After 16 and 18, who’s next?

In a Mets season largely devoid of bright spots, one such moment came through last week - and it had nothing to do with roster moves or contracts or potential free agents. On Thursday, the Mets announced that they were retiring the uniform numbers of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, two key members of the 1986 World Series championship team, in separate ceremonies during the 2024 season. It was something Mets fans had been asking owner Steve Cohen to do for quite some time, and it is great to know that it will finally happen. It felt weird to see other players wearing Doc's 16 and Straw's 18, much like it was odd seeing other players wear Keith Hernandez's 17.

We can argue back and forth over whether they deserved to have their jerseys retired, given that their potential Hall of Fame careers were derailed by problems with addiction. I think Doc and Straw are two big reasons why the Mets ventured down the Canyon of Heroes nearly 37 years ago, following their unbelievable NLCS win against the Astros, the world-famous Game 6 comeback against the Red Sox in the World Series and yet another comeback in Game 7 to win it all. 1986 will forever be a huge moment in Mets history, and there is nothing wrong with honoring the players who made it happen.

Gooden, in the prime of his career, had one of the most ridiculous 12-to-6 curveballs in baseball, and then would follow that up with a heater that generally topped out just shy of triple digits. Strawberry's at-bats were, in my opinion, stop-what-you-are-doing-and-watch-this events, because he could launch an absolute moon shot at any given time. 

Of course, as soon as the announcement was made that 16 and 18 would be retired, I immediately started thinking of other numbers that the Mets should retire, and there are a few that come to mind. Some are locks, there are some tough calls, and there are some current players to consider, too. Let's get to it!

Before we do, a big thank you to Baseball Reference for stats and to Baseball Almanac for allowing me to research the jersey numbers!

Retire these, please

5 - David Wright

Worn by Wright 2004 - 2018 | Current Status: Not worn since 2018

Retiring the number of the greatest 3B in Mets history is an absolute lock. Having once been worn by players such as Jeromy Burnitz, John Olerud, and Tsuyoshi Shinjo, David Wright took the number over after Shinjo left the team following the 2003 season, and wore it his entire career. Over that 14-year career, Wright made seven All Star appearances, garnered MVP votes six times (placing in the top 10 four times) and earned Golden Glove and Silver Slugger awards in 2007 and 2008, putting up the best numbers of his career while the rest of the team collapsed around him down the stretch.

No. 5 has never been worn since Wright played his last game, so it's pretty much already retired - it just needs to be made official. To be honest, I'm not sure why it hasn't already happened, but I'd have to believe that his jersey number will be up on the wall in the very near future. Wright was well on his way to putting up Hall-of-Fame-type numbers had he not been slowed by injuries.

Another couple of tidbits about this number - it was also worn by Mets manager Davey Johnson, who led the team to the title in 1986. No. 5 also belonged to the very first Met selected in the expansion draft of 1961, Hobie Landrith. When asked why he chose Landrith with the first pick, Mets manager Casey Stengel said the Mets had to start with a catcher, otherwise there would be a lot of passed balls. (That's a pretty good rationale, no?)

8 - Gary Carter

Worn by Carter 1985 - 1989 | Current Status: Not worn since 2001

Much like Doc, Straw, and Hernandez, the Mets arguably don't win the whole darn thing in 1986 without The Kid behind the plate. Carter and Hernandez were the big pieces brought in from outside the organization, and those moves, plus an array of young talent coming up through the minors including Gooden and Strawberry, made the Mets a formidable team from the mid to late 80s. Carter was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2001, and two years later was enshrined in Cooperstown.

Following Carter's last season with the Mets in 1989, three players wore No. 8 - Dave Gallagher (1992-1993), Carlos Baerga (1997-1998) and Desi Relaford (2001), and was never worn again after that. Carter wasn't the only Hall of Fame catcher to wear No. 8 for the Mets - Yogi Berra wore the number as a player/coach and then manager for the team in the 60s and 70s.

30 - Nolan Ryan

Worn by Ryan 1968 - 1971 | Current Status: Worn by outfielder Rafael Ortega

Okay, this one might be a bit controversial, I admit. Ryan's Mets career was relatively short and was mostly in a spot start/relief role, as it was tough to crack a rotation led by Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Gary Gentry. That said, he played an important role during the Mets' 1969 postseason run, picking up a win in Game 3 against the Braves to complete a 3-0 sweep of Atlanta in the NLCS and then tossing 2.1 innings of shutout relief to close out a pivotal Game 3 of the World Series against Baltimore, allowing the Mets to take a 2-1 series lead. Two wins later, the Miracle Mets were champions. If Ryan blows Game 3 and the Orioles take a 2-1 series lead, who knows what happens after that?

By 1971, Ryan was settling into a starter's role in New York before he was infamously traded to the Angels with three other players for Jim Fregosi. Ryan immediately became one of the best pitchers in baseball after that, garnering an All-Star nod and Cy Young and MVP votes in his first season in California, and the rest, as they say, is history. Yes, he is far better known for being a player with the Angels, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, but it was Queens where baseball's all-time strikeout king began his career. The other three teams have retired his jersey, so how about the fourth?

Interestingly, another former 30 is Mike Scott, who pitched for the Mets in the early 80s before joining Ryan in the rotation on those late-80s Astros teams. The Met who has worn 30 the longest is Michael Conforto, who wore it from 2015 through 2021; David Robertson started 2023 sporting the number, but then Rafael Ortega took it over after Robertson was traded to Miami.

48 - Jacob deGrom

Worn by deGrom 2014 - 2022 | Current Status: Not worn since 2022

I will genuinely be surprised if No. 48 is ever issued to another player. deGrom came up in 2014 to join what Mets fans hoped would become the greatest rotation in team history - deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Zach Wheeler and Steven Matz were gonna be superstars! deGrom took home the Rookie of the Year award in 2014, and was generally healthy for several years, notching at least 30 starts in four of his first six years in the majors, and was arguably the face of the franchise after Wright hung up the spikes in 2018. If he retired today, his 5.38 career strikeouts-to-walks ratio would be the best in baseball history. 

deGrom won two consecutive Cy Young awards in 2018 and 2019, finishing in the top 10 in MVP votes both of those years, and after finishing third in Cy voting in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he was on his way to possibly pitching the greatest season by anyone in 2021, logging a 1.08 ERA with 146 strikeouts through 92 innings. To put that in perspective, the guy mentioned above, Nolan Ryan, had an MLB-record 383 strikeouts across 326 innings in 1973, averaging 10.6 Ks per 9 innings. deGrom was averaging a whopping 14.3 Ks per 9 in 2021, and then he got hurt, and missed the rest of the year, and then missed most of 2022 as well. Knowing his injury history, the Mets declined to offer him a lengthy contract after last season, and so he went to Texas, and guess what - after six starts, his season is over with an elbow injury that will require a second Tommy John surgery, which may mean he'll miss a good chunk of next season as well.

All in all, there are very few Mets who pitched as well as deGrom did when healthy, and no matter where he winds up in his career, I have to believe that he will someday be in the Mets Hall of Fame, and his No. 48 will be up there alongside the No. 5 of his former teammate.

Honorable Mentions

Of course when you put together lists like this, there are players who are also right up there, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Should Mookie Wilson's No. 1 be retired? I'm fine with that - after playing for the Mets throughout the 80s and serving as a coach from 1997 to 2002, the Mets Hall of Famer has been one of the franchise's best ambassadors the past several years, and he is absolutely loved by the fan base. Jeff McNeil wears No. 1 now after yielding his No. 6 to Starling Marte last season; I've got a hard time believing Marte will be around after his four-year deal with the Mets expires after next season, so McNeil can get his No. 6 back, and then No. 1 can be taken out of the rotation permanently.

No. 7 is an intriguing one - do you retire it for Mets Hall of Famer Ed Kranepool, who spent his entire 18-year career in Queens and is the only person to play each of the first 18 years of the franchise? Or do you retire it for Jose Reyes, who wore it for 12 seasons across two separate stints, anchoring the left side of the infield alongside David Wright for most of those years? Or maybe you retire it for both of them? Kranepool, when his career ended, led the franchise in hits and doubles; Reyes was a great leadoff hitter during his Mets career, earning four All-Star nods, MVP votes in five seasons, winning a batting title in 2011 and leading the majors in triples four times and in stolen bases twice.

Current players to consider

Brandon Nimmo's No. 9, once worn by Joe Torre, Todd Hundley and Todd Zeile, is up for consideration. Nimmo, currently the longest-tenured Met, is the modern-day Mookie Wilson - he hustles, he does all the right things, he gets on base, he loves the game, and is a fan favorite. Having signed an eight-year deal this past offseason, he's all but assured of spending most, if not all, of his MLB career as a Met. I'd say he's the current Met most likely to see his number retired.

There is also No. 20, for Pete Alonso. Tommie Agee wore the number at one point for the late 60s-early 70s Mets, as did fan favorite Howard Johnson in the 80s and 90s, but if the Mets sign Alonso to a lengthy extension, and he continues to put up gaudy power numbers for the rest of his career in Queens, he might not only have his number up on the façade at Citi Field - he may also have a plaque in Cooperstown. On the other hand, if he's traded this offseason or leaves via free agency, or his numbers taper off, then it's unlikely No. 20 gets retired by New York. He could hit well over 500 career homers if he keeps up his current pace for another 10 years, so his number figures to be retired by some team out there, if it isn't the Mets.

At this point, I'm not really sold on No. 12, once worn by current Mets TV analyst Ron Darling and now worn by Francisco Lindor. When the Mets traded for Lindor in early 2021, the expectation was that he'd continue to be the player he was in Cleveland, but through nearly three full seasons in New York, that simply hasn't been the case. He's been good, but not great. Lindor is signed through 2031, so he still has time to turn things around. That said, if he continues to struggle and he gets traded in the near future, we can cross 12 off the list.

Congratulations for making it all the way to the end! Did I leave anyone out? Disagree with anyone listed above? Let me know in the comments, or check us out on our social media pages - just head to the top of the page to find them!