New York Mets - The Clinton Years (1990-1999)

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1990

103

Decade

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Titles:

Top Mets Players of the Nineties

1999 - Wild Card (Beat Arizona, Lost to Atlanta)

Pitchers:

BallPark:

John Franco (9.38) - 73

Shea Stadium

Bobby Jones (9.18) - 49

Doc Gooden (10.94) - 36

Team Name:

Rick Reed (10.77) - 28

Mets

David Cone (11.66) - 25

Al Leiter (9.22) - 23

Owner:

Frank Viola (9.05) - 21

Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon

Bret Saberhagen (11.63) - 20

Sid Fernandez (12.68) - 16

General Managers:

Dave Mlicki (3.17) - 13

Frank Cashen (1991)

Masato Yoshii (4.55) - 10

Al Harazin (1992-1993)

Jason Isringhausen (1.02) - 9

Joe McIlvaine (1994-1997)

Anthony Young (0.13) - 4

Steve Phillips (1997-1999)

Bill Pulsipher (1.41) - 3

Paul Wilson (1.85) - 2

Managers:

Bud Harrelson (1990-1991)

Catchers:

Mike Cubbage (1991)

Todd Hundley (9.2) - 49

Jeff Torborg (1992-1993)

Mike Piazza (9.72) - 26

Dallas Green (1993-1996)

Bobby Valentine (1996-1999)

First Basemen:

John Olerud (17.29) - 38

Hall of Famers:

Eddie Murray (2.75) - 14

Eddie Murray

Rico Brogna (3.42) - 13

Mike Piazza

Rickey Henderson

Second Basemen:

Edgardo Alfonso (16.63) - 23

Rookie of the Year:

Jeff Kent (8.43) - 22

None

Carlos Baerga (0.31) - 6

MVP:

ShortStop:

None

Jose Vizcaino (2.34) - 14

Ray Ordonez (2.3) - 11

Cy Young

None

Third Base:

Howard Johnson (5.25) - 28

No Hitters:

Dave Magadan (7.34) - 21

None

Robin Ventura (6.72) - 10

Notable Events:

Outfield:

Bobby Bonilla (8.3) - 43

1990 - catcher Todd Hundley, 21, is a rookie.

Ryan Thompson (3.38) - 19

He was a second round pick in the '87 draft

Lance Johnson (8.64) - 19

Bernard Gilkey (10.25) - 18

1990 - Lefty reliever John Franco, 29, is acquired from the Reds in exchange

Kevin McReynolds (5) - 15

for lefty reliever Randy Myers. Quality for quality

Roger Cedeno (1.5) - 15

Darryl Boston (2.84) - 12

1990 - This is the last year of the Mets seven year run as one of the top

Butch Huskey (0.5) - 12

teams in baseball as the Amazin's finish second at 91-71.

Vince Coleman (2.08) - 10

The usual suspects for the decline following the '90 season -

Darryl Strawberry (6.31) - 10

old age, injuries, free agent defections.

Rickey Henderson (1.85) - 9

Gregg Jefferies (4) - 9

1991 - Darryl Strawberry leaves for LA as a free agent.

Carl Everett (2.73) - 8

This loss, more than a hundred Knights, Backmans, Teufels and Dykstras

caused the Mets collapse. As it turns out, Darryl's demons made it a smart

Notable Events:

move for Cashen not to re-sign him. He did nothing after leaving New York.

1992 - New York drops 5 more games in the standings.

1991 - New York signs one high priced free agent a year for the next three

They are now officially a bad team.

years in a failed attempt to keep their mini dynasty afloat.

For whatever reason, the Mets become cryptonite for players who are

1993 - New high priced free agent SS Tony Fernandez is a bust.

quality elsewhere. The decade is littered with players who should have

The Mets will give up on signing free agents after this as they

been good with the Mets, but bombed, big time, in New York.

descend further into the depths of the National League East.

This phenomenon continued into early next century:

One thing you can fault Cashen for was that there was nothing

□ 1991 - Outfielder Vince Coleman, 29, is a FA from the Cards

coming up from the farm system and New York was forced to try

□ 1992 - Outfielder Bobby Bonilla, 29, is a FA from the Pirates

to replenish with free agents in an effort to stay afloat.

□ 1993 - Shortstop Tony Fernandez, 31, in a trade from SD

□ 1996 - 2B Carlos Baerga, 27, trade with Cleveland for Jeff Kent

1993 - Righthander Bobby Jones, 23, is a rookie.

□ 2002 - 2B Robby Alomar, 34, trade with Cleveland

He was a 1st round pick in the '91 draft

□ 2002 - 1B Mo Vaughn, 34, trade with Anaheim

These free agent failures have given Met ownership an excuse not to spend

1993 - The Mets bottom out at 59-103 and have a huge payroll to boot.

as time wore on. In a market like New York, no matter what the sad history of

free agency was for your team, not spending is a calamity. Move forward or die.

1995 - 3B Edgardo Alfonzo, 21, is a rookie. He was an IFA in '91

Too bad for Mets fans because the New York sports market is a gold mine

for those who are competitive with big stars as draws.

1996 - Monumental disappointment for the Mets as Generation K strikes out.

It's not brain surgery, but then no one has ever mistaken Mets

The Mets had three phenom pitching prospects in Paul Wilson, 23,

management and owenership for brain surgeons.

Bill Pulsipher, 22, and Jason Isringhausen, 23 > Generation K

These three were going to bring the Mets back to the glory days.

1991 - New York drops 14 games in the standings and are under .500

And they probably would have, but all three got hurt. Wilson battled his

way back to a fair career with the Reds. Isringhausen, after reinventing

1992 - Al Harazin takes over as GM for Frank Cashen. No bueno for Mets fans.

himself, became a top reliever with the Cards. Pulsipher couldn't recover.

I've read that Cashen was accused by Mets fans of dismantling the title teams

that he had built in the late Eighties. That all must have happened pretty fast.

1996 - Righty Rick Reed, 31, is signed as a FA.

They won a hundred games in '88 and 89 games in '89. He must have done it

He spends a year in AAA before being brought back up in '97.

when everyone was looking away in October thru December of '89.

Reed was something of a pariah to his peers as he was a scab in

Anyway, how long did Mets fans think that their little mini-dynasty would last

the '94 strike. In his defense, his crossing the picket line may have

before it had to be retooled?

provided him an opportunity he may not otherwise have had.

Mainstays Carter and Hernandez were 36 years old in '90. They were cooked.

Very tough decision for a guy on the bubble like he was.

Mookie Wilson was 34 and had relied on his speed. Cooked.

Wally Backman, Tim Teufel and Ray Knight were mediocrities who Mets

1996 - SS Rey Ordonez, 25, is a rookie. He was an IFA in '93

fans somehow deified in their minds into Hall of Fame status.

They were let go. Sorry, Mets fans, no loss there.

1996 - Bobby Valentine is hired as manager. He's one manager who

No question that Cashen made a couple of bad deals late in the Eighties,

made a difference. Bobby was a force of nature in the dugout.

but the affect was so miniscule compared to what he had built with the Mets

The team's demeanor took a 180 degree turn with him in charge.

that you really had to be off your head, if you were a Met fan, to do

There's also a new GM in town in '97, Steve Phillips, but the

anything but genuflect at the sight of Cashen.

credit for the subsequent turnaround goes to Valentine.

The Bad and The Ugly:

□ Cashen dealt centerfielder Lenny Dykstra and relief pitcher Roger McDowell

1997 - 1B John Olerud, 28, is obtained from Toronto for Robert Person

to the Phillies for Juan Samuel in '89. Bad trade. No question.

Altho' it didn't help that Samuel was struck down by the same malady that

1997 - The Mets begin to respond to Valentine's methods as he leads

strikes so many stars coming to New York - sudden loss of production.

them to a 17 game turnaround in the standings.

□ He also dealt Kevin Tapani, who he had gotten from the Dodgers for

Jesse Orosco, and Rick Aguilera for Twins ace Frank Viola.

1998 - New York acquires ace lefthander Al Leiter from the Marlins at the

Another bad deal. Altho' I will defend Cashen on this one because Frank

start of the season for three youngsters including righthander AJ Burnett, 21.

saw that the team was about to disintegrate (on it's own) and he made a

The Mets then land superstar catcher Mike Piazza, 29, also from the Marlins,

short term deal for Viola to keep things going for another year or two

at mid season in exchange for big time outfield prospect Preston Wilson, 23.

- and Viola delivered in '90 winning twenty and keeping the Mets in

The two acquisitioins take the Amazins to the next level at the expense of

contention for one more year.

two future productive players in the next decade.

□ Cashen was also blamed for letting Strawberry go as a free agent,

but Darryl was set on going back to LA to go party with his homies,

1999 - Righty Reliever Armando Benitez, 26, is acquired from the Orioles

which he did. The Mets avoided a disaster had he stayed.

for catcher Charles Johnson.

1992 - Righthander Bret Saberhagen, 28, is picked up from KC in exchange

1999 - The Mets make it to the post season as a wild card.

for Kevin McReynolds and Gregg Jefferies.

They beat Arizona in the NLDS, but lose in the NLCS to the Braves.

The only explanation you can come up for this deal is that new GM Harazin

A couple of veteran free agent signings help get them over the hump:

was under pressure to make something happen because ownership still

□ Outfielder Ricky Henderson, still going strong at age forty one

thought New York might be able to contend after cratering in '91.

□ Third baseman Robin Ventura, 31.

After all, they had signed Bonilla as a high priced free agent in '92 and,

presumably, figured that '91 FA Coleman would bounce back to the

1999 - New York is now an elite team at the close of the century.

exceptional form that he had shown with St. Louis. It turns out that

The pitching staff is very old, but still effective. Eight members of the

all three (Saberhagen, Bonilla and Coleman) were awful.

staff are over thrity two with their average age at thirty five.

Starters: Hershiser, 40; Rogers, 34; Reed, 34; Yoshii, 34; Leiter, 33.

1992 - Second baseman Jeff Kent, 24, and outfielder Ryan Thompson, 24,

Relievers: Franco, 38; Cook, 36; Wendell, 32.

are obtained from Toronto for ace righthander David Cone. A bad trade.

Octavio Dotel, Armando Benitez and Pat Mahomes

It turns out that Cone wasn't going to make much of a difference on this

are the only pitchers under thirty.

bad team, anyway. Time to get some youth for him, which the Mets did.

The starting lineup is mostly in it's prime:

The problem is that Harazin was working at cross purposes. He made

C-Piazza, 1B-Olerud, SS-Ordonez, 3B-Ventura and OF-Agbayani.

this deal while simultaneously making the Saberhagen and Bonilla deals.

2B-Alfonzo and OF-Cedeno are young, OF-Henderson is ancient.

Why get Saberhagen when you are getting rid of Cone?