Rankings Project - 2015

[Frayed Knot]

Who, among the following 49 players who suited up in 2015, are your top 30?
The only difference this year is that, for the first time in nine seasons, we have post-season play to consider. How a player performed during the (all too brief) post-season games can and should be taken into account, although to what extent is up to the individual voter.

Position Players by ABs:
GRANDERSON — DUDA — MURPHY — FLORES — LAGARES
CUDDYER — TEJADA — d’ARNAUD — PLAWECKI — CESPEDES
CAMPBELL — CONFORTO — WRIGHT — URIBE — JOHNSON
MAYBERRY — NIEUWENHUIS — HERRERA — RECKER — CECILIANI
MONELL — MUNO — YOUNG

Pitchers by IP:
COLON — deGROM — HARVEY — NIESE — SYNDERGAARD
FAMILIA — C.TORRES — GILMARTIN — ROBLES — GEE
VERRETT — MATZ — A.TORRES — GOEDDEL — CLIPPARD
PARNELL — REED — LEATHERSICH — MONTERO — O’FLAHERTY
CARLYLE — MEJIA — STAUFFER — BLEVINS — ALVAREZ
MORRIS


Have at it.

[Frayed Knot]

Hitters first:

GRANDERSON — From his very own ‘Suxx’ thread to the best offensive player on the team: Led in ABs (by a lot!), Hits, XBH, OBA, and even stolen bases

MURPHY — Slow April then his typically consistent Murphiness with a bit of extra power thrown in. Then went wild in October.

CESPEDES — Met fans are going to have to fight off the notion that they’re not getting 5+ years of what he was in August, but that August was so absurdly good that it turned the team around. Best OPS and RC/27 on the team by far.

DUDA — Absurdly streaky but I don’t know whether he gets points for his hot streaks or points off for his cold ones.

d’ARNAUD — With a full season he may just have topped this list. Projected to 450 ABs this year translates to 51 XBHs including 23 HRs. Is that something I can interest you in for your catcher?

FLORES — Still don’t think he’s a real SS, but he faked it decently and provided some punch even if still making too many outs.

TEJADA — When handed the job he seems to fall off, then when written off he keeps forcing his way back.

CONFORTO — 3rd on the team in ‘Isolated Power’ behind just Cespedes and (just barely) Duda. Needs ABs and more exposure to LHPs

LAGARES — Bat stagnated which led to being platooned and/or replaced. His good -- though this year not great -- defense in CF noses him ahead of Cuddyer despite slightly worse all-around hitting stats.

CUDDYER — Was merely OK at his best, then looked worse and worse as the season went along

WRIGHT — Numbers weren’t bad in the small sample once he finally got on the field.

PLAWECKI — Brought up earlier than they wanted to, showed some pop but needs more seasoning

URIBE — The timing of his hits and the pop in them (15 of 28 for XBs) made them seem bigger than the quantity

JOHNSON — Some nice role playing off the bench

CAMPBELL — Injuries gave him a chance to play regularly and he gave it back. Even managed to almost lead the team in GiDPs despite half the number of ABs

NIEUWENHUIS — A bit better after he was reacquired, but was so useless in the 1st half that the overall picture is still ugly. 114 points of his 688 OPS came on one day.

No soup for any of the rest of the bunch.

[Frayed Knot]

Pitchers:

deGROM — Best starter start to finish

HARVEY — the occasional PR problem aside, not that far behind deG

FAMILIA — I wanted to see him as closer even before Mejia went down … then went down again. Now about that HR to Alex Gordon …

SYNDERGAARD — we may just have a monster on our hands with this one

COLON — he and Niese were almost statistical twins, but Bart seemed to have fewer bad games

NIESE — too many good games were marred by bad innings

ROBLES — Seems to have ‘stuff’ that’s better than his results. But he’s young and was thrown into some high-leverage spots early on, I think he’ll get there.

GILMARTIN — the Rule 5 pickup was good, was versatile, and even tossed in a start

MATZ — only so high you can rise on just 6 starts + 3 more in the post-season

CLIPPARD — had his bad moments, but came in to stabilize the back of the bullpen when it was absolutely critical to do so

VERRETT, GOEDDEL — two afterthoughts who provided 70+ innings of sub-1.00 WHiP. Verrett gets the tie-breaker for his spots starts

C. TORRES — 2nd most relief innings on the squad, but not nearly as effective as in 2014

REED — 17 mostly good innings down the stretch although just 15 IP total and many were after the division was already decided

A. TORRES — had a few bright moments early, but far too few

GEE — started bad, got worse, ended ugly

PARNELL — certainly wasn’t his pre-injury self, and may never be

[Frayed Knot]

30 - deGrom
29 - Harvey
28 - Granderson
27 - Murphy
26 - Familia
25 - Syndergaard
24 - Cespedes
23 - Duda
22 - Colon
21 - d’Arnaud
20 - Niese
19 - Flores
18 - Tejada
17 - Conforto
16 - Lagares
15 - Robles
14 - Cuddyer
13 - Wright
12 - Matz
11 - Gilmartin
10 - Clippard
9 - Plawecki
8 - Verrett
7 - Goeddel
6 - Uribe
5 - Johnson
4 - C Torres
3 - Campbell
2 - Reed
1 - Nieuwenhuis

[Guest d'Kong76]

I worked on my sheet over the holidays, will post it the next day or so.

[seawolf17]

I thought I remember doing this. I suppose not. Here we go:

deGrom
Harvey
Granderson
Murphy
Familia
Cespedes
Duda
Flores
Colon
Syndergaard

Conforto
Niese
d'Arnaud
Tejada
Lagares
Cuddyer
Wright
Plawecki
Uribe
Johnson

Matz
Gilmartin
Robles
Clippard
Reed
C. Torres
Verrett
A. Torres
Goeddel
Nieuwenhuis

[Centerfield]

I think I numbered mine backwards.

1. deGrom
2. Harvey
3. Granderson
4. Murphy
5. Familia
6. Duda
7. Cespedes
8. Syndergaard
9. Colon
10. Conforto
11. Flores
12. Niese
13. d'Arnaud
14. Wright
15. Tejada
16. Johnson
17. Uribe
18. Matz
19. Clippard
20. Lagares
21. Cuddyer
22. Plawecki
23. Robles
24. Reed
25. Gilmartin
26. C. Torres
27. Verrett
28. Gee
29. Nieuwenhuis
30. Goeddel

[Vic Sage]

30 - Granderson
29 - deGrom
28 - Harvey
27 - Syndergaard
26 - Familia
25 - Murphy
24 - Cespedes
23 - Duda
22 - Colon
21 - d’Arnaud
20 - Flores
19 - Conforto
18 - Niese
17 - Tejada
16 - Lagares
15 - Wright
14 - Matz
13 - Robles
12 - Cuddyer
11 - Gilmartin
10 - Verrett
9 - Goeddel
8 - Clippard
7 - Uribe
6 - Johnson
5 - Reed
4 - Plawecki
3 - C Torres
2 - Nieuwenhuis
1 - Campbell

[nymr83]

based on the last 3 months of posts, this team finished 62-100 and missed the playoffs, right?

[Frayed Knot]

Missed the playoffs? Hell, they were relegated and now we gotta open next season in freakin' Pawtucket!!

[batmagadanleadoff]

Nymr83 wrote: based on the last 3 months of posts, this team finished 62-100 and missed the playoffs, right?

You know, the Mets went into a terrible, terrible tailspin following their '73 pennant winning season. The drop wasn't immediate but the you can argue that the bad seeds were sown around that time. I'm not saying that '73 is a perfect comp for 2015, but these Mets aren't exactly The Big Red Machine that, standing pat, would still expect to be baseball's best team . And even that team -- it had the best offense in baseball no questions asked --- still went out and got Tom Seaver while he still had plenty of gas still left in his tank.

The point is that it's a terrible strategy to rest on last year's success. There's always room for improvement. And maybe the Mets are improved. That's something we can debate until they play the games. But I wouldn't hang my hat on last year's run. Yoenis was such a once in a lifetime happening miracle that I wouldn't even give Sandy credit for anticipating it even though I love that GM. The Nats were baseball's biggest underperformers last year and the other three division rivals just sucked dreadfully . Are you gonna count on all of those things happening again, too?

[nymr83]

2015 vs 1973 Mets and their respective outlooks at the time for the next few years (2016-18 vs 1974-76) would make a great topic as opposed to more of the same we've had around here lately. I'm going to split off and see who wants to play

rankings-
30 - Curtis Granderson
29 - Jacob deGrom
28 - Matt Harvey
27 - Lucas Duda
26 - Noah Syndergaard
25 - Daniel Murphy
24 - Travis d'Arnaud
23 - Yoenis Cespedes
22 - Wilmer Flores
21 - Ruben Tejada
20 - Michael Conforto
19 - David Wright
18 - Bartolo Colon
17 - Jon Niese
16 - Jeurys Familia
15 - Steven Matz
14 - Michael Cuddyer
13 - Juan Lagares
12 - Sean Gilmartin
11 - Kevin Plawecki
10 - Hansel Robles
9 - Juan Uribe
8 - Kelly Johnson
7 - Logan Verrett
6 - Erik Goeddel
5 - Alex Torres
4 - Tyler Clippard
3 - Eric Campbell
2 - Dillon Gee
1 - Carlos Torres

[Zvon]

30 - Curtis Granderson
29 - Jacob deGrom
28 - Jeurys Familia
27 - Daniel Murphy
26 - Yoenis Cespedes
25 - Matt Harvey
24 - Lucas Duda
23 - Bartolo Colon
22 - Noah Syndergaard
21 - Michael Conforto
20 - David Wright
19 - Travis d'Arnaud
18 - Wilmer Flores
17 - Steven Matz
16 - Juan Uribe
15 - Ruben Tejada
14 - Juan Lagares
13 - Kevin Plawecki
12 - Jon Niese
11 - Tyler Clippard
10 - Sean Gilmartin
9 - Logan Verrett
8 - Kelly Johnson
7 - Michael Cuddyer
6 - Erik Goeddel
5 - Eric Campbell
4 - Hansel Robles
3 - Carlos Torres
2 - Alex Torres
1 - Dillon Gee


In the interest of fair use and credit I have to thank Nymr83 for typing this up. I just copied it and moved the names around.

[nymr83]

I'm seeing Murphy and Cespedes being placed ahead of Duda pretty consistently here. I think its neck and neck between Duda and Murphy, maybe I need to weigh the postseason more, but why Cespedes? are we giving him extra credit for being acquired at the deadline? Duda did more than him.

Regular Season	G	PA	R	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Lucas Duda	135	554	67	27	73	0.244	0.352	0.486	0.838	132
Daniel Murphy	130	538	56	14	73	0.281	0.322	0.449	0.77	113
Yoenis Cespedes	57	249	39	17	44	0.287	0.337	0.604	0.942	157
Post Season	G	PA	R	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Lucas Duda	14	54	3	1	8	0.234	0.302	0.34	0.642
Daniel Murphy	14	64	13	7	11	0.328	0.391	0.724	1.115
Yoenis Cespedes	14	56	7	2	8	0.222	0.232	0.352	0.584

[Zvon]

Cespedes is that high on my list for more than just his numbers. His presence changed the entire way pitchers approached our lineup. If you want to go by numbers alone he far surpassed my expectations. Duda let me down in a way. I had higher hopes for him in 2015. Too streaky. He did his share of carrying the team but for what I felt was a shorter burst of games.

I might be being rough on Duda because I hoped for more from him. He should be smackin' 35 and driving in 100. Sheesh, 80 RBI from The Lumberjack would do me good.

[Frayed Knot]

I've long thought that the biggest dilemma with this project is how to rank the full-year guys vs short-termers with better stats.
Cespedes was clearly the best hitter on the team but was only around for 1/3 of the season. Matz (just 35 IP) & Wright (barely 150 ABs) are in similar positions. All were better contributors than the likes of Lagares, Niese, etc. but how much weight can you put on just six starts or barely one month of ABs?

and FWIW, both Duda & Murphy are ahead of Cespedes among the consensus of votes so far. I'm one of those who has him above Lucas (though not Murph) but I could possibly be talked into reshuffling things.

[Vic Sage]

i have it Murphy, Cespedes and Duda (25-24-23), because Murphy's post-season puts him over the top, Cespedes' impact turned the team around and Duda, while putting up somewhat superior numbers, was such an extreme hot/cold streak guy, that he often hurt us as much as he helped us. When we were consistently losing low-scoring games in the middle of the season, he could've been the difference but he was an automatic out for long stretches. And anybody who watched the whole season can reasonably come to the same conclusion. A 3-run HR that makes a 6-2 lead into a 9-2 lead is nice, but a 2-run double that turns a 2-1 loss into a 3-2 win is nicer. All hits are not created equal so just looking at season totals doesn't tell the whole story.

[nymr83]

A 3-run HR that makes a 6-2 lead into a 9-2 lead is nice, but a 2-run double that turns a 2-1 loss into a 3-2 win is nicer. All hits are not created equal so just looking at season totals doesn't tell the whole story.

ok, sure, but anecdotal remembrances aside, Cespedes was no better, and arguably worse, than Murphy/Duda in these big spots.

Duda killed the ball when the Mets were behind but barely hit when they were ahead. Cespedes saves his best hitting for when the Mets are ahead.

Cespedes	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS			PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Late & Close	39	0.188	0.333	0.406	0.740		Within 3 R	202	0.280	0.332	0.602	0.934
Tie Game	84	0.237	0.298	0.500	0.798		Within 4 R	216	0.283	0.338	0.621	0.959
Within 1 R	132	0.254	0.303	0.492	0.795		Margin > 4 R	33	0.313	0.333	0.500	0.833
Within 2 R	167	0.286	0.335	0.604	0.939		Ahead	103	0.354	0.398	0.708	1.106
Behind	62	0.241	0.290	0.569	0.859
Duda	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS			PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Late & Close	101	0.258	0.347	0.404	0.751		Within 3 R	461	0.253	0.364	0.476	0.840
Tie Game	174	0.247	0.368	0.404	0.772		Within 4 R	490	0.248	0.359	0.469	0.828
Within 1 R	333	0.254	0.369	0.457	0.827		Margin> 4 R	64	0.218	0.297	0.618	0.915
Within 2 R	405	0.246	0.363	0.463	0.826		Ahead	201	0.208	0.333	0.452	0.786
Behind	179	0.280	0.358	0.599	0.956
Murphy	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS			PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Late & Close	84	0.237	0.286	0.461	0.746		Within 3 R	439	0.283	0.326	0.457	0.783
Tie Game	184	0.310	0.337	0.477	0.814		Within 4 R	468	0.282	0.323	0.457	0.780
Within 1 R	307	0.301	0.339	0.469	0.807		Margin> 4 R	70	0.273	0.314	0.394	0.708
Within 2 R	386	0.295	0.339	0.475	0.814		Ahead	195	0.310	0.364	0.511	0.876
Behind	159	0.212	0.252	0.344	0.596

[Frayed Knot]

Six ballots cast so far.
We'll leave about two more weeks for anyone else who wants to chime in or for those already submitting to update or argue their positions.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: Six ballots cast so far. We'll leave about two more weeks for anyone else who wants to chime in or for those already submitting to update or argue their positions.

I will, I keep forgetting.

[Guest d'Kong76]

I did mine, then realized I excluded post-season. Will re-visit.

[Ceetar]

30 - deGrom
29 - Harvey
28 - Granderson
27 - Duda
26 - Murphy
25 - Familia
24 - Syndergaard
23 - Cespedes
22 - d’Arnaud
21 - Colon
20 - Niese
19 - Flores
18 - Tejada
17 - Robles
16 - Conforto
15 - Lagares
14 - Gilmartin
13 - Wright
12 - Matz
11 - Goeddel
10 - Cuddyer
9 - Uribe
8 - Johnson
7 - Clippard
6 - Plawecki
5 - Verrett
4 - Reed
3 - Nieuwenhuis
2 - C Torres
1 - A Torres

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

30. deGrom
29. Granderson
28. Harvey
27. Syndergaard
26. Familia
25. Duda
24. Murphy
*
23. Cespedes
22. d'Arnaud
21. Colon
20. Niese
19. Conforto
18. Wright
17. Flores
*
16. Tejada
15. Cuddyer
14. Lagares
*
13. Clippard
12. Matz
11. Uribe
10. Johnson
9. Robles
8. Gilmartin
7. Goeddel
6. Plawecki
5. Nieuwenhuis
4. Verrett
3. Reed
2. CTorres
1. Gee

___________
-1. Blevins
-2. Hererra
-3. Campbell
-4. ATorres
-5. Ceciliani
-6. Leathersich
-7. Recker
-8. Montero
-9. Mayberry
-10. Parnell
-11. Monell
-12. Muno
-13. Carlyle
-14. Young
-15. Mejia
-16. O'Flaherty
-17. Stauffer
-18. Alvarez
-19. Morris

Edited February 1, 2016 by Guest

[TransMonk]

30. deGrom
29. Granderson
28. Harvey
27. Murphy
26. Familia
25. Duda
24. Syndergaard
23. Cespedes
22. Colon
21. Conforto
20. Niese
19. Flores
18. Tejada
17. Wright
16. Lagares
15. Matz
14. d'Arnaud
13. Cuddyer
12. Robles
11. Uribe
10. Gilmartin
9. Clippard
8. Johnson
7. Plawecki
6. Verrett
5. Goeddel
4. Reed
3. C. Torres
2. Nieuwenhuis
1. Campbell

Edited February 1, 2016 by Guest

[Frayed Knot]

JCL, your list is Flores-less -- something which I assume is an oversight rather than a snub.
FWIW, even the non-scoring back of your list omits Herrera, Recker & Montero, although it's likely that no one in that trio was destined for glory anyway unless it was to challenge Blevins for the final point.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

D'oh. It was also Reckerless for a while but I fixed that oversight.

Here we go

30. deGrom
29. Granderson
28. Harvey
27. Syndergaard
26. Familia
25. Duda
24. Murphy
*
23. Cespedes
22. d'Arnaud
21. Colon
20. Niese
19. Conforto
18. Wright
17. Flores
*
16. Tejada
15. Cuddyer
14. Lagares
*
13. Clippard
12. Matz
11. Uribe
10. Johnson
9. Robles
8. Gilmartin
7. Goeddel
6. Plawecki
5. Nieuwenhuis
4. Verrett
3. Reed
2. CTorres
1. Gee

___________
-1. Blevins
-2. Hererra
-3. Campbell
-4. ATorres
-5. Ceciliani
-6. Leathersich
-7. Recker
-8. Montero
-9. Mayberry
-10. Parnell
-11. Monell
-12. Muno
-13. Carlyle
-14. Young
-15. Mejia
-16. O'Flaherty
-17. Stauffer
-18. Alvarez
-19. Morris

[Frayed Knot]

And, Monk, you have two d'Arnauds -- at 14 & 6.
I'm assuming 14 is the intentional one but it's not obvious who was meant to be in the other slot.

[TransMonk]

G'ah! I'll fix and edit...thanks for catching.

[seawolf17]

Poor Akeel Morris, guaranteed to be last on everyone's list if we ranked the whole team.

[Benjamin Grimm]

30 Jacob deGrom
29 Matt Harvey
28 Curtis Granderson
27 Daniel Murphy
26 Yoenis Céspedes
25 Lucas Duda
24 Bartolo Colon
23 Jeurys Familia
22 Noah Syndergaard
21 Wilmer Flores
20 Juan Lagares
19 Travis d'Arnaud
18 Michael Conforto
17 Jon Niese
16 Ruben Tejada
15 Michael Cuddyer
14 David Wright
13 Hansel Robles
12 Addison Reed
11 Steven Matz
10 Sean Gilmartin
9 Juan Uribe
8 Kelly Johnson
7 Kevin Plawecki
6 Erik Goeddel
5 Tyler Clippard
4 Logan Verrett
3 Carlos Torres
2 Kirk Nieuwenhuis
1 Eric Campbell