Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor. We’ve seen how the Mets struggle when either of those players goes through a rough patch. But Alonso would have to go 2006 Howard to ever win the award. Lindor actually has the best case, given his ability in the field at the premier defensive position.

But Lindor just doesn’t have enough wow factor with his offensive numbers. Yeah, they’ve been really good. But there’s nothing there to scream MVP with the voters. Maybe if he had Alonso’s HR power, he’d be the front runner. Lindor has great power for a shortstop. But 25 HR can’t compete with the big boys like Mookie Betts (35), Paul Goldschmidt (35) and Austin Riley (37).

It should end better than either 2015 or 2016. It’s hard to imagine Lindor not having a top-10 finish and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Alonso did, too. But, ultimately, we’re looking at another year with a Met winning the MVP. We’ll take the World Series as a consolation prize this year. Then, in 2023, we can look to end the MVP drought.