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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Joura: From 1966-2011, one move a year Mets should have made

Opens Mets pfeil…Gak! No mention of Rich “0 fer 10” Puig!

1966 – With the top overall pick in the draft, the New York Mets take Reggie Jackson
1967 – Keep Tommy Davis or at least don’t trade him for Tommie Agee.
1968 – With the top overall pick in the draft, the New York Mets take Thurman Munson

1977 – Ban Dick Young from the clubhouse
1978 – Have Joel Youngblood take off his cap just once while my sister was watching so she could see he was bald
1979 – Never, ever trade for Richie Hebner

1985 – Keep Dwight Gooden away from cocaine and Mel Stottlemyre

1992 – Don’t hire Jeff Torborg
1993 – Don’t hire Dallas Green
1994 – With the top overall pick in the draft, the New York Mets take Nomar Garciaparra

2011 – Re-sign Jose Reyes to a long-term contract before the season

Repoz Posted: November 16, 2011 at 11:37 AM | 29 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: business, history, media, mets

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1. bobm Posted: November 16, 2011 at 12:55 PM (#3994670)

FTFA:

1986 – Don’t let Nelson Doubleday lose control of the Mets...

2006 – Never let Duaner Sanchez get into that taxi cab.

2. Vaux, A.B.D. Posted: November 16, 2011 at 01:14 PM (#3994678)

Amazingly given what we all thought at the time, for 2007 you could put "Trade Lastings Milledge for whatever halfway decent starting pitcher is on the market." Milledge never became anything, and if the Mets had had just slightly more decent pitching down the stretch, things could have been very different.

3. Hack Wilson Posted: November 16, 2011 at 01:15 PM (#3994679)

Dick Young, Jeff Torborg, and Dallas Green

Assume you were in a room with these three guys and had a gun with only two bullets. What would you do?

4. Martin Hemner

Posted: November 16, 2011 at 01:26 PM (#3994683)

Assume you were in a room with these three guys and had a gun with only two bullets. What would you do?

Shoot Dick Young twice. But I probably would also avoid jokes about guns and Dallas Green, given what happened to his granddaughter.

5. Elvis Posted: November 16, 2011 at 01:29 PM (#3994685)

I think you got to let Torborg live in that scenario.

6. Hack Wilson Posted: November 16, 2011 at 01:36 PM (#3994686)

Shoot Dick Young twice. But I probably would also avoid jokes about guns and Dallas Green, given what happened to his granddaughter.

Sorry, I forgot. But yes shoot Dick Young twice.

7. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: November 16, 2011 at 01:47 PM (#3994690)

Of all the teams in the 2008 don'tsignBondsathon, no team paid a penalty like the Mets.

8. Sweatpants Posted: November 16, 2011 at 01:53 PM (#3994692)

1967 – Keep Tommy Davis or at least don’t trade him for Tommie Agee.

I don't get this one. Agee was brutal in 1968, but he hit well in 1969, which was the year that mattered. Davis was a below-average hitter in both seasons (and in 1970) and probably wasn't contributing much with the glove, either.

Edit: In the comment section, the author explains that not acquiring Agee would force the Mets to play Amos Otis. Me, I'd take the one World Series, which they might not have gotten without Agee.

9. Elvis Posted: November 16, 2011 at 02:03 PM (#3994694)

Hey Sweatpants - thanks for reading!

Another thing to keep in mind is that the 1969 team would now have Reggie Jackson and his 47 HR and 189 OPS+ in the lineup. I think they could have survived without Agee.

10. Sweatpants Posted: November 16, 2011 at 02:33 PM (#3994700)

Another thing to keep in mind is that the 1969 team would now have Reggie Jackson and his 47 HR and 189 OPS+ in the lineup. I think they could have survived without Agee.

Gotcha.

That was a fun post, by the way.

11. depletion Posted: November 16, 2011 at 02:36 PM (#3994703)

1974 - Have depletion ask for the phone number of that girl he met on the bus.

12. TerpNats Posted: November 16, 2011 at 02:39 PM (#3994704)

You could do this with every franchise, e.g., "Washington Senators 1971 -- with the top overall pick in the draft, the Senators select Mike Schmidt." Of course, one would prefer this would have been preceded by "Washington Senators 1968 -- sell franchise to Bob Hope (the ultra-wealthy radio/movie/TV star, as opposed to the former Braves exec), not Bob Short," which would have set off a chain reaction of other moves, franchise and otherwise.

13. JJ1986 Posted: November 16, 2011 at 03:04 PM (#3994711)

Milledge never became anything, and if the Mets had had just slightly more decent pitching down the stretch, things could have been very different.

Yeah, maybe if they'd had just one reliever who could have given them 80 innings with a 2.00 ERA they would have been fine.

14. Accent Shallow Posted: November 16, 2011 at 03:11 PM (#3994716)

Yeah, maybe if they'd had just one reliever who could have given them 80 innings with a 2.00 ERA they would have been fine.

Just how are the Mets acquiring Mariano Rivera?

15. JJ1986 Posted: November 16, 2011 at 03:34 PM (#3994729)

Just how are the Mets acquiring Mariano Rivera?

Jon Adkins and Ben Johnson?

16. Gamingboy Posted: November 16, 2011 at 03:44 PM (#3994737)

1962- Don't take the field

17. El Tigre Makes A Desert And Calls It Peace Posted: November 16, 2011 at 03:53 PM (#3994741)

1962- Don't take the field

1993 - No, seriously, don't take the field.

18. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: November 16, 2011 at 05:16 PM (#3994810)

I kind of like the idea of Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson growing up together.

19. There are no words... (Met Fan Charlie) Posted: November 16, 2011 at 05:31 PM (#3994819)

This is a really fun exercise. It reminds me of the lengthy, 3-part "Revising a Miracle" series from Bronx Banter, which resulted in Reggie mentoring a young Darryl Strawberry to stay on the straight and narrow, and the Yankees forced out of town...

20. Grumbledook Posted: November 16, 2011 at 07:31 PM (#3994906)

I don't really understand "1990 - Don't let Darryl Strawberry walk as a free agent". Strawberry only had one solid year for the Dodgers (1991), and his subsequent career included a stretch in which it took him 4 years (1992-95) to accumulate one season's worth of plate appearances. The Mets made some colossally bad moves during the early 1990s, but letting Strawberry walk doesn't seem to be one of them.

[As an example of one such bad move - though not a colossally bad one, since the draft is a bit of a gamble - they could have taken Aaron Sele with the first compensatory draft pick from the Dodgers rather than Al Shirley.]

21. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: November 16, 2011 at 07:38 PM (#3994910)

You could do this with every franchise

Indians? easy

1960:
1.) don't trade Rocky
2.) don't trade Norm Cash
3.) fire Frank Lane

(lather, rinse, repeat)

22. OsunaSakata Posted: November 16, 2011 at 07:50 PM (#3994927)

You could do this with every franchise, e.g., "Washington Senators 1971 -- with the top overall pick in the draft, the Senators select Mike Schmidt." Of course, one would prefer this would have been preceded by "Washington Senators 1968 -- sell franchise to Bob Hope (the ultra-wealthy radio/movie/TV star, as opposed to the former Braves exec), not Bob Short," which would have set off a chain reaction of other moves, franchise and otherwise.

That might have happened if Humphrey had beaten Nixon. Short was a major Democratic fund raiser and would have had a position in the Humphrey Administration instead of buying a baseball team.

23. Grumbledook Posted: November 16, 2011 at 09:40 PM (#3995100)

Just looked at the article again...the one for 2007 made me scratch my head as well. Swapping an old, gimpy Cliff Floyd for an even older and gimpier Moises Alou may not have been the best move, but it was at worst a wash, whereas the Mets made some legitimately bad moves in the offseason that year (e.g. trading Heath Bell for some magic beans, trading Brian Bannister for Ambiorix Burgos, letting Darren Oliver and Chad Bradford walk while keeping Guillermo Mota, etc.).

24. Sam M. Posted: November 16, 2011 at 10:07 PM (#3995131)

I don't really understand "1990 - Don't let Darryl Strawberry walk as a free agent".

Well, the really bad move was this one, made in response to letting Darryl walk:

Vince Coleman -- December 5, 1990: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Mets.

Coleman was the wrong guy, at the wrong point in his career, for the wrong team, in the wrong park, trying to replace the wrong franchise icon. Other than that, it was just about the perfect move for the Mets.

25. RMc is the loyal supporter of the MLB event Posted: November 16, 2011 at 11:33 PM (#3995219)

(your franchise here)

1. Draft players that you know will become superstars.
2. Trade sucky players for guys you know will become superstars.
3. Build a 100,000-seat stadium; sell out every night.
4. Make a bazillion dollars; spend on hookers and blow.
5. Repeat.

26. Vaux, A.B.D. Posted: November 17, 2011 at 12:05 AM (#3995242)

Man, Vince Coleman was terrible. I never realized before quite how terrible he was.

27. HowardMegdal

Posted: November 17, 2011 at 12:12 AM (#3995250)

This was very entertaining.

28. Something Other Posted: November 17, 2011 at 12:38 AM (#3995271)

Well, the really bad move was this one, made in response to letting Darryl walk:

Vince Coleman -- December 5, 1990: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Mets.

Coleman was the wrong guy, at the wrong point in his career, for the wrong team, in the wrong park, trying to replace the wrong franchise icon. Other than that, it was just about the perfect move for the Mets.

Boy, is that on target. I remember being stunned by the news. Coleman was never a real star, but the Mets thought he was and paid him like one. I remember Vince not getting the green light as much in NY and he did in St. Louis and was pissed because this (really) was going to keep him out of the Hall of Fame, which he was certain was his if he broke the career SB record.

Just a horrible time for the franchise.

29. The District Attorney Posted: November 17, 2011 at 12:40 AM (#3995273)

1. Draft players that you know will become superstars.
2. Trade sucky players for guys you know will become superstars.
3. Build a 100,000-seat stadium; sell out every night.
4. Make a bazillion dollars; spend on hookers and blow.
5. Repeat.

I can totally do this in Baseball Mogul on the easy level.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Joura: From 1966-2011, one move a year Mets should have made

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