Top 10 players who have played for the Mets and Yankees

Through the 2025 season, 172 players have played for both the Mets and the Yankees.

The conversation surrounding those players has amplified since December 2024, when Juan Soto left the Bronx after one season to sign a historic 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets. This offseason, former Yankee relievers Luke Weaver and Devin Williams signed with the Mets.

Based on their contributions for both teams, here are the top 10 players who have played for the Mets and Yankees. (Position players must have appeared in at least 150 games for each team and pitchers at least 150 innings for each team to be considered.)

1. David Cone

Two-time All-Star with Mets (1988, ‘92); two-time All-Star with Yankees (1997, ‘99); four-time World Series champion with Yankees (1996, 1998-2000); MLB wins leader with Yankees (1998); pitched third perfect game in Yankees history (July 18, 1999).

Mets stats (seven seasons): 81-51, 3.13 ERA, 1.192 WHIP, 1,172 strikeouts, 1,209 1/3 innings, 19.4 WAR

Yankees stats (six seasons): 64-40, 3.91 ERA, 1.331 WHIP, 888 strikeouts, 922 innings, 20.3 WAR

Most of Cone’s 17-year career happened in Flushing (1987-92, 2003) and the Bronx (1995-2000). The righthander's lone Cy Young Award came in 1994 with Kansas City, though he also finished in the top six of the award’s voting in 1988, 1995, 1998 and 1999. The current YES Network analyst pitched in six postseasons with the Yankees, going 6-1 with a 3.86 ERA.

2. Curtis Granderson

Two-time All-Star with Yankees (2011, ‘12); AL Silver Slugger Award (2011); AL RBI leader (2011); Roberto Clemente Award with Mets (2016).

Mets stats (four seasons): .239/.341/.444, 95 HRs, 247 RBIs, 11.1 WAR

Yankees stats (four seasons): .245/.335/.495, 115 HRs, 307 RBIs, 14.9 WAR

Granderson is the only position player to record at least a 10 WAR for both the Yankees (2010-13) and Mets (2014-17). Granderson, who started his career in Detroit, had his best New York season in 2011, when he had a career-high .916 OPS and finished fourth in the AL MVP voting. He hit a career-high 43 homers in 2012. In 14 playoff games in the Mets’ run to the 2015 World Series, Granderson hit .283/.375/.491 with three homers and 12 RBIs.

3. Dwight Gooden

Four-time All-Star with Mets (1984-86, ‘88); World Series champion with Mets (1986) and Yankees (2000); NL Cy Young Award (1985); MLB Pitching Triple Crown (1985); NL Rookie of the Year (1984); MLB strikeout leader (1984); Pitched a no-hitter for Yankees (May 14, 1996).

Mets stats (11 seasons): 157-85, 3.10 ERA, 1.175 WHIP, 1,875 strikeouts, 2,169 2/3 innings, 41.6 WAR

Yankees stats (three seasons): 24-14, 4.67 ERA, 1.503 WHIP, 223 strikeouts, 341 1/3 innings, 5.2 WAR

Gooden, a Met from 1984-94, debuted at 19 and immediately was one of the game’s best pitchers. The righthander had one of the all-time great pitching seasons in 1985, going 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA, 0.965 WHIP and 268 strikeouts in 276 2/3 innings. He had two separate stints with the Yankees (1996-97 and 2000) and went 11-7 in 1996, his first season with a winning record since 1991.

4. Darryl Strawberry

Seven-time All-Star with Mets (1984-90); World Series champion with Mets (1986) and two-time World Series champion with Yankees (1996, ‘99); NL Rookie of the Year (1983); Two-time NL Silver Slugger Award (1988, ‘90); NL home run leader (1988).

Mets stats (eight seasons): .263/.359/.520, 252 HRs, 733 RBIs, 36.6 WAR

Yankees stats (five seasons): .255/.362/.502, 41 HRs, 114 RBIs, 2.9 WAR

The Mets’ No. 1 overall pick in 1980, Strawberry ended his Mets career (1983-90) as the franchise’s all-time home run leader, a record Pete Alonso broke last August. Though he never played more than 101 games in a season for the Yankees (1995-99), he had a .933 OPS and five homers in 20 postseason games with them.

5. Carlos Beltran

Five-time All-Star with Mets (2005-07, ‘09, ‘11) and one-time All-Star with Yankees (2016); Three-time NL Gold Glove Award (2006-08); Two-time NL Silver Slugger Award (2006-07); Hall of Famer (2026).

Mets stats (seven seasons): .280/.369/.500, 149 HRs, 559 RBIs, 31.1 WAR

Yankees stats (three seasons): .270/.327/.470, 56 HRs, 180 RBIs, 2.8 WAR

A Met from 2005-11 and Yankee from 2014-16, Beltran’s best season in terms of WAR (8.2), OPS (.982) and home runs (41) was in 2006, when the Mets won the NL East. He hit three homers that postseason, which ended with an NLCS Game 7 loss to St. Louis. Beltran, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame last month, made his final All-Star appearance in 2016, when he hit .304/.344/.546 with 22 homers in 99 games with the Yankees before being traded to Texas.

6. Juan Soto

All-Star with Yankees (2024); All-MLB first team (2024); AL Silver Slugger Award (2024), All-MLB first team with Mets (2025); NL Silver Slugger Award (2025); NL stolen base leader (2025).

Mets stats (one season): .263/.396/.525, 43 HRs, 105 RBIs, 6.2 WAR

Yankees stats (one season): .288/.419/.569, 41 HRs, 109 RBIs, 7.9 WAR

The only active player on this list, Soto finished third in MVP voting each of the last two seasons. His lone season in the Bronx was a memorable one, and he hit one of the biggest homers in recent Yankees history: a go-ahead three-run shot in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the 2024 American League Championship Series, propelling the team to its first pennant since 2009. After leaving for the Mets, Soto hit a career-high 43 homers in his first season in Flushing.

7. Rickey Henderson

Four-time All-Star with Yankees (1985-88); AL Silver Slugger Award (1985); Three-time AL stolen base leader (1985-86, ‘88).

Mets stats (two seasons): .298/.416/.423, 12 HRs, 44 RBIs, 42 SB, 1.3 WAR

Yankees stats (five seasons): .288/.395/.455, 78 HRs, 255 RBIs, 326 SBs, 30.8 WAR

Despite not playing in the postseason as a Yankee (1985-89), Henderson still produced at the star level that led to his first-ballot Hall of Fame induction in 2009. He finished third in AL MVP voting in 1985 – when he hit .314/.419/.516 with 24 homers, 72 RBIs and 80 stolen bases – and was traded back to Oakland in June 1989. Henderson was in his early 40s when he played 152 games with the Mets (1999-2000), but his .315 average in 1999 was the third-highest of his 25-year career.

8. Robin Ventura

All-Star with Yankees (2002); Gold Glove Award with Mets (1999).

Mets stats (three seasons): .260/.360/.468, 77 HRs, 265 RBIs, 11.0 WAR

Yankees stats (two seasons): .249/.359/.433, 36 HRs, 135 RBIs, 5.5 WAR

Ventura is best known for his 10 seasons with the White Sox, but he had successful stints with both the Mets (1999-2001) and Yankees (2002-03). Though Ventura was not an All-Star in 1999, he finished sixth in NL MVP voting with career bests in batting average (.301), slugging percentage (.529) and OPS (.908) and a career-high 120 RBIs. In his All-Star season with the Yankees, the third baseman had a .247/.368/.458 slash line with 27 homers and 93 RBIs.

9. Orlando Hernandez

Three-time World Series champion with Yankees (1998-2000); ALCS MVP (1999).

Yankees stats (six seasons): 61-40, 3.96 ERA, 1.237 WHIP, 703 strikeouts, 876 1/3 innings, 19.0 WAR

Mets stats (two seasons): 18-12, 3.88 ERA, 1.199 WHIP, 240 strikeouts, 264 1/3 innings, 3.9 WAR

“El Duque” found great success as part of the Yankees’ dynasty, going 9-3 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 postseason games (1998-2002, 2004). The righthander pitched in 47 games, starting 44, for the Mets (2006-07) to end his career. He was supposed to start Game 1 of the 2006 NLDS but injured his calf and was scratched from the roster.

10. Al Leiter

All-Star with Mets (2000); Roberto Clemente Award (2000).

Mets stats (seven seasons): 95-67, 3.42 ERA, 1.300 WHIP, 1,106 strikeouts, 1,360 innings, 28.0 WAR

Yankees stats (four seasons): 11-13, 5.17 ERA, 1.592 WHIP, 155 strikeouts, 169 innings, 0.4 WAR

Leiter started and ended his career in the Bronx (1987-89, 2005) but was a much better Met (1998-2004). The lefthander went 17-6 with a 2.47 ERA with the Mets in 1998, finishing sixth in Cy Young voting, and had a 2.93 ERA in the 2000 postseason during the team’s run to the World Series. Leiter’s best season as a Yankee was in 1988, when he went 4-4 with a 3.92 ERA.