One Season Wonders: The 2006 Mets

After their improbable run to the 2000 World Series, it seemed like the Mets were always one player away from taking it all.  By 2002, with deals made for Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar and Jeromy Burnitz, it seemed as though then-GM Steve Phillips was serious about making the Mets legitimate. By then, however, Mike Piazza had started to show signs of wear and tear for a catcher, and fan-favorite manager Bobby Valentine had shown signs of wearing out his welcome in New York.

The Mets needed a philosophy change, desperately.  Then came 2004 and the "Black Friday" deal of trading Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, and it was decided that enough was enough.  Then-GM Jim Duquette and then-manager Art Howe were no longer lighting up the room, and something needed to be done.

Former Montreal Expos General Manager, Omar Teodoro Antonio Minaya y Sánchez, was hired to be the autonomous General Manager of the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club.  One of the first things he did was hire rookie manager Willie Randolph to head up his team, under the philosophy of "pitching, speed and defense."  With Minaya on board for his first full season, he made it clear that losing was not going to be an option in 2005.  And what better way to show fans he was being serious about it than by bringing in Pedro Martinez, perhaps the most sought after free-agent pitcher on the market and starter for the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.  Add Carlos Beltran to this mix of New Mets and the team improved from 71-91 in 2004 to 83-79 in 2005.  The seeds for success had been planted in 2005.  One year later, the team was ready to bloom.

Going into the 2006 season, the Mets still had some holes to fill.  After Mike Piazza hit a career-low .251 in 2005, it was clear that the Mets needed to go in a different direction behind the plate.  Enter Paul Lo Duca, who was an All-Star for the Florida Marlins in 2005.  At first base, the Mets turned to Carlos Delgado, the slugger who had spurned the Mets one year earlier for playing the Latino card in their attempt to sign him.  In right field, Xavier Nady was signed to replace Mike Cameron, whose 2005 season ended abruptly when the former centerfielder butted heads with the current centerfielder (literally) on the field in San Diego.

Finally, the team needed a dependable closer to replace Braden Looper, who was absolutely awful during the final two months of the 2005 season (0-3, 6-for-10 in save opportunities, 6.35 ERA, 1.65 WHIP over his final 18 appearances).  Enter Billy Wagner, the Sandman who gave opposing batters nightmares.

Once the Mets added a few role players who weren't expected to produce much for the team (Jose Valentin, Endy Chavez and Duaner Sanchez, to name a few), the team was ready for Opening Day.  After losing their first five games to start the 2005 season, the Mets needed to get off to a quick start in 2006.  They responded by getting off to one of the best starts in franchise history.

After splitting their first two games of the 2006 season, the Mets tallied seven consecutive victories, sweeping a pair of series against the Marlins and Nationals by a combined score of 35-11.  By April 17, the Mets were 10-2 and became the first team to lead its division by five games after the 12-game mark.  After a victory over the Atlanta Braves on April 29, the Mets' lead in the NL East had grown to seven games, but they had already suffered their first casualty on the mound.  It would become a recurring theme throughout the season.

Brian Bannister was drafted by the Mets in the seventh round of the 2003 amateur draft and made a quick ascent through the Mets' minor league system.  After a sensational 2005 campaign split between AA-Binghamton and AAA-Norfolk (13-5, 2.74 ERA), Bannister joined the major league squad out of spring training in 2006 and made his first start in the second game of the season.  In his first month in the major leagues, Bannister did not disappoint, going 2-0 with a sensational 2.89 ERA, never giving up more than three runs in any of his five April starts.

However, in his fifth start on April 26, Bannister injured his right hamstring while attempting to score on Kaz Matsui's double.  Although the rookie pitcher did score the run, it would be his final appearance until August, as he spent the next four months on the disabled list.

Bannister's injury would lead to the first start made by a pitcher who wasn't one of the original five starters.  On May 2, John Maine became the first pitcher other than Bannister, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Steve Trachsel and Victor Zambrano to make a start.  Other injuries would beset the team during the season and other starters were brought in to replace the injured starters in the rotation.  Some fared well in their unexpected roles (Maine, Orlando Hernandez), while others did not (Geremi Gonzalez, Jose Lima, Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, Alay Soler and Dave Williams, all of whom made at least three starts for the 2006 Mets).

Only Maine and Glavine had a sub-4.00 ERA of the 13 pitchers who started at least one game for the Mets in 2006, while seven of the unlucky 13 had ERAs north of 5.00 (Steve Trachsel just missed becoming the eighth member of the mile-high ERA club, finishing the year with a 4.97 ERA despite winning 15 games).  The team's 4.14 ERA was its fifth-highest mark since the Gil Hodges era began in 1968.  Despite their makeshift, lackluster pitching staff, the 2006 Mets found a way to win 97 games.  Needless to say, it was the offense that carried the team to victory more often than not.

Newcomers Paul Lo Duca, Carlos Delgado and Xavier Nady all became major contributors in the Mets' offense.  Lo Duca finished seventh in the National League with his .318 batting average, picking up 163 hits and 39 doubles along the way.  Both of Lo Duca's totals in base hits and doubles represent franchise records for a catcher, breaking Mike Piazza's team records in both categories.

Carlos Delgado did not disappoint with his power production.  His subpar batting average (.265) was barely noticed after he rocketed 38 HR and drove in 114 runs for the Mets in 2006.  Only Darryl Strawberry (39 HR in 1987 and 1988) and Robin Ventura (120 RBI in 1999) had surpassed Delgado's totals in both categories for left-handed hitters in team history.

Xavier Nady was a quiet contributor on the 2006 Mets.  After making his major league debut with the San Diego Padres in 2000, Nady never became a constant presence in their lineup, collecting only 775 at-bats during his tenure in San Diego.  But given the everyday rightfielder's job in New York, Nady blossomed, hitting .310 with 14 extra-base hits (seven doubles, seven home runs) in his first 26 games as a Met.  By late July, Nady was quietly producing the best season of his career.  Then fellow newcomer Duaner Sanchez got the midnight munchies in Miami and Xavier Nady was no more.

By not getting a food plate delivered, Duaner Sanchez could not deliver to the plate after July 30.

Prior to the trade deadline, the Mets were not looking to make a deal for a set-up man.  After all, Duaner Sanchez had performed very well in that role, going 5-1 with a 2.60 ERA.  But when Sanchez was involved in a traffic accident while looking for late-night grub, the Mets needed to find a replacement fast.  As a result of Sanchez's taxicab collision, the Mets were forced to part ways with Xavier Nady in order to acquire set-up man Roberto Hernandez and throw-in Oliver Perez from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

With Nady no longer in right field, Lastings Milledge became the everyday rightfielder.  But Milledge was not ready to become a full-time player in the major leagues, hitting .189 with nine strikeouts in his first 12 starts after the trade.  Three weeks after becoming the everyday rightfielder, Milledge was back on the bench, with newly-acquired veteran Shawn Green replacing him.

Despite the Mets opening up a double-digit lead in the division (due mostly to an impressive 9-1 road trip in June), there was something missing from the team, and that was the team itself.  Due to injuries and poor performances by those enlisted to replace the injured players, the Mets had no consistency in their everyday lineup and starting rotation.

In addition to the 13 pitchers who made at least one start for the Mets in 2006, a total of 15 position players started at least 20 games at a position.  The fact that Paul Lo Duca (117 starts) and Ramon Castro (32 starts) were part of this list is not unexpected, as teams usually use their backup catchers often to give their No. 1 catcher at least one day off per week.  Also not unexpected were David Wright (153 starts at third base) and Jose Reyes (148 starts at shortstop) taking their positions almost every day.  But the other five positions on the field saw 11 different players make at least 20 starts.

Did anyone expect Julio Franco to start 20 games at first base in 2006, especially with Carlos Delgado having a monster year?  He did.  What about Chris Woodward making 33 starts at second base despite Kaz Matsui being the team's everyday second sacker to start the season and Jose Valentin ending the year there?  Woodward got to see more double play balls than he expected.  The oft-injured Cliff Floyd allowed Endy Chavez to start 22 games in left field.  But Chavez actually started more games in center (25 starts) and right (32 starts) than he did in left.

Clearly, there was no consistency to the team, especially in their starting lineup.  That lack of consistency would become more noticeable as the team entered the final month of the season.

The two Mets teams that followed the 2006 squad would be known for what they did over their final 17 games.  But the roots of those late-season collapses may have been traced back to 2006.  After 145 games, the 2006 Mets were proud owners of a 90-55 record and a 16-game lead in the division.  Their fourth 100-win season was within reach, as was their fifth division title.  But with the Mets needing one win against lowly Pittsburgh, the team's play became lackadaisical.  The Mets were swept in Pittsburgh and returned home to face the Florida Marlins.  The Mets did defeat the Marlins on September 18 to clinch their first National League East crown in 18 years, but it was one of their few victories over the final three weeks of the season.

Did Jose Reyes borrow those goggles from Duaner Sanchez?

After their 90-55 start, the Mets lost 10 of their next 13 games (with one of their three victories being the division clincher), before recovering to win their final four games of the regular season.  Although the team struggled to the finish line, they did finish a National League-best 97-65, with no other team in the league winning more than 88 games.  It was on to the NLDS against the wild card-winning Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Mets were going into that series missing a few key pieces.

Original Game 1 starter Pedro Martinez was scratched due to a pair of injuries in his shoulder and calf.  When word came down that Martinez's replacement, Orlando "The Dookie" Hernandez, was also unable to make the Game 1 start due to a calf injury, the Mets went with plan C, John Maine.  The first man to make a start for an injured player during the regular season was now being called upon to do the same in the postseason.  But just as the offense had picked up the beleaguered staff during the regular season, they came through again in the NLDS.

Carlos Delgado, who had never taken part in a playoff game prior to 2006, made quite a splash in his postseason debut, going 4-for-5 with a home run.  Also coming through with their bats were Cliff Floyd, who followed Delgado's blast with a homer of his own, and David Wright, who collected a pair of doubles and drove in three runs.  But the Mets might not have won the game had it not been for an odd play involving Paul Lo Duca at the plate.

With the game scoreless in the top of the second inning, the Dodgers had Jeff Kent at second base and J.D. Drew at first with no outs.  Russell Martin then drove a ball off the right field wall that should have scored at least one run.  However, Kent was slow getting around the bases and was thrown out at home.  Meanwhile, Drew, who never stopped running, was just a few feet behind Kent.  After an alert Lo Duca turned around to see Drew headed toward the plate, he made a quick tag of Drew to complete the unusual double play.  Almost forgotten in the aftermath of the play was that the Dodgers did eventually score a run in that inning to take a 1-0 lead, but it could have been much worse if not for the Dodgers' poor baserunning and the cat-like reflexes of Paul Lo Duca.  That play proved to be the difference in the Mets' 6-5 victory.

 Ernie Banks might have said "let's play two", but Paul Lo Duca said "let's tag two".

Compared to Game 1, the Mets had a relatively easy time with the Dodgers in Game 2, with Tom Glavine pitching beautifully in the team's 4-1 victory, but things got a little dicey in Game 3 with Steve Trachsel on the mound.

After the Mets spotted the longest-tenured Met with a four-run lead in Game 3, Trachsel gave it all back and then some.  By the time the Mets came to bat in the sixth inning, a 4-0 lead had turned into a 5-4 deficit.  But the Mets strung together four hits and a walk to score three runs in the sixth to retake the lead.  They added two insurance runs in the eighth inning before Billy Wagner came into the game in the ninth and got pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez to fly out to former Dodger Shawn Green to end the game, giving the Mets a 9-5 victory and a series sweep.  The Mets had advanced to the NLCS, with the 83-win St. Louis Cardinals standing in the way of their fifth National League pennant.  It looked as if the Mets were going to have an easy ride to the World Series.  But that did not end up being the case.

In a hard-fought Game 1 of the NLCS, the Mets defeated the Cardinals, 2-0, with all the runs scoring on a sixth inning home run by Carlos Beltran.  But in Game 2, the Mets failed to hold a late-inning lead, allowing the Cardinals to score two runs in the seventh to tie the game and three runs in the ninth to win it.  The big blow came off the bat of the light-hitting So Taguchi, who gave the Cards a 7-6 lead with a home run of Billy Wagner in the ninth.  St. Louis added two more runs off Wagner en route to a 9-6 series-tying victory.  The devastating Game 2 loss might still have been on the minds of the Mets as they traveled to St. Louis.  Either that or they lost their bats at the airport, as Jeff Suppan stymied the Mets' high-powered offense, holding them to three hits over eight innings.  Suppan also provided an unexpected blow, hitting a home run off Steve Trachsel to lead off the second inning.  Three batters later, Trachsel threw his final pitch as a Met.  The Mets lost Game 3, 5-0, and were now trailing the series, two games to one.

After feeling good about themselves following their Game 1 victory, the Mets were now one loss away from playing an elimination game.  The Mets had to win Game 4 to prevent that game from happening in front of the raucous Busch Stadium crowd and to guarantee a trip back to New York.  Oliver Perez, who had not pitched in two weeks and had only won one game in seven starts since being traded to the Mets at the trade deadline, was called upon to end the Mets' misfortunes in Missouri.  Needless to say, many people weren't very optimistic about the Mets' chances with Perez on the mound.  Perez didn't pitch very well, allowing five runs on nine hits in 5⅔ innings, but the offense bailed him out.  The Mets' 3 through 7 hitters combined to go 10-for-20 with two doubles and four homers (including two by Carlos Beltran).  They also drove in all of the runs in the Mets' 12-5 win.  With the Mets now assured of making a trip back to Shea Stadium, all they needed to do was win Game 5 in St. Louis and a pennant would be within reach.  That was easier said than done.

Similar to the Mets using Oliver Perez in Game 4, the Cardinals turned to a pitcher they had acquired in July who had underperformed in the regular season.  Jeff Weaver was awful for both the Angels and Cardinals, finishing the 2006 regular season with a combined 8-14 record and a 5.76 ERA.  But despite his poor season, the Cardinals gave him the ball in Game 5.  Weaver shocked the Mets by holding them to two runs in six innings of work, while his counterpart on the mound, Tom Glavine was knocked out of the game before he had recorded an out in the fifth inning.  The Cardinals went on to defeat the Mets, 4-2, to put them within one win of the World Series.  If the 1973 Mets could reach the World Series after only winning 82 regular season games, then the 2006 Cardinals figured they could do the same with 83 victories.  But the 1973 Mets also taught us that "ya gotta believe", and the 2006 version of the team was trying to do just that as they returned to Shea Stadium for Game 6.

With the Mets down three games to two, it was up to rookie John Maine to force a seventh game.  Maine was brilliant for the Mets, pitching into the sixth inning while keeping the Cardinals off the scoreboard, allowing only two hits along the way.  All the tension felt by the fans prior to the game was lifted after only one batter, when Jose Reyes led off the game with a home run.  The Mets added one run in the fourth and two runs off former Met Braden Looper in the seventh to take a 4-0 lead.  Despite another shaky outing by Billy Wagner in the ninth, giving up a two-run double to his NLCS nemesis, So Taguchi, the Mets escaped with a 4-2 victory and were on to their first Game 7 at Shea Stadium since the 1986 World Series.  But because of their lack of starting pitching depth, the Mets had to give the ball to Oliver Perez on only three days rest.  Perez would be facing Jeff Suppan, who had toyed with the Mets with his arm and his bat in Game 3.  One team was about to win the National League pennant, but it was two long fly balls that became the story of the game.

After not fooling the Cardinals in Game 4, Oliver Perez pitched very well in the biggest game of his life, allowing one run through the first five innings.  But after a one-out walk to Jim Edmonds in the sixth, Scott Rolen stepped up to the plate.  Rolen was a .450 career hitter (9-for-20) against Perez with five doubles.  However, he had never hit a home run off the Mets' lefty.  It looked as if that was about to change after only one pitch.  But Endy Chavez had something to say about that.  On Perez's first pitch to the Cardinals' third baseman, Rolen lifted a high fly ball that appeared to be headed for the Cards' bullpen.  But Chavez had the speed and the strength to be there, timing his leap perfectly to rob Rolen of a tiebreaking two-run homer.  After checking to see that the snowconed ball was in his glove, Chavez quickly threw the ball to second baseman Jose Valentin, who fired the ball to Carlos Delgado to double off Jim Edmonds for an inning-ending double play.  Shea Stadium was rocking like it had never rocked before with the Mets seemingly taking the momentum away from the Cardinals.  But they could not capitalize on Chavez's catch for the ages.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets loaded the bases with one out, with two participants in the previous half-inning's double play, Valentin and Chavez, coming up.  Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa could have taken starting pitcher Jeff Suppan out of the game at that moment, but chose to leave him in.  It was perhaps the most important managerial decision made in the series.  On a 1-2 pitch, Suppan struck out Jose Valentin, then got Endy Chavez to hit a routine fly ball to center to end the inning.  Neither team threatened in the seventh or eighth innings.  It was on to the ninth inning with the game still tied at one apiece.  Aaron Heilman, who had pitched the eighth inning for the Mets, was allowed to start the ninth.  Before long, his name would permanently become a part of Mets history, but not in the way he intended.

Billy Wagner had not fared very well in the ninth inning during the NLCS, giving up three runs in Game 2 and two more runs in Game 6.  Perhaps that factored into manager Willie Randolph's mind when he left Heilman in the game for the ninth inning.  The move appeared to be a good one after Heilman struck out Jim Edmonds to lead off the ninth.  But then Scott Rolen grounded a single to left to bring up Yadier Molina.  Doing his best Mike Scioscia impression, Molina lifted a long fly ball that carried out of the ballpark, far away from Endy Chavez's glove for a two-run homer.  The light-hitting Molina, who had only hit six home runs during the regular season brought back painful memories of Scioscia, another light-hitting catcher who in 1988 hit a two-run ninth-inning home run in the NLCS at Shea Stadium.  But Scioscia's home run came in Game 4 and only tied the game.  Molina's home run was in Game 7 and gave the Cardinals a two-run lead.

The Mets were now down 3-1 as they came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, three outs away from elimination.  Rookie closer Adam Wainwright was called upon to pitch the Cardinals into the World Series.  But he struggled early, allowing back-to-back singles to Jose Valentin and Endy Chavez to lead off the inning.  With the tying runs on base, Cliff Floyd was not called upon to bunt the runners over.  The move ended up being costly, as Floyd struck out on six pitches.  After Jose Reyes lined out to centerfielder Jim Edmonds, Paul Lo Duca, doing his best Gary Carter impersonation, refused to be the final out at Shea Stadium.  Lo Duca walked on five pitches to load the bases and bring up Carlos Beltran.  Wainwright threw two strikes to Beltran to go ahead in the count.  Then this happened...

Boo.

If you were to look at the big picture of the Mets in the last decade, 2006 was the blip on the radar, not the other way around.  Overall, 2006 was no different in how the Mets operated in years past, namely with injuries, bad contracts and reliance upon out-of-their-prime veterans and not-so-ready-for-prime-time rookies.  They were just more successful on paper than previous and post years.   

In fact, if you were to look at how the Mets started to slowly unravel at the end of the 2006 season, it was clear we all were just willing to overlook their shortcomings simply because of how good they did that year.  Most certainly Omar Minaya, Willie Randolph and Fred Wilpon did.  It is true, then, that winning makes you forget about these things.  Now that the Mets haven't won in a few years, we're able to look at 2006 more objectively, as being the one season wonder, the year that maybe shouldn't have been.  

Look at Steve Trachsel, who was an underrated and under-appreciated pitcher for the Mets in his years, winning 15 games that year but under the guise getting great run support.

Look at Jose Valentin and Chris Woodward, starting all those games at second base when they were supposed to be at best super utility players.  Who besides the Mets would give Julio Franco that much playing time, as a 48-year-old man?

Xavier Nady is seen to this day as a cult hero in Mets lore.  The fact that a middle reliever's injury caused so much of a domino effect on the dynamic of the team is a testament to not only how valuable Duaner Sanchez was to the bullpen, but conversely how that team was just one player short of imploding.  

Paul Lo Duca and Billy Wagner had great seasons in 2006, never to be replicated again in a Mets uniform.  

Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado fed off of each others production, and paved the way for future leaders of the team Jose Reyes and David Wright.  Now, Reyes is playing for the NL East rival Miami Marlins, and Wright has yet to take that leap to making the Mets his team. 

Lastly, trotting out 13 different starting pitchers, including Jose Lima, and they still won?  Chances are, this was not a formula for success but how lucky are you feeling, punk?   When your postseason hopes are foisted upon the likes of John Maine, Oliver Perez and Orlando "The Dookie" Hernandez, it's evident the 2006 Mets were just lucky to be there.

Prior to 2006, the Mets had made the playoffs six times.  Each of the six trips could be separated into pairs.  The 1969 and 1973 Mets were represented by many of the same players.  The 1986 and 1988 Mets could also be paired off, as the majority of the team in 1986 was still intact in 1988.  And of course, the 1999 and 2000 Mets were practically the same, save for John Olerud and Mike Hampton.  But the 2006 Mets have no postseason cousins.  They're simply a standalone team, a one season wonder on their own.

Studious Metsimus would like to thank Taryn "The Coop" Cooper for her contributions to this piece.  Not only was it her idea for the entire 2006 Mets team to receive the One Season Wonders spotlight, but she also wrote 10½ paragraphs for the piece.  You guess which ones.  For more examples of her writing on the Mets and on her other sports loves, please check out her site, A Gal For All Seasons.


Note: One Season Wonders was a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets who had one and only one memorable season in New York. (And on occasion, it wasn't just an individual player that was a One Season Wonder.)  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:
 
January 2, 2012: Bernard Gilkey
January 9, 2012: Terry Leach 
January 16, 2012: George Stone
January 23, 2012: Roger Cedeño
January 30, 2012: Frank Viola
February 6, 2012: Joe Christopher 
February 13, 2012: Dave Magadan 
February 20, 2012: Pedro Martinez
February 27, 2012: Bret Saberhagen 
March 5, 2012: Robin Ventura 
March 12, 2012: Willie Montañez
March 19, 2012: Lance Johnson 

One Season Wonders: Pedro Martinez

In 2004, the Mets finished below .500 for the third consecutive season.  Attendance at Shea Stadium, which had averaged 2.7 million from 1999-2002, had plummeted to an average of 2.2 million in 2003 and 2004.  With the Yankees winning six American League pennants and four World Series championships in less than a decade, baseball fans in New York were not exactly lining up to buy tickets to see the Mets.

The Mets needed to make a change for the better and they needed to do it fast if they wanted to remain relevant in their own city.  To effect this change, Mets' owner Fred Wilpon gave full autonomy to new general manager Omar Minaya.  It was up to the Queens-raised Minaya to turn the Mets into kings of the National League East.  Realizing he had just gotten the keys to the castle, Minaya wasted no time in his efforts to make the Mets matter again.

First, he hired Willie Randolph to take over for the dismissed Art Howe.  Then came the hard part.  In Randolph, the Mets had a leader in the dugout.  But they needed a leader on the field.  Jose Reyes and David Wright were still soiling their baseball diapers at the time, so they were not viable candidates.  Instead, Omar Minaya set his sights on one player.  He was looking for a respected veteran presence on the team who could also serve as their Pied Piper, leading other talent out of their cities and into Shea Stadium.

Just before the Winter Meetings, Minaya boarded a plane for the Dominican Republic, spending his Thanksgiving in Santo Domingo.  Soon after, Mets fans were the ones giving thanks.

With Pedro Martinez on board, the Mets were hoping to hitch a ride to first place.

Less than three weeks after spending his Thanksgiving in the Dominican Republic, Omar Minaya gave Mets fans an early Christmas gift, signing Pedro Martinez to a four-year, $53 million deal.  Martinez, who had just led the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series championship in 86 years, would immediately give the Mets credibility, as well as a reason for other free agents to come to New York.

Martinez spent seven years in Boston, dominating opposing batters in a way not seen since the days of Sandy Koufax.  From 1998-2004, Martinez went 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA.  He also averaged 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings, leading the league in whiffs in four of his seven seasons with the Red Sox.  Despite his dominance, the Red Sox did not want to guarantee a fourth year to Pedro due to his injury history.  The Mets were not as timid.

With a bonafide ace to lead the pitching staff, the Mets expected the 2005 season to be different than their previous three campaigns.  But things didn't start off so well for Martinez in his first Opening Day assignment for the Mets, as Cincinnati's Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give the Reds the early lead.  Dunn's blast might have rattled an ordinary pitcher, but Pedro Martinez was no ordinary pitcher.  In fact, after the home run, the Mets got a taste of vintage Pedro, and what a fine vintage it was.

Martinez struck out nine of the next ten batters he faced, with only a third-inning walk to D'Angelo Jimenez on a 3-2 pitch preventing Pedro from tying Tom Seaver's major league record of ten consecutive strikeouts in one game.  But each strikeout made Martinez's pitch count rise near the triple digit mark.  By the end of the sixth inning, Martinez had fanned a dozen Cincinnati Reds, but had reached 103 pitches.  However, the Mets scored three runs in the seventh inning to take a 6-3 lead on the strength of Carlos Beltran's RBI single off former Met David Weathers (who was pitching in relief of another former Met, Paul Wilson) and Cliff Floyd's two-run homer off Kent Mercker.

With the Mets enjoying a three-run lead at the seventh inning stretch, manager Willie Randolph removed Pedro Martinez from the game, fully expecting his ace to come away with the victory.  But second-year closer Braden Looper blew the save in the ninth inning, allowing back-to-back homers to Adam Dunn and Joe Randa, with the latter blast coming in walk-off fashion.

Braden Looper had nowhere to hide after costing Pedro Martinez his first win as a Met.

Pedro Martinez was credited with a no-decision in his Opening Day start, a common occurrence throughout his first month and a half as a Met.  Over his first nine starts in 2005, Martinez was credited with four no-decisions, despite not allowing more than five hits in any of them.  Through May 22, Martinez was holding opposing hitters to a microscopic .155 batting average, but only had four wins to show for it.  That all changed in Pedro's next start.

On May 27, the Mets were once again hitting the snooze button instead of the baseball.  Brian Moehler started for the Florida Marlins against Pedro and the Mets that day.  This is the same Brian Moehler who was pitching for his fourth team in four years and had only won three games in the major leagues during his time as a baseball nomad.  Yet despite his recent lack of success, Moehler retired the first 11 batters he faced before allowing back-to-back doubles to Mike Cameron and Cliff Floyd.  Moehler then proceeded to retire 13 of the next 15 batters after the Mets had taken their 1-0 lead.  Faced with the daunting task of having to put up zeroes against the Marlins, Martinez accepted the challenge and put his teammates on his back, pitching eight shutout innings while striking out ten and walking no one.  This time, Braden Looper held the lead for Pedro and the Mets came away with a 1-0 victory.

Pedro's performance against the Marlins began a stretch in which he earned eight victories in 11 starts.  From May 27 to July 23, Martinez went 8-2 with a 2.51 ERA, striking out 74 batters and walking only 14.  During this two-month period, Martinez was selected for the National League All-Star team.  However, he did not play in the Midsummer Classic because he had pitched seven strong innings for the Mets in the last game before the break, a 6-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After July 23, the combination of poor relief work and a sputtering offense contributed to another stretch where wins were scarce for Pedro Martinez.  In an eight-start stretch from late July to early September, Martinez held opposing batters to a .226 batting average and .283 on-base percentage.  He also allowed three runs or less in six of the eight starts, but was the winning pitcher in only one of those starts.  During that eight-start period, one game stood out in particular.  It was a game in which Pedro was on teetering on the edge of Mets' immortality, only to fall off with one swing of the bat.

On August 14, the Mets were playing the Dodgers in the rubber game of a three-game series.  Only three days earlier, Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron were involved in a horrific outfield collision at Petco Park, ending Cameron's season and taking Beltran out of action for a week.  As a result, Gerald Williams was starting for Beltran in center field for Pedro's start at Dodger Stadium.  This would come into play late in the game.

The Mets broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Williams.  Meanwhile, Pedro Martinez was nearly perfect, allowing a first-inning walk to Milton Bradley before retiring the next 20 batters to face him.  Up came Antonio Perez, who had amassed 97 career hits in three major league seasons prior to his eighth inning at-bat against Pedro.  Three pitches later, that total had gone up to 98.

On a 1-1 count, Perez drilled a triple to deep center.  It was the first hit for the Dodgers and the only hit Perez would ever record off Martinez.  The ball might have been catchable, but with Gerald Williams playing center instead of Carlos Beltran, it became an easy triple for Perez.  Interestingly enough, almost five years to the day before Williams failed to catch Perez's fly ball, he was involved in an on-field altercation with Pedro Martinez.

Did Gerald Williams remember this moment when he was "chasing" after Antonio Perez's fly ball?

Martinez, then with the Red Sox, hit Gerald Williams with a pitch in the first inning, causing him to charge the mound.  Williams and several of his Devil Ray teammates were ejected from the game, a game in which Pedro threw (you guessed it) a one-hit shutout.  Five years later, Gerald Williams was once again instrumental in a Pedro Martinez-pitched game that had become a one-hit shutout.  Unfortunately, the game would not end that way.  One batter after the no-hitter was gone, the shutout and the lead were also no more, as Jayson Werth (yes, THAT Jayson Werth) hit a two-run homer off Martinez to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.  The Mets, despite outhitting the Dodgers, 10-2, lost the game and the series, with Pedro Martinez picking up the hard-luck loss.

After the disappointing loss to the Dodgers, Martinez did not give up a run in each of his next two starts.  But just like in his Opening Day start, the bullpen failed to help Pedro get a win.  On August 20, Martinez left his start against the Washington Nationals with a seemingly insurmountable 8-0 lead.  But the bullpen coughed up the lead, allowing the Nats to tie the game at 8.  The Mets eventually won the game in extra innings, but Pedro once again failed to get a win.  He did get the win in his next start, throwing six shutout innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  But in his final August start, Martinez had one of his few poor performances of the 2005 season.

On August 31, Pedro Martinez took the hill against the Phillies with a chance to pitch the Mets into the wild card lead.  Just one night before, the Mets had pulled to within half a game of the wild card on a late home run by Ramon Castro.  But with the Mets holding on to a slim 2-1 lead in the fifth inning, it wasn't the bullpen that cost Pedro the win.  It was Pedro himself, as the Phillies took the right-hander deep four times en route to an 8-2 victory at Shea Stadium.

Although the Mets failed to make a run at the wild card in September, Pedro Martinez continued to chug along.  After allowing four home runs to the Phillies in his final August start, Martinez did not allow a single home run in the month of September, recording a 2.25 ERA during the season's final month, a month that featured a complete-game, ten-strikeout gem against the division champion Braves on September 16 for his 15th and final win of the season.

Pedro Martinez helped bring other winners to New York, but had difficulty getting wins of his own.

The Mets finished the 2005 season with an 83-79 record, a 12-win improvement over their 2004 campaign.  Pedro Martinez's first year in New York was an overwhelming success, as the right-hander went 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA and 208 strikeouts.  The following year, Pedro started the season by winning each of his first five starts, giving fans hope that the best was yet to come.  Although the Mets had a memorable season in 2006, this time Pedro Martinez had very little to do with it.  In fact, he had very little to do with anything over the final three years of his four-year deal.

Following his 5-0 start to the 2006 season, Martinez won a total of 12 games for the Mets until his contract expired following the 2008 campaign.  This was mostly due to the ever-present injury bug; the same bug that scared Boston away from offering him a fourth year.  Because of this bug, Pedro was not able to pitch for the Mets in the 2006 playoffs, as well as most of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.  His 12-15 record and 5.00 ERA following the first month of the 2006 season was hardly what the Mets expected from the former Cy Young Award winner, and certainly not worthy of the tens of millions of dollars he was being paid by the team.  Upon the completion of the 2008 season, Martinez was not re-signed by the Mets and did not pitch again in the major leagues until the second half of the 2009 season, when the Phillies took a chance on him.  Naturally, Pedro went 5-1 for the defending World Series champions and helped them win a second consecutive National League pennant.

Pedro Martinez came to the Mets in 2005 with a big contract and a history of success in the major leagues.  In his first year in New York, he helped the Mets end a streak of three consecutive losing seasons, giving them hope that better days were still to come.  Although the Mets did win the division title in 2006 and narrowly missed the playoffs in 2007 and 2008, their success was due more to the players that followed Pedro to New York and not Pedro himself.

In 2005, the Mets paid Pedro Martinez $53 million to be a four-year wonder.  Instead, they got a one-year wonder and a total of 17 wins over the remaining three years.  Pedro was supposed to lead the Mets to a World Series title.  Instead, his former team accomplished the feat during the third year of his contract with the Mets.  With most one-season wonders, the Mets would be very happy with what they got.  Unfortunately, with Pedro Martinez, the Mets felt like they were short-changed.  There's nothing wonderful about that.


Note: One Season Wonders is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets who had one and only one memorable season in New York.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:
 
January 2, 2012: Bernard Gilkey
January 9, 2012: Terry Leach 
January 16, 2012: George Stone
January 23, 2012: Roger Cedeño
January 30, 2012: Frank Viola
February 6, 2012: Joe Christopher 
February 13, 2012: Dave Magadan

Long-Term Deals Lead To Long-Term Headaches

In 2006, the Mets needed one more win to reach the World Series.  When they failed to do that, they decided to go shopping for a pitcher that would help them get that win.  Barry Zito was the name on everyone's minds that offseason.  In seven years with Oakland, Zito had an impressive 102-63 record and a 3.55 ERA.  From 2001 to 2006, Zito made at least 34 starts in every season and did not pitch fewer than 213 innings in any of those campaigns.  He was also a three-time All-Star and a former Cy Young Award winner.  But to get him, the Mets would have to pay a pretty penny.  They'd also have to give him many years.

The San Francisco Giants beat the Mets to the punch, signing Zito to a seven-year, $126 million contract.  At the time, it was the largest contract ever offered to a pitcher.  Zito has thanked the Giants for their generosity by going 43-61 with a 4.55 ERA over the first five years of his contract.  The Giants thanked him back by leaving him off the World Series roster in 2010.

It could have been the Mets paying for Zito over the past five seasons.  Before becoming a Giant, Zito's lifetime numbers (102-63, 3.55 ERA, 222 starts, 1,096 strikeouts) looked a lot like what Ron Darling put up with the Mets (99-70, 3.50 ERA, 241 starts, 1,148 strikeouts).  Since then, Zito has been paid an average of $18 million per year to pitch like Al Jackson.  (Jackson went 43-80 with a 4.26 ERA as a Met.)

Fortunately, the Mets didn't give Zito the long-term deal afforded to him by the Giants.  But that hasn't stopped them from giving other deals of four years or more to pitchers.  In fact, over the past decade the Mets have given a number of long-term deals (four years or more) to various pitchers and although they haven't been Zito-esque, they still weren't rewarded the way they expected to be.  Let's take a look at those faulty deals.

2000:  Armando Benitez - Four years, $22 million

After long-time Mets closer John Franco was sidelined with an injury in 1999, Armando Benitez stepped in and became the team's closer.  Benitez helped the Mets end an 11-year playoff drought in 1999, but gave up a game-tying single to Ozzie Guillen (yes, that Ozzie Guillen) in the tenth inning of Game 6, with the Mets two outs away from forcing an improbable Game 7 after losing the first three games of the series.  It would not be the first time Benitez would blow a lead in a crucial game.  However, it didn't stop the Mets from signing him to a four-year deal during that offseason.

In 2000, Benitez was armed with a new contract to go with his blazing fastball.  He set the Mets' single season record with 41 saves and was part of the team's first World Series appearance since 1986.  But he gave up a game-tying three-run homer to the Giants' J.T. Snow in Game 2 of the NLDS, a game eventually won by the Mets in extra innings when John Franco, the man Benitez replaced as closer only a year before, struck out Barry Bonds to tie the series.  Franco couldn't help him in Game 1 of the World Series, as Benitez gave up a walk, two singles and a game-tying sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, blowing yet another save in a crucial postseason game.  The Mets went on to lose the game and the series to the Yankees.

The following season, the Mets didn't make the playoffs, but that didn't stop Benitez from blowing huge saves.  In 2001, the Mets were attempting to make a 1973-like run to the top of the division.  After starting the year with a 54-68 record, the Mets went on a tear, winning 22 of their next 27 games to pull to within 3½ games of the first place Braves.  With the Mets one out away from cutting the lead to 2½ games, Armando Benitez gave up a two-run homer to Brian Jordan and an RBI single to B.J. Surhoff, in a game eventually lost by the Mets in 11 innings, when Jordan hit his second home run in as many at-bats.  A week later, Benitez was at it again, blowing a four-run ninth inning lead by giving up five runs in two-thirds of an inning to the Braves.  By then, Benitez had worn out his welcome in New York, with fans booing loudly every time he came into a game.  With a few months left on his contract in 2003, the Mets were finally able to unload Benitez, trading him to the Yankees who in turn flipped him to Seattle.  Benitez thanked the Mets in 2004 by saving 11 games against them as a member of the Florida Marlins.  He's still waiting for a "you're welcome".

2001: Kevin Appier - Four years, $42 million

After the Mets went to the World Series in 2000, Mike Hampton defected to the Colorado Rockies in order to pay the $121 million tuition bill for their precious school system. (That was his reason for leaving, right?)  Needing to fill the void left by Hampton's departure, the Mets turned to free agent Kevin Appier.  Appier was a 12-year veteran with 136 career wins and a respectable 3.63 career ERA.  Those numbers look good on paper, but most of them were achieved during his first five seasons in the majors.

From 1989-1993, Appier was 59-38 for the Kansas City Royals with a stellar 2.95 ERA.  In the seven years prior to becoming a Met, Appier had gone 77-67 with a 4.11 ERA for the Royals and Oakland A's, hardly the numbers that would earn a player a four-year, $42 million deal in 2001.  But the Mets were desperate, so they overpaid for Appier.

Appier pitched one year for the Mets, going 11-10 with a 3.57 ERA.  Although the ERA was his lowest since 1997, it was still not the kind of season the Mets expected from their $42 million man.  The Mets traded Appier after only one season in New York, sending him to Anaheim for the past-his-prime Mo Vaughn.  Appier won 22 games over the remaining three years of his contract, never pitching again after the deal was done.  Vaughn played 166 games for the Mets, before retiring due to knee problems.  Who says the stomach isn't connected to the knee bone?

2003: Tom Glavine - Four years, $42.5 million

In 2002, the Mets suffered their first losing season since 1996 and first last place finish since 1993.  Much of the blame was placed on their free agent flops, as Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar and Jeromy Burnitz brought underachieving to new depths. But another reason for their failures was their pitching staff.  Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel were .500 pitchers.  Pedro Astacio was the rotation's sole winning pitcher at 12-11.  Jeff D'Amico (another free agent flop) won six games.  And Shawn Estes couldn't hit the strike zone or Roger Clemens.  To fix the pitching mess, general manager Steve Phillips imported one of the best pitchers from the Mets' fiercest rival.

Tom Glavine had always been a thorn in the Mets' side.  Prior to 2003, Glavine had gone 17-7 with a 2.82 ERA in 36 starts against the Mets.  The Mets expected great things from the 242-game winner and got a season reminiscent of another eventual 300-game winner named Tom.  Unfortunately, that season was Tom Seaver's 1983 campaign, a season that Glavine mirrored two decades later by going 9-14 for the Mets.

Although Glavine did up his win by two every year for the next three years, he still failed to pitch like the Hall of Famer he will probably become.  Throughout the length of his original four-year deal (the fourth year was an option year based on innings pitched), Glavine was merely a .500 pitcher, going 48-48.  But the sting of losing to the Cardinals in the 2006 NLCS left Glavine wanting more, so he signed a one-year deal to pitch the Mets back to the playoffs.  He got his chance on the final day of the 2007 season.  How did he do?  Let's just say that instead of being the second coming of Tom Terrific, he became the first coming of Tom Horrific, but at least he wasn't devastated by it.  Too bad the same couldn't be said for Mets fans.

2005: Pedro Martinez - Four years, $53 million

In 2004, the Mets had just come off their third consecutive losing season and new general manager Omar Minaya felt the need to make a big splash (a common theme during his time in New York).  Free agent pitcher Pedro Martinez was the big name on the market and Minaya was adamant about signing him.  Martinez was arguably the best pitcher in the American League during his seven-year stay in Boston, going 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA.  He was also a six-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, five-time ERA leader and three-time strikeout champion.  But one overlooked fact about Pedro was that in his final season in Boston, his ERA ballooned to 3.90 and his 193 hits allowed were the most he had ever given up in a full season.

Speaking of full seasons, Martinez had only surpassed 30 starts in four of the 11 seasons since he became a full-time starter.  Over his final six seasons in Boston, he had only gone past 30 starts once.  His fragility was the reason why Boston wouldn't guarantee a fourth year, something the Mets eventually did in order to bring him into the fold.

The contract looked like a bargain in 2005.  In his first season in New York, Pedro went 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA and 208 strikeouts.  He also made 31 starts and led the major leagues with his 0.95 WHIP.  However, after winning his first five starts in 2006, Martinez broke down.  And broke down.  And broke down some more.  From May 2006 to the end of his contract in 2008, Martinez went 12-15 with a 5.00 ERA, making only 48 starts, none of which came in the playoffs during the Mets' run to Game 7 of the NLCS.  His contract and injury history made him untradeable, and Martinez did not pitch again in the major leagues until late in the 2009 season, when he helped the Phillies reach the World Series.  Of course.

2006: Billy Wagner - Four years, $43 million

The Braden Looper experiment of 2004 and 2005 failed, to put it mildly.  Although the Mets were headed in the right direction in 2005, improving by 12 wins under first-year manager Willie Randolph, Looper wasn't the right fit for the team coming into late-inning pressure situations.  General manager Omar Minaya felt that a change was needed at the closer position, so he dipped his toe into the free agent waters again.  Enter Billy Wagner, as the Sandman who did his best to give opposing hitters nightmares.

Wagner was outstanding in 2006, becoming the first left-handed pitcher in club history to record 40 saves in a single season.  But Wagner started to fall apart late over the next two seasons.  In 2007, it was his performance on the mound towards the end of the season (6.91 ERA, three blown saves in his final 14 appearances) that helped the Mets give up their seemingly insurmountable lead in the division.  One year later, it was his lack of appearances on the mound that led to the Mets' downfall.

After blowing a save against the Astros on August 2, Wagner did not pitch again in 2008, needing Tommy John surgery to repair his damaged elbow.  Two weeks after Wagner's season-ending injury, the Mets acquired Luis Ayala and he became the club's fill-in closer.  This was the same Luis Ayala who had racked up a whopping nine saves in four seasons with the Washington Nationals.  Two blown saves, two losses and a 5.50 ERA later, Ayala had done more than just blow the lead in various games.  He helped blow the Mets' lead in the division, all while Billy Wagner was collecting his paycheck in the recovery room.  Ayala was gone by 2009, as was Billy Wagner, who made two token appearances after the All-Star Break to up his trade value from getting a bag of golf balls to getting Chris Carter from the Boston Red Sox.  Perhaps the golf balls would have been the better deal.

2008:  Johan Santana - Six years, $137.5 million

A year after the Mets failed to make Barry Zito the highest paid pitcher in baseball, they pulled out their wallets for a far more deserving candidate in Johan Santana.  After completing a deal with the Minnesota Twins for the star lefty (not the first time the Mets sent a bushel of young players to Minnesota for a former Cy Young Award winning southpaw), the Mets signed Santana to a six-year extension, hoping the put the stunning late-season collapse of 2007 behind them.

In his first year in New York, Santana gave the Mets everything they could have wanted and more.  The 29-year-old finished the season with a 16-7 record and a major league-leading 2.53 ERA.  Santana finished third in the Cy Young Award vote and could have finished higher had it not been for the seven games he handed over to the bullpen with the lead that they failed to hold.  (Dang you, Billy Wagner and Luis Ayala!)

In 2009, Santana started the season well (8-3, 2.39 ERA over his first 12 starts), but became an average pitcher over his final 13 starts (5-6, 3.80 ERA) before missing the final six weeks of the season with an elbow injury.  The 2010 season wasn't much different for Santana, who had a fine start (8-5, 2.79 ERA), followed by a sluggish finish (3-4, 3.47 ERA) and another season-ending injury.  However, this injury ended two seasons, as Santana has not thrown a baseball in a major league game since then.  Santana is entering his fifth season with the Mets with a 40-25 career mark in New York, which isn't bad, but the Mets probably expected him to be in the franchise's top ten in wins by now (Steve Trachsel currently rounds out the top ten with 66 wins as a Met).  Instead, Santana is still chasing guys like Craig Swan (59 wins), Mike Pelfrey (50 wins), Al Jackson (43 wins) and Pat Zachry (41 wins).  That's what $137.5 million buys you in the Mets' world.

The Mets have flushed a lot of their money down the toilet by signing pitchers to long-term deals.

In 2007, The Mets wouldn't offer Barry Zito the long-term commitment the Giants did, and rightfully so, as Zito has been one of the worst free-agent signings in baseball history.  However, that doesn't mean the Mets haven't given away (literally) their money to other top pitchers over the past decade.

Since the advent of the 21st century, the Mets have signed six pitchers to deals of four years or more.  Armando Benitez almost made it through the four years, but not before having to tell his kids that the correct pronunciation of their last name wasn't Boo-nitez.  Kevin Appier was traded away after one season for a player who retired before Appier's contract was up.  Tom Glavine was a .500 pitcher throughout his four-year deal, which of course translated into another one-year contract that the Mets and their fans would like to forget.  Pedro Martinez might have ushered in the "New Mets" before Carlos Beltran coined the phrase, but really ushered out his own career after one successful campaign.  Billy Wagner celebrated a division title in the arms of Paul LoDuca, but then had arm troubles of his own.  And Johan Santana still has a chance to earn some of his record-setting contract, but has thus far given the Mets one start in the month of September since becoming the last Met pitcher to record a win at Shea Stadium in 2008.

Bad contracts of four years or more have not been limited to pitchers (see Castillo, Luis) and not all bad contracts doled out to pitchers have been for four years or more (see Perez, Oliver).  But ever since the Mets signed Al Leiter to a four-year deal following the 1998 season, they haven't had much success with long-term contracts for pitchers.  Perhaps Sandy Alderson knows what he's doing by not giving out any contracts of more than two years to a pitcher since his arrival in 2010.  Either that or he's well-read on how Mets pitchers have fared after signing long-term deals in the 21st century.  My guess is on the latter.  Then again, like an Armando Benitez fastball in a crucial spot, it's kind of hard to miss.

What If The Mets Had Followed The Minayan Calendar?

Today is December 21, 2011.  According to those who follow the Mayan Calendar, that means the world is supposed to end exactly one year from today, on December 21, 2012.  For some Mets fans, however, the world came to an end on the day it was revealed the Wilpons had less money than this guy.

Still, there are some Mets fans who believe they will see better days before they see the end of days.  After all, the Mets from the late '70s, despite needing magic to come back (and a GM named Frank Cashen), eventually did see better days in the mid '80s.

But let's just say for argument's sake that the end of the world was coming in one year.  And let's also say that the reason for its coming was because Omar Minaya was never fired.  What if the Mets had not subscribed to the Mayan Calendar, but instead believed in the Minayan Calendar?

We recently pretended to ask Omar Minaya himself a few questions about what he would have done to the current Mets had he still been employed by the team.  The answers he made up were quite surprising to say the least!

Studious Metsimus:  Seeing that no one stood out at second base in 2011, what do you plan to do to give some stability to the position?

Omar Minaya:  I'd re-sign Luis Castillo to a three-year, $20 million deal.  Hey, Dan Uggla got five years and $62 million from Atlanta.  All he did was hit .233 and watch as the Braves collapsed in September.  With Castillo, we'd get a player who has experience with late-season collapses and can hit for a higher average than Uggla.  So what if Uggla had a 33-game hitting streak last year.  Castillo topped that, hitting in 35 straight games in 2002.  Did it happen as a Met?  No.  But it could.  So that being said, I think Castillo would be the perfect choice for the Mets.  We can sign him and commit two fewer years and $42 million less than the Braves gave to Uggla.  I'd say that's a bargain.


Studious Metsimus:  Last year, R.A. Dickey led all Mets starters with a 3.28 ERA, but only won eight of 21 decisions.  The team leader in wins (Dillon Gee) had a fine start, but faltered as his innings piled up.  What would you do to bolster the starting rotation in 2012?

Omar Minaya:  I'd like to get a top notch starter, perhaps one who recently won a Cy Young Award.  Remember 1989?  That was the year the Mets traded Rick Aguilera, Kevin Tapani, David West, Tim Drummond and Jack Savage to Minnesota for former Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola.  If memory serves me correctly, Viola won 20 games for the Mets the following season.  No Met has won more than 18 games in a season since then.  Drummond and Savage combined to win three games in the major leagues.  West finished 31-38 in ten major league seasons.  I don't recall what Aguilera and Tapani did, but judging how the other three pitchers did after being traded to Minnesota, I'd assume they probably didn't do too well, you know what I'm sayin'?  Therefore, I suggest trading Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia to the Chicago White Sox for Jake Peavy.  Peavy won the National League Cy Young Award in 2007 as a member of the San Diego Padres and is only under contract for one more year, with a team option for 2013.  Yeah, he's going to make $17 million in 2012 and he only won seven games in both 2010 and 2011, but that shows he's consistent.  We can't go wrong with this deal!


Studious Metsimus:  What about your bench?  As things currently stand, the Mets could use a little help in that department.

Omar Minaya:  Help is on the way in the form of Julio Franco!  This signing would serve two purposes.  First, he would come off the bench as our top pinch-hitter and would serve as a backup to Ike Davis at first base in case David Wright decides to play footsie with Ike near the pitcher's mound again.  Second, with all the talk of Jamie Moyer attempting to return to the major leagues at age 49, it would just be another way for the Phillies to take the spotlight away from the Mets again.  Julio Franco should ALWAYS be the oldest player in the major leagues.  Not Jamie Moyer.  Not anyone else.  Plus, should Terry Collins fail, I could always have Franco be player/manager.  I'd be a fool not to sign Julio Franco!


Studious Metsimus:  I'm contractually obligated to ask you this question, so I apologize in advance if this brings up painful memories.  Oliver Perez.  Are you going to bring him back to pitch for the Mets?

Omar Minaya:  No apologies necessary.  And Mets fans, you don't have to worry.  I'm not bringing back Oliver Perez to pitch for the Mets.  That being said, I am going to sign him as our new pitching coach.  Look, Dan Warthen has been the Mets' pitching coach since the team played at Shea Stadium.  That's way too long for a man who wasn't even a good pitcher during his time in the major leagues.  Did you know that over his career, Warthen walked 198 batters in 307 innings?  That comes out to 5.8 walks per nine innings.  It's also almost a walk higher than Oliver Perez's career rate (5.1 BB/9 IP).  That's the man the Mets entrusted to teach their pitchers how to throw strikes consistently?  I'd rather take my chances with Ollie.  At least he could throw a strike every once in a while.


Studious Metsimus:  Here's a tough question.  Mets fans are still bitter over the loss of Jose Reyes.  What would you do to offset the departure of one of the most beloved players in franchise history?

Omar Minaya:  That's an easy one.  Obviously, with Reyes staying in the division, we're going to see him quite a bit and I'm sure he's going to try to run wild on the bases when he plays us.  We're going to need someone who can punch him out whenever he tries to steal a base, that's for sure.  Therefore, I'm going to trade for Miguel Olivo.  Olivo has always been good at throwing out baserunners, but in case Reyes tries to show us up on the bases, Olivo can literally punch him out.  Surely, you remember the John Maine game of the 2007 season.  Most people remember it for the near no-hitter that kept the Mets alive in the race for the division title.  I remember it because of Miguel Olivo.  Since that game, I've wanted Olivo on my team.  I'm not letting this chance pass me by.


Studious Metsimus:  Finally, I'd like to ask you one more question.  It's a topic we've discussed recently on this blog, regarding statues at Citi Field.  If you could immortalize a former Mets player with a bronze statue, which player would that be and why?

Omar Minaya:  Come on!  Are you serious?  Who's the most beloved Met of all-time?  Do you even have to think about it?  Clearly, it's Joe McEwing!  When I was languishing in Montreal as their GM hoping I'd get the call from the Mets, I watched Super Joe show off his skills on the field regularly.  I'd never seen anyone hit Randy Johnson so well in my life.  In fact, he was so good against the Big Unit that he had fifteen more at-bats against him than any other pitcher he faced in the major leagues.  In 44 at-bats against Johnson, McEwing batted .250 with five doubles and one home run.  Trust me, that's actually pretty good, as Johnson held opponents to a .221 batting average over his two decades in the majors.  The Mets already have VIP entrances for Casey Stengel, Gil Hodges and Tom Seaver.  They also have their retired numbers up on the left field wall.  Erecting a statue to honor any of them would be overkill.  Therefore, I vote for a Joe McEwing statue.  It's the least I could do to make up for releasing him prior to the 2005 season, you know what I'm saying?

We know what you're saying, Omar.  That being said, what exactly did you just say?

¿Dónde Están Los Mets?

Me fijé que desde el despido de Omar Minaya, los Metropolitanos se han convertido en un equipo que no está lleno de Hispanos como en los últimos años.

En el 2011, los fanáticos no verán a Pedro Feliciano en el montículo. Tampoco verán a los relevistas Raúl Valdes y Fernando Nieve. Valdes firmó un contrato de ligas menores con los Cardenales de San Luis y hoy Nieve firmó un contrato con los Piratas de Pittsburgh.

Los Metropolitanos todavía se quieren liberar de los contratos de Oliver Pérez y Luis Castillo y siguen los rumores que Nueva York están ofreciendo los servicios de Carlos Beltrán y José Reyes a otros equipos.

La época de "Los Mets" parece que murió con el despido de Omar Minaya. Vamos a ver si la época de las derrotas también se terminó.


Okay, kids. Since my 4½ readers probably don't know how to read Spanish, here is the rough translation of "¿Dónde Están Los Mets?" (Note to self: Need to advertise Studious Metsimus to the Spanish-speaking community. Do not mention Oliver Perez. His own family doesn't even like him.)

I've noticed that since the dismissal of Omar Minaya, the Mets have been converted into a team that is not chock full of Hispanic players as in previous years.

In 2011, fans will not see Pedro Feliciano on the mound. They will also not see Raul Valdes and Fernando Nieve. Valdes signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals and today Nieve signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Mets still want to free themselves of Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo's contracts and rumors continue to swirl that New York is offering the services of Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes to other teams.

The age of "Los Mets" appears to have died with the dismissal of Omar Minaya. Let's see if the age of losses has also been terminated.

What If Roy Halladay Had Been Traded To The Mets?

In Game 1 of the National League Division Series, played Wednesday between Philadelphia and Cincinnati at Citizens Bank Park, Roy Halladay did what no other National League pitcher had ever accomplished in a postseason game. He held the opposition hitless. The masterful 104-pitch performance helped the Phillies take a 1-0 series lead over the Reds.

The former (and perhaps soon-to-be) Cy Young Award winner had pitched for the Blue Jays from 1998-2009 without ever sniffing the playoffs. If he had any butterflies churning in his stomach before his first postseason start for the Phillies on Wednesday, they certainly did nothing to prevent him from making history.

Ever since the Phillies acquired him via a trade with Toronto, Halladay has been nothing short of brilliant. He led the league with 21 victories in his first National League season and pitched a perfect game against the Florida Marlins in May.

But what if Omar Minaya had swung a deal with the Blue Jays to acquire Halladay before the Phillies did? Would it have been the Mets playing in October and not the Phillies? A quick look at Mets history should provide us with the answer.


Had Omar Minaya acquired Halladay, the bearded righty would have succumbed to an injury in May. Needing his leadership on the mound, the Mets would have rushed him back to the rotation (especially since the longer he stayed out of the rotation, the better chance that Jerry Manuel would have given Oliver Perez another chance to start). That would have led to a period of ineffective starts, which would have also included key losses to the Phillies and Braves.

Once Halladay righted his ship, Dead Manuel Walking would have tried to save his pitcher from overexerting himself by removing him from games after a number of seven-inning, 90-pitch efforts. Since the Mets never had quite the firepower found in the Phillies' offense, Halladay would have found himself leaving games with small leads that Frankie Kunckles would eventually give up.

Therefore, had Halladay been a Met, he still would have had a good season, but he would have led the league in no-decisions. He also would never have pitched a no-hitter or perfect game because signing with the Mets automatically prevents any pitcher from ever throwing one.

Perhaps it's for the better that Omar Minaya didn't trade for Roy Halladay. For one thing, we might never have seen R.A. Dickey become the quality starter he became. (You can ignore the fact that Dickey lost his only head-to-head matchup against Halladay at Citizens Bank Park on August 8). Also, it is a well-known fact that bearded players don't do well in blue and orange. Just ask Jeff Reardon.

Face it, Mets fans. Roy Halladay was never going to become a Met. Neither was Cliff Lee last season at the trade deadline. Neither was Roy Oswalt at this year's trade deadline. They all went to the Phillies because our now ex-general manager didn't have the clout he thought he once had.

Five years ago, Omar Minaya could just show up at any star player's door and say "if you can live with the fact that I say 'that being said' every other sentence, then I can give you more years and more money than anyone else is willing to give you." Now, players stay away from Flushing like if it had blue and orange cooties.

Jason Bay came to New York last year because no one else was willing to give him the exorbitant deal the Mets gave him, not because of Omar Minaya. The bottom line is that Omar Minaya couldn't give players what Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro Jr. could, and that was the promise that his team would be successful.

The Phillies have become one of the best teams in recent memory, while the Mets have become the team no one wants to play for. Roy Halladay is lucky the Phillies traded for him. Had he been a Met, he'd be trying to leave through the same door that Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel used on Monday.