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As historic and ground-breaking and ball-busting a rookie season Pete Alonso has had, neither Fangraphs nor Baseball-Reference consider it, or even project it, to be the best rookie season in franchise history.
The two measurements, each based on proprietary data, come to (in some cases, wildly) divergent conclusions, which can undermine the claims of either or both that this measurement represents some sort of bottom line. (FanGraphs gives Travis d'Arnaud a lauditory 2.8 WAR his rookie season, while Baseball-Reference shames him with a 0.3.)
Below are the top ten Mets rookies through history ranked by both criteria. In parentheses is their finish in that year's Rookie of the Year balloting. (It's worth noting that voters are historically more forgiving of partial seasons in the Rookie of the Year competition than in other awards.) I guess the best news is knowing that the 1962 Mets had a rookie sensation and didn't even know it.
Mets Rookies Ranked by fWAR
1) Dwight Gooden (1984): 8.3 (1st)
2) Jon Matlack (1972): 4.9 (1st) *
3) =#0000FF]Peter Alonso (2019): 4.6 (??)
4) Al Jackson (1962): 4.0 (—)
t-5) Jerry Koosman (1968): 3.6 (2nd)
t-5) Jacob deGrom (2014): 3.6 (1st)
7) Tom Seaver (1967): 3.3 (1st)
8) Jae Seo (2003): 3.2 (—)
t-9) Ike Davis (2010): 2.9 (7th)
t-9) Noah Syndergaard (2015): 2.9 (4th)
...
17) Hubie Brooks (2015): 2.4 (3rd) **
* For the strike-shortened season of 1972, John Matlack's team played only 156 games. His fWAR figure extrapolated to 162 games is 5.1, which would not change his ranking of second.
** For the strike-shortened season of 1981, Hubie Brooks' team played only 103 games. His fWAR figure extrapolated to 162 games is 3.8, which would rank him fifth.
Mets Rookies Ranked by bWAR
1) Jerry Koosman (1968): 6.3 (2nd)
2) Jon Matlack (1972): 6.1 (1st) *
3) Tom Seaver (1967): 6.0 (1st)
4) Dwight Gooden (1984): 5.5 (1st)
5) =#0000FF]Peter Alonso (2019): 4.8 (??)
t-6) Jae Seo (2003): 3.3 (—)
t-6) Ike Davis (2010): 3.3 (7th)
8) Jacob deGrom (2014): 3.1 (1st)
9) Al Jackson (1962): 2.9 (—)
10) Darryl Strawberry (19833): 2.8 (1st)
...
12) Hubie Brooks (2015): 2.6 (3rd) **
* For the strike-shortened season of 1972, John Matlack's team played only 156 games. His bWAR figure extrapolated to 162 games is 6.3, which would tie him for first.
** For the strike-shortened season of 1981, Hubie Brooks' team played only 103 games. His bWAR figure extrapolated to 162 games is 4.1, which would rank him sixth.
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