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Mets NYM

1988100–60 (0.625)Made Playoffs
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GM: Frank Cashen

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1988, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$16M
Surplus $M
+1
Win %
0.625
TAB
+18.5
WAB
+15.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
55.4
Dead money %
9%
Depth Players
12.0
Dead WAR
-1.9

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1988 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RGary Carter119
LMackey Sasser42
RBarry Lyons32

1B

LKeith Hernandez93
LDave Magadan71
BLee Mazzilli16
RGary Carter10
RTim Teufel3
RBarry Lyons1

2B

BWally Backman92
RTim Teufel84
RKeith Miller16
BGregg Jefferies10

3B

BHoward Johnson131
LDave Magadan48
BGregg Jefferies20
RKeith Miller6
RGary Carter1
LMackey Sasser1

SS

RKevin Elster148
BHoward Johnson52
RKeith Miller8

LF

RKevin McReynolds147
BMookie Wilson16
BLee Mazzilli13
RMark Carreon4

CF

LLenny Dykstra112
BMookie Wilson83
RKevin McReynolds1

RF

LDarryl Strawberry150
BMookie Wilson18
BLee Mazzilli6
RKeith Miller1
LMackey Sasser1

DH

—

Starters

RDwight Gooden6.3 WAR
RDavid Cone5.5 WAR
LBob Ojeda5.2 WAR
LSid Fernandez4.0 WAR
RRon Darling3.3 WAR
LDavid West0.2 WAR
RRick Aguilera0.1 WAR

Bullpen

★ LRandy Myers26 sv
RRoger McDowell0 h
RTerry Leach0 h
LGene Walter⇄0 h
LBob McClure⇄0 h
RJeff Innis0 h
RRick Aguilera0 h
REdwin Nunez⇄0 h

Each position shows its top 3 by games (top = starter) — click "+more" for the rest. The letter is bats/throws; ⇄ marks a player traded mid-season. Starters are ranked by WAR, bullpen by holds; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

Key additions (new vs 1987)

PlayerfWAR
Mackey Sasser0.3
David West0.2
Ed Nunez0.0
Bob McClure0.0

Key subtractions (gone from 1987)

Player1987 fWAR
Jesse Orosco1.5
Rafael Santana0.7
Doug Sisk0.3
John Candelaria0.3
Bill Almon0.0
Bob Gibson0.0

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Mets. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1988; everyone else is shown as a 1988 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Dwight Gooden 1988 +6.3 +126.5 1.4 +125.1 $0.2M 2.50× –
David Cone 1988 +5.5 +109.3 0.1 +109.2 $0.0M 2.50× –
Bob Ojeda 1988 +5.2 +103.5 0.7 +102.7 $0.1M 2.50× –
Darryl Strawberry 1988 +5.3 +86.4 1.3 +85.1 $0.3M 2.05× –
Sid Fernandez 1988 +4.0 +70.6 0.6 +70.0 $0.1M 2.19× –
Kevin McReynolds 1988 +4.0 +57.1 1.0 +56.1 $0.2M 1.79× –
Ron Darling 1988 +3.3 +51.6 1.0 +50.6 $0.3M 1.96× –
Lenny Dykstra 1988 +2.6 +33.6 0.3 +33.3 $0.1M 1.60× –
Randy Myers 1988 +1.8 +27.3 0.1 +27.2 $0.1M 1.95× –
Howard Johnson 1988 +2.9 +25.7 0.7 +25.0 $0.2M 1.12× –
Wally Backman 1988 +2.7 +23.5 0.7 +22.8 $0.2M 1.07× –
Mookie Wilson 1988 +2.3 +22.2 0.9 +21.3 $0.4M 1.22× –
Dave Magadan 1988 +2.1 +13.4 0.1 +13.3 $0.1M 0.81× –
Tim Teufel 1988 +1.8 +11.8 0.5 +11.3 $0.3M 0.82× –
Keith Hernandez 1988 +1.8 +11.8 1.9 +10.0 $1.0M 0.81× –
Roger McDowell 1988 +1.0 +10.5 0.6 +9.9 $0.6M 1.34× –
Gregg Jefferies 1988 +1.4 +6.5 0.1 +6.4 $0.0M 0.58× –
Kevin Elster 1988 +0.8 +3.9 0.1 +3.9 $0.1M 0.61× –
Gary Carter 1988 +1.0 +4.1 2.2 +2.0 $2.2M 0.52× –
Terry Leach 1988 +0.4 +1.9 0.2 +1.7 $0.5M 0.67× –
Mackey Sasser 1988 +0.3 +1.1 0.1 +1.0 $0.2M 0.52× –
Gene Walter↔ 1988 +0.1 +0.4 0.1 +0.3 $0.8M 0.67× –
Ed Nunez↔ 1988 +0.0 +0.2 0.1 +0.1 $3.5M 0.67× –
Bob McClure↔ 1988 +0.0 +0.0 0.2 -0.2 $22.9M 0.67× –
Barry Lyons 1988 -0.1 -0.5 0.1 -0.6 – 0.52× –
Keith Miller 1988 -0.7 -3.3 0.1 -3.4 – 0.56× –
Lee Mazzilli 1988 -1.1 -4.7 0.3 -5.1 – 0.56× –
Rick Aguilera 1988 +0.1 +0.3 0.3 +0.0 $5.2M 0.67× –
David West 1988 +0.2 +2.0 – – – 1.02× –
Jeff Innis 1988 +0.4 +1.9 – – – 0.67× –
John Mitchell 1988 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Mark Carreon 1988 +0.3 +2.0 – – – 0.83× –
Total—+55.7+800.515.8+779.0—

Trades

Every graded 1988 deal involving the Mets — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 7 total.

1988 · NYM / MIN
NYM · Frank Cashen +$11.2M
Jeff Bumgarner, Steve Gasser, Toby Nivens
MIN · Andy MacPhail −$11.2M
Wally Backman, Mike Santiago
NYM came out ahead by $11.2M
1988 · NYM / CHW
NYM · Frank Cashen +$3.2M
Vince Harris, Mike Maksudian
CHW · Larry Himes −$3.2M
Tom McCarthy, Steve Springer
NYM came out ahead by $3.2M
1988 · SEA / NYM
SEA · Dick Balderson +$3.2M
Reggie Dobie
NYM · Frank Cashen −$3.2M
Chuck Carr
SEA came out ahead by $3.2M
1988 · NYM / PHI
NYM · Frank Cashen +$4.8M
Shawn Barton, Vladimir Perez
PHI · Woody Woodward −$4.8M
Bill Almon
NYM came out ahead by $4.8M
1988 · SEA / NYM
SEA · Dick Balderson +$3.2M
Gene Walter
NYM · Frank Cashen −$3.2M
Ed Núñez
SEA came out ahead by $3.2M
1988 · PIT / NYM
PIT · Larry Doughty +$1.6M
Randy Milligan, Scott Henion
NYM · Frank Cashen −$1.6M
Mackey Sasser, Tim Drummond
PIT came out ahead by $1.6M
1988 · LAD / NYM
LAD · Fred Claire +$0.8M
John Gibbons
NYM · Frank Cashen −$0.8M
Craig Shipley
LAD came out ahead by $0.8M

Current & Historical Payroll

1988 payroll
$15.6M

What the front office was committed to as of 1988, 1988–1994. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.

current $ guaranteed $ actual $ (hindsight) arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent

Guaranteed / signed (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Gary Carter3414.000$2.2M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Keith Hernandez3414.000$1.9M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Mookie Wilson328.000$900k$597kFREE AGENT
Bob Ojeda308.000$725k$925k$1.3MFREE AGENT
Howard Johnson276.000$695k$772k$1.7M$2.2M$2.3M$2.1MFREE AGENT
Wally Backman288.000$650kFREE AGENT
Lee Mazzilli3312.000$350k$221kFREE AGENT
Bob McClure3613.000$212kFREE AGENT
Terry Leach347.000$190k$319kFREE AGENT
Ed Nunez256.000$133kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (11)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Dwight Gooden234.000$1.4MARB 3FREE AGENT
Darryl Strawberry265.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Ron Darling275.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Kevin McReynolds285.000$975kFREE AGENT
Roger McDowell273.000$615kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sid Fernandez255.000$580kFREE AGENT
Tim Teufel295.000$538kFREE AGENT
Lenny Dykstra253.000$305kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Aguilera263.000$295kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy Myers253.000$108kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gene Walter273.000$61kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (11)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Dave Magadan252.000$112kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Cone252.000$92kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Barry Lyons282.000$90kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Keith Miller251.000$70kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Elster232.000$69kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gregg Jefferies201.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mackey Sasser251.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Carreon241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Innis251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Mitchell222.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David West230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1988 acquisition stacked onto Mets's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
Decision-maker records extend to 1933; resource-controlled WAR and payroll metrics cover 1985–2026. Data sources include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, the Chadwick Bureau register, the Lahman Database, prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs, and public payroll records. Transaction and trade data was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Executive birth/death data via Wikidata (CC0).
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