Let’s look back at some of the most interesting New York Mets contracts
By Ryan Morik
New York Mets fans are no strangers to big contract players, but even the bad ones have at least been a little interesting.
Way back in 1966, the New York Mets signed a guy named Tom Seaver. His salary was $10,000 dollars in 1967, and he earned a $50,000 bonus at the time.
It remains one of the biggest steals in baseball history.
In his 12 seasons with the New York Mets, Tom Seaver racked up three Cy Young Awards, was named to 10 All Star Games, and racked up a 2.57 ERA. He owns the franchise record for strikeouts (2,541), wins (198), ERA, and innings (3,045.1). The Mets renamed 126th Street – the street behind Citi Field, Seaver Way, and changed Citi Field’s address to 41 Seaver Way in honor of the Hall of Famer. The Mets also announced a statue of The Franchise is being built.
In honor of Seaver and his career — and one of the best moves the Mets ever made — let’s take a look back at the most interesting contracts the Mets have handed out. Some have aged better than others, some remain a thorn in the side of fans, others have become cult classics.
The money has been paid, the deeds have been done (maybe, mostly), but what did Mets fans end up getting out of some of the more notable contracts handed out over the years?
New York Mets honorable mentions
Robin Ventura, 4 years, $32 million
It looked good for a year, as Ventura finished in sixth place in the NL MVP Award voting in 1999. The grand slam single remains one of the best moments in franchise history. But he hit just .235 in his next two seasons and was traded to the Yankees. Of course, he was an All-Star again.
Curtis Granderson, 4 years, $60 million
Grandson was 33 in his first year with the Mets, so little was expected. His numbers are not eye popping, but he did have a 5.1 WAR in 2015 and blasted three home runs in the 2015 World Series while notably flashing the leather.
Cliff Floyd, 4 years, $26 million
Floyd racked up an .832 OPS from ages 30 to 33 in Queens. We’d probably see this in that top seven without injuries – he had just one season with over 113 games played in New York.