New York Mets: Five best shortstops in franchise history

1. Jose Reyes

There will likely be disagreement here but he was the clear choice for me.

Can you believe that Jose Reyes has been in the league 15 years? It feels like only yesterday that we were waiting for his highly anticipated call up to the big leagues. That debut in 2003 didn’t disappoint either as Reyes went 2-4 that night against Texas. He hit .307 that year and finished eighth in the Rookie of the Year vote. With that he was off and running, literally.

He has been an exciting player to watch throughout his career for his speed. Reyes led the league in steals from 2005-2007, including a career high of 78 stolen bases in 2007. In his prime, Reyes was one of those players that you had to watch every time he was on the base paths. You never knew what he was going to do. And he could fly. He led the league in triples on four separate occasions, the most recent being 2011. Every outfielder had better hustle when Reyes hit one out there in his prime or they would find the batter sitting on third base.

Next: Five best homegrown Mets since 1980

Reyes was never a Gold Glove winner either but he was solid, posting .973 fielding percentage at shortstop. He was a four-time All-Star during his first tenure with the Mets. His Mets career batting average is .286 and he has recorded 403 stolen bases for the blue and orange. Unfortunately he hasn’t been able to bring the Mets a title but his electrifying play brings him to number one on this list.