The Ten Most Underrated Mets of All-Time (10-6)

By, Steve Sica

 In this two-part series, we take a look back at some of the most underrated Mets in their 60-plus year history. Whether they played on bad teams, were overshadowed, or didn't come with a lot of fanfare. These Met players have slipped through the cracks of history.

Starting at ten, let's look at the five underrated Mets, with the top-five coming next week.

10. Pedro Feliciano:

The definition of a workhorse. Pedro Feliciano had a string of three straight seasons where he appeared in 80 or more games, and in 2010, he set a franchise record with 92 appearances in relief. He wasn’t a closer and often overlooked, which is how he made his way onto this list. Feliciano quietly had a nice career with the Mets as a middle reliever.

He made his Met debut in 2002, but it wasn’t until 2006 where he became a mainstay in the Mets bullpen. That season, he put up his best numbers with a 2.06 ERA, with a 7-2 record in 64 appearances. He helped the Mets win the 2006 NL East title and in the playoffs that year, he put up a 1.93 ERA. He was one of the few reliable relievers in what was an otherwise dismal bullpen in 2007 and especially in 2008. 2009 was probably one of the worst seasons in Met history, but Feliciano was a bright spot as he sported a 3.03 ERA, 59 strikeouts in 88 appearances.

Feliciano is second only to John Franco in most games pitched in Met history with 484. He spent his entire Major League career with the Mets where he had a record of 22-21, a 3.33 ERA, 350 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.376. Feliciano tragically passed away far too young at the age of 45 due to a rare genetic heart condition. He was an important piece of that 2006 team, and while he didn’t have the fanfare that closers often get, his career shouldn’t be forgotten by Met fans.

9. Dave Magaden

Dave Magaden was the Mets’ second round draft pick in the 1983 draft and was considered a top prospect when he was called up during the 1986 season. Magaden’s first start was on the same night the Mets clinched the NL East, where he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in helping the Mets win the game 4-2 over the Cubs. He was pulled after the 7th inning to let Keith Hernandez be on the field for the final out of the division clincher. 

Magaden’s career didn’t really take off until 1988, where he batted .277 and had an OPS of .728 in 112 games. 1990 was his career best when he batted .328, with 28 doubles, 72 RBIs and an OPS .874. What’s most impressive about Magaden’s career was that he rarely struck out. In 701 games with Mets from 1986-1992, Magaden struck out just 248 times in 2,483 plate appearances and he had nearly 100 more walks during that time at 347.

The Mets parted ways with Magaden after the 1992 season by letting him walk and eventually be signed by the then Florida Marlins. Magaden’s career is probably talked about more if the 1988 Mets win the pennant and if those late 80’s teams found the same success as the 1986 team did, but that doesn’t mean that his tenure on the Mets should be ignored. In seven seasons in Queens, he batted .292 with 110 doubles with an OPS of .776, and despite only playing in 10 games with them, he’s still a member of those beloved 1986 Mets.

8. Craig Swan

The late 1970’s and early 1980’s are an era that the Mets and their fans would like to forget. This is when Craig Swan was pitching his best baseball. Drafted by the Mets in 1972, Swan became a consistent starter in Queens by 1976. Unfortunately, this was also the last season the Mets would be over .500 for nearly a decade and the last time Swan would play for an over .500 team in his Met career. 

While the Mets stumbled through the late 1970’s, Swan would only get better. In 1978, as the Mets lost 96 games, and finished 24 games out of first place, Swan was putting up a career year. He has an ERA of 2.43 in 207 innings pitched, which was the best in the National League in 1978. He also managed to put up a winning record of 9-6, not easy to do when the rest of your team is flirting with a 100-loss season. In 1979, the Mets lost 99 games, and saw just 788,000 fans come out to Shea for the whole season. Swan, though, continued to be a bright spot on the team going 14-13, with ten complete games and three shutouts.

Injuries would eventually derail Swan’s career. After a successful campaign in 1982 where he had an ERA of 3.35 with a record of 11-7, Swan began to develop issues in his pitching arm. 1983 saw Swan put up a 5.51 ERA in just 81 innings pitched. By 1984, just as the Mets were turning a corner towards playing winning baseball, Swan would be released on May 9th.

Craig Swan had the bad luck of bad timing, but just because he played on some of the worst teams in Met history, doesn’t mean we should forget what a good pitcher he was for the Mets. A franchise rich in pitching history, Swan often is forgotten, but he remains in the top-10 on Met pitching leaderboards in innings pitched (1,230), games started (184), and complete games (25).

7. Todd Hundley

Another Met who put up career years during down seasons is Todd Hundley. Drafted by the Mets in the second round of the 1987 draft, Hundley made his Mets debut in 1990, and was their primary catcher during most of the 1990’s, until some guy named Mike Piazza took over the position in 1998.

Hundley began to hit his stride in 1995, where he put up an OPS of .865. That was just a warmup for 1996, where Hundley wasn’t just good, he made history. Hundley found his power swing in 1996 as he blasted 41 home runs, which at the time was a franchise record in a single season for the Mets, and the most by any catcher in baseball history for a single season up until that point. That record would stand in Met history for ten years, when Carlos Beltran tied it in 2006. Pete Alonso ultimately broke it in 2019.

Hundley was the starting catcher in the All-Star game during that 1996 season, put up an OPS of .906, drove in 112 runs, and collected 32 doubles. Alas, Hundley’s heroics couldn’t stop the Mets from putting up their sixth straight losing season in 1996. In 1997, Hundley made the All-Star team again and continued putting up stellar numbers with 30 home runs, 86 RBIs, and an OPS of .943, as the Mets competed but ultimately fell short of a playoff spot

An elbow injury combined with the arrival of Mike Piazza would end Hundley’s Met career as he was traded after the 1998 season to the Dodgers. It’s easy to forget Hundley, considering his successor is the greatest hitting catcher of all-time and arguably one of the best Met players in their history, but Hundley is still an important part of Met history. His 1996 season is still considered one of the best in Met history. Hundley did make an appearance in the Mets’ old-timers game back in 2022, as the franchise since Steve Cohen bought the team, has done a better job with acknowledging their history.

6. Carlos Delgado

A widely popular Met during his four seasons in Queens, you might be asking how Carlos Delgado made it onto this list. A key acquisition before the 2006 season and a crucial member of that 97-win team, Delgado might be the most underappreciated player from that squad. We hear about David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran, but Delgado somehow falls through the cracks.

It’s not just our fault as Met fans thought. Carlos Delgado is probably one of the most underrated players in MLB history. With 473 career home runs, 1,512 RBIs, and a career OPS of .929, Delgado only made two All-Star teams over his 17 year career, and somehow fell off the Hall of Fame ballot after his first year of eligibility, receiving just 3.8% of the vote.

Acquired from the Florida Marlins for Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit, Delgado immediately made the Mets into a powerhouse when he joined Reyes, Wright, and Beltran in the same lineup. In 2006, Delgado mashed 38 home runs with 114 RBIs and after 14 years of waiting, finally made it into the postseason. Delgado would take full advantage of his first taste of October baseball. In game one of the NLDS, Delgado went 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs in a 6-5 Met win. Delgado went 6-for-14 in that series that saw the Mets sweep the Dodgers in three games. In the NLCS, Delgado put the team on his shoulders going 7-for-23, with three home runs and nine RBIs in what was a heartbreaking seven-game series loss to St. Louis.

There’s a ton of what-ifs that will always surround the 2006 Mets, but I often wonder that if the Mets get past the Cardinals and win the World Series over the Tigers that year, Delgado’s Met and baseball legacy is remembered a bit differently.

After struggling in 2007, Delgado in his age 36 season did all he could to try and carry the Mets back to the playoffs in 2008. The MVP of that team, Delgado slugged 38 home runs with 115 RBIs in 159 games. The Mets would fall one game short of a Wild Card berth, and in 2009 injuries and age would catch up with him. He appeared in just 26 games with the Mets, with his last game on the Mets and of his career coming on May 10th.