Lets start off with the pitcher discussion. The Mets got their ace on Dec. 23 of 1999. It was 22-game winner Mike Hampton form the Houston Astros. They gave up a soon-to-be star in Octavio Dotel. Dotel was their 5th starter in the mid-season and changed now-and-then. The Mets rotation last year was: ace (which he's not) Al Leiter, #2-Rick Reed, #3- Bobby J. Jones, #4-at the beginning it was Orel Hershiser, and #5- Masato Yoshii. Now that wasn't the best starting rotation in baseball but it was decent. On July 31, 1999 at the All-Star break, there is a trading deadline at midnight. Well the Mets made a trade. It was with the Oakland A's. They traded minor-leaguers OF Terrence Long and LHP Leoner Vasquez for starting pitcher Kenny Rogers. Now Rogers became the 3rd starter. And from about a month or two into the season Bobby Jones got injured and was put on the disable list. Now the starting rotation was: Leiter, Reed, Rogers, Hershisher, and Yoshii. Then the saw some talent in Dotel from the minors, so they brought him up into the majors, and now they had a 6-man roatation: Leiter, Reed, Rogers, Hershisher, Yoshii, and Dotel. Well they sent Yoshii to the bullpen. Dotel had good stuff, but Yoshii really wanted to be in the starting rotation. As the Mets entered the playoffs Hershiser didn't pitch, I don't know why. So Yoshii is back in the rotation. he was happy and he did very well, he was the Mets most consistent starter down the stretch. The Mets rotation over the course of the 1999 season took hits but got back up. They never had an ace, Al Leiter pretended to be, and he tried his best at it. Now after the season was over, Hershiser and Rogers became free agents. The Mets tried to re-sign them but couldn't. So, Hershiser signed with his old team, the Los Angelos Dodgers. And Rogers did the same, he signed with another team, he signed with his old team the Texas Rangers. So the Mets now had a mixed rotation of Leiter, Reed, Jones coming off an injury, Yoshii, and Dotel. Didn't look that good. Until Dec. 23, 1999. The Mets GM Steve Phillips got the Mets and their fans what they wanted for such a long time, an ace. A #1 pitcher, a leader in the rotation. He traded for Astros 22-game winner, All-Star pitcher, Mike Hampton. Phillips traded speedy OF Roger Cedeno (now we have to fill a hole their), and P Dotel. The Mets got Hampton and OF Derek Bell. Hampton was 22-4 with the Astros last year and didn't want a contract extension, so they traded him to the Mets, and now they have their ace. Hampton is their #1 starter now, and behind him at #2 is Leiter, #3- Reed, and #4- they say Jones will come back and fill that role in the rotation. So now their is no #5 starter. Well Phillips made a trade for a #5 starter. The Mets traded Masato Yoshii to the Colorado Rockies and got in return starting pitcher Bobby M. Jones (the Mets already have Bobby J. Jones) and minor-league pitcher Lariel Gonzalez. Bobby M. Jones isn't a great pitcher but Phillips says that he will develop himslef into a good starting pitcher. So it looks like the rotation is: Hampton, Leiter, Reed, B. J. Jones, and B. M. Jones. Well Steve Phillips dosen't know if the fifth spot well be B.M.Jones, Glendon Rusch, or awesome relief pitcher last year with the Mets- Pat Mahomes. Now I'm saying with Hampton the have a great rotation. But they're are still quality pitchers out their that the Mets can pick up and have an even better rotation. The Blue Jays have David Wells. And they are willing to trade him if they get want they want in return. Wells would fit great in the Mets rotation- Hampton, Wells, Leiter, Reed, and one of the Joneses, Mahomes, or Rusch. Now the Mets projected a trade of Cedeno, Dotel, and OF Jay Payton to the Blue Jays, for Wells and slugging 1B Carlos Delgado. Well that never happened and Delgado signed with the Jays again. But the Mets don't have Cedeno or Dotel to give up now for Wells. 2 fantastic pitchers for up for grabs, and they were free agents. Aaron Sele who has a Texas Ranger last season, and Juan Guzman who was a Baltimore Oriole, then traded to the Cincinatti Reds last year. Well anyway, Sele had a contract worked out with Baltimore but they signed it but then Sele signed with the Seattle Mariners. Baltimore thought that Sele's shoulder or something was not strong enough. Well the Orioles lost out on the deal, the M's got him. Now Guzman. He signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.The Mets were also trying to get pitcher Steve Trachsel, but he also signed with Tampa Bay. So, is there any other pitchers that the Mets can get, well I mentioned Wells. If they can get him, that will be awesome. Jose Lima of the Astros signed with them again to a 3-year deal. They have talked about Pat Rapp as one of the starters. But I think that the Mets could use another quality pitcher, but if they're stuck with what they got now, then that's good enough, with Hampton, Leiter, and Reed leading the rotation ou got a great rotation.
Now the OF spot. They traded Cedeno to the Astros along with Dotel for Hampton and Derek Bell. Well Bell says that he will have a great year. So right now, the Of is, LF- Rickey Henderson, CF- Darryl Hamilton, and RF- Derek Bell. The had talks with the Mariners about Griffey and the Indinas about Manny Ramirez, last year- 165 RBI. The Mets and Mariners agreed to a deal that would send Dotel, Cedeno, flame-throwing closer Armando Benitez, and relief pitcher Dennis Cook to the Mariners and the Mets would get Griffey and a minor-leaguer. But Griffey has a 10-and-5 power, that if he is involved in a trade he can say no to it because he's been in the majors 10 years, and the last 5 years with the same team- Seattle. Jr. says that he wanst to be only traded to the Reds, becuase it is closer to his family in Florida, and his dad is one of the coaches. So it didn't happen. Now to Ramirez, he is awesome. But the Indians say that they will not trade him, so for now those 2 are out of the picture. Now the Aniheim Angels have OF Jum Edmonds, he is a power-slugging outfielder and is a good at defense too. The Mets could get him. But with Henderson, Hamilton and Bell, there is some power and defense but not enough of it. I would say get an OF that can play for the Mets. I would say keep Bell in right becuase he says he will have a great year, and he's only 31 years old and wants to sign a long-term deal with the Mets. Hamilton is okay, but I would rather have a Griffey, Edmonds, or Ramirez there. In left there's good old Rickey. He's 41 but still in shape and says that he can play for another 4 or 5 years. I don't know about that, but the was fantastic for the Mets last season. I would say if you can get a reall powerful hitting leftfielder maybe do it, but Rickey is still good, and the best lead-off hitter in the history of baseball. Now the Mets have talked with the Orioles about leftfielder B.J. Surhoff. He is a very, very powerful hitter, and a good defensemen in left. The Orioles don't knwo yet if they're gonna trade him, but they turned down the Mets, but the Mets can still get him.
So there you have it. A rotation of Hampton, Leiter, Reed, and 2 Jonses (or Rusch or Mahomes) and an outfield of Henderson, Hamilton, and Bell. We'll have to see what happens if Phillips trades for another OF or P or just leaves it the way it is, the OF and rotation isn't bad, it's good, but the OF could use a little more defense and a power-hitter, and the rotation maybe can get another quality starter. We'll just have to wait and see. I'll keep you posted. |
