The Mets were champions. All of the building that had occurred from 1962 on, with the team finally breaking through as a competitive unit in 1968, had resulted in a title in 1969. Soon after the World Series ended, Tom Seaver, who had won 25 games, struck out 208 batters and posted a 2.21 ERA, won the team’s first Cy Young award. Dick Allen, after a tremendous season in which he had hit over 40 home runs and knocked in over 120 runs while batting .300, finished second in the MVP ballot to Willie McCovey, who had a slightly better season by simply hitting 20 points higher, striking out half as much and walking 30 times more.
If one looks at Allen’s numbers for that season, they don’t match what was just stated. However Allen’s problems in Philadelphia were a major reason for this. Allen admitted in his autobiography, “Crash” that he played “angry” in 1969 as he was worn out from his negative relationship with the organization and the city. Allen was suspended during that season, had requested a trade for several seasons and was a known malcontent at the time. Since Allen has been a Met since 1962, where the fans and the media gave much more leeway due to lack of expectations and had played under Gil Hodges, who was known for being both strict and fatherly to his players, it is thought that Allen’s 1969 would have been vastly different, especially playing for a championship contending team. One thing Allen never did in his career was not play hard and the different upbringing he would have gone through as a young player should have ironed out some of the issues he had in the real baseball world by 1969.
So the question for Hodges and Mets management was how to improve on a championship team, the great query for any organization who has made it to the top.
Here’s the roster that the Mets would have finished 1969 with:
Tommy Agee
Dick Allen
Sandy Alomar
Bob Bailey
Ken Boswell
Jim Bunning
Clay Dalrymple
Jack Dilauro
Duffy Dyer
Danny Frisella
Wayne Garrett
Rod Gaspar
Gary Gentry
Dave Giusti
Tony Gonzalez
Jerry Grote
Bud Harrelson
Bob Heise
Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson ( pitcher )
Cleon Jones
Mike Jorgensen
Jerry Koosman
Skip Lockwood
Ted Martinez
Jim McAndrew
Al McBean
Tug McGraw
Jose Morales
Amos Otis
Bobby Pfeil
Bob Reynolds
Les Rohr
Nolan Ryan
Tom Seaver
Ron Swoboda
Ron Taylor
Pete Ward
As always, house cleaning came first in order to protect high end prospects from the Rule 5 draft. The Mets would do so by selling veteran infielder Johnson to the Athletics and designating left hander Dilauro for assignment. Johnson had been a solid depth player and pinch hitter, but would be turning 34 in March of 1970 and didn’t really have a future on the team after the acquisition of Bailey. Dilauro had been a decent left handed reliever, but didn’t deserve a spot on the roster with some higher end prospects to protect. Dilauro wouldn’t last long as he would be selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Houston Astros.
The Mets would then add top outfield prospects Ken Singleton and Leroy Stanton to the roster, as well as slugging first base prospect Tom Robson and young left hander Rich Folkers. Singleton was one of the best young players the Mets had come through their system. As a switch hitting corner outfielder, Singleton looked like a player who could seriously impact the roster as soon as 1970.
When the organization looked at the roster, there wasn’t an obvious place for improvement. Jones and Agee had both had terrific seasons with the bat and in the field in 1969 and both were only going to be 27 during the upcoming season, thus entering their primes as baseball players. Allen had finished second in the MVP ballot. Harrelson and Grote had been solid with the bats and been terrific defensively up the middle at shortstop and catcher respectively. Bailey, after coming over in a trade with the Expos on June 15th of 1969, had hit .281 with nine home runs and an 820 plus OPS in a little under half a season at third base (298 plate appearances over 83 games). Gonzalez, the left handed side of the right field platoon with Swoboda, had been terrific, batting .294 with an 800 plus OPS and ridiculous numbers with runners in scoring position, posting a 1.238 OPS in those situations under normal conditions and a 1.357 OPS in those situations with two outs (these are using his Atlanta Braves numbers from 1969 as Gonzalez got an obvious boost once on a contending roster after starting the season with the expansion San Diego Padres). Gonzalez had also been very good in the playoffs (check his numbers for the Braves against the Mets in the NLCS) and solid in the field.
Their rotation needed no changes. Bunning had started off slowly after the trade to the Mets around the trade deadline, but been terrific down the stretch and into the playoffs (no proof of playoff prowess exists, but Bunning had never pitched in the postseason, so you know the wily veteran would have been on his A game during the playoffs, since it might have been his last shot at a World Series championship) and the rest of the rotation was full of young, hard throwing studs lead by the Cy Young award winning Seaver and tough lefty Koosman. The bullpen, bolstered by McGraw finding his way as a left handed stud reliever, was also full of solid young arms backed up by tough minded veteran Taylor.
With all of this solid play and young players like Jorgensen, Dyer, Singleton, Otis, the pitching version of Bob Johnson and others, the team was really only looking to re-tool this offseason as opposed to making major whole sale changes.
One deal that was made in this offseason in the real world that won’t occur now is trading Johnson and Otis to the Royals for Joe Foy. A trade with the Royals would have been discussed, but the Mets didn’t need Foy with Bailey’s acquisition the season before. The Royals would have pursued Otis doggedly, but no deal would have presented itself as the club obviously didn’t want to part with Otis for a player that wouldn’t fit their roster on an everyday basis. The Royals didn’t have the one thing the Mets needed, an everyday left handed hitter and thus all trade talks would have sputtered to a close. The Mets would have been in on discussion for Johnny Callison and Joe Pepitone, both quality left handed hitters who could play the outfield that were traded during that offseason, but those talks would also have sputtered based upon the need of the other teams and doubts about the players themselves (Callison had been in decline for years due to various injuries and thoughts that he had confidence issues and the tremendously talented Pepitone had off the field issues that would have scared the Mets away).
In the end, the Mets would make the following moves to further bolster their roster while not adversely affecting the core of the team.
The Mets trade Alomar, Dalrymple and Giusti to the Pirates for Jose Pagan and Carl Taylor.
The Mets trade Heise and Gaspar to the Giants for John Stephenson and Ray Sadecki.
Both these moves added depth to the roster, but weren’t meant to be moves that would net everyday players. Carl Taylor was a very interesting player. He had posted terrific numbers for the Pirates as a jack of all trades bench player who knew how to draw a walk and could play catcher, first base and a corner outfield spot. Pagan was a veteran former starting shortstop who had transitioned well to a part time bench role as a quality right handed bat. The Mets would ask Pagan to take up a second base glove to platoon with Boswell. Giusti had been a disappointment due to back problems and Alomar had been a terrific bench player and defender, but didn’t offer the bat that Pagan could bring. Dalrymple played the part of Dave Rickets, the original player accompanying Giusti to the Pirates for Carl Taylor and although Taylor wasn’t left handed, he offered a definite offensive upgrade over the veteran Dalrymple as well as much more flexibility in the field, something that was always important to Hodges.
Acquiring Sadecki gave the Mets a veteran left handed arm that could pitch in the rotation and out of the bullpen, while Stephenson, a former Mets prospect dealt several seasons before, gave another versatile player who would offer a left handed bat off of the bench and at the catching position. Gaspar and Heise were redundant players on the roster. In both trades, the Mets acquired quality depth players while giving up players that had very little future with the organization.
As spring training commenced, very few spots were open on a deep roster, but those that were included the back end of the rotation, bullpen depth and right field. Swoboda had shown improvement as a fielder, but still only hit .235 with a 687 OPS while striking out too much. He also still could be optioned to the minor leagues one more time (in the real history, Swoboda couldn’t without passing through waivers as he had accrued five years of service time, but with our Mets, Swoboda saw time in the minors in both 1965 and 1966, thus leaving him with one more option year and short on the five years of service time needed to refuse minor league assignment).
In addition, top prospect Otis, so far a disappointment in limited major league at bat’s and the subject of trade rumors the last two offseason’s, was out of options and clearly would not make it through waivers. Otis offered more flexibility in the field than Swoboda, could hit leadoff, had terrific speed and was a better fielder. In the end, the Mets would have chosen Otis for all of these reasons to man the right handed side of the platoon with Gonzalez. This was done due to play in spring training, the above mentioned issues and because it allowed the Mets to move Agee down in the order, where his power could be more productive.
Swoboda would have not wanted minor league assignment and would have asked to be traded, which the Mets would do by packaging Swoboda with Ward to the Yankees for young left hander Mickey Scott and veteran outfielder Ron Woods (the Ward trade actually happened in the 1970 offseason, while Swoboda would be traded for Woods a year later). Ward had been given a chance to earn a bench role on the club, but his back problems and Garrett’s improvement, made it clear that he no longer had a spot on the team. Woods and Scott would both be optioned to the minor leagues. The Mets would also try to find a taker for veteran pitcher McBean, but would not and would release him at the end of spring training.
The staff would also be subject to option years. With so much depth, Johnson and McAndrew would be optioned to the minor leagues, while Ryan would be put into the bullpen where he had been so successful in 1969. Lockwood, out of options, would have been given a spot starting role opposite Sadecki while Seaver, Koosman, Gentry and Bunning manned the other four spots in the rotation.
As the season began, the Mets would play well. Allen would get off to another tremendous start, anchoring the lineup at first base, while Agee and Jones got right back on the horse with solid seasons at the plate. Bailey would be tremendous in 1970, slugging over 20 home runs while getting playing time at third and first and drawing a lot of walks. Garrett would also show tremendous improvement, hitting over 10 home runs and getting on base a lot as a part time player. Third base would have been the most productive it ever was for the team as they put up terrific offensive numbers and played more than solidly defensively. Harrelson had the best year of his career, while Boswell and Pagan proved a solid offensive combination at second base, if average defensively.
The only real down spots initially on the team were Gonzalez and Lockwood. Lockwood would not pitch well in the rotation or in relief and the Mets would eventually trade him to the Brewers for veteran left hander John O’Donoghue after trying to pass him through waivers. This would be fine though as it would open up a spot in the rotation for McAndrew, who would pitch solidly in the bullpen and as a spot starter. Ryan would be a dominant presence in the bullpen and would pitch well enough when given a spot start that the Mets would have a tough decision on their hands come the offseason (Johnson also utterly dominated Triple-A, further complicating matters).
Gonzalez would struggle, eventually leading to a June trade with the Angels for minor league pitcher Joe Henderson and young short stop Marty Perez (both would not be on the Angels after 1970, thus making this trade realistic, especially when you consider that the Angels purchased Gonzalez from the Braves just a month later in the season in the actual timeline). Again, this would be fine as it would open up a spot on the roster for a top prospect in Singleton.
Given a chance to play regularly, Otis would be terrific, hitting over 300 and putting up an 800 plus OPS while batting leadoff over the course over 370 plus plate appearances (look at his first half numbers from his actual season in 1970 for confirmation).
The Mets would have put on the field the best offensive team they ever had to this point, only really lacking a big, impact left handed bat. They had terrific speed, power and on base ability. When added to a solid defensive unit, especially in the outfield and a terrific pitching staff, this would have clearly been a team that would have been in the race for the majority of the season.
What would the results of all of this been? 1970 would have been the first time (and so far only time) in which the Mets would have won back to back division titles. The original 1970 Mets, inferior offensively to our version, only finished six games out of first place from an underwhelming Pirates team and were in the race late into the season. With Allen, Bailey and Otis on the roster, the team would have scored enough runs to bridge that gap as the pitching staff would have remained just as good, if arguably better with Bunning in the rotation and players like Cardwell and Folkers not taking up time in the bullpen.
Unfortunately, the playoffs wouldn’t result in the same success. Allen had gotten injured on his way to what would have been another MVP caliber performance, missing a quarter of the season, and would not be at full strength in the playoffs. The Mets had weathered that storm during the season due to the quality years of other offensive players, but when they ran into the fledgling Big Red Machine, a hard fought NLCS would have resulted in the Mets going home while the Cincinnati Reds moved on to play the Baltimore Orioles, who were back for another shot at a championship. All in all though, it was another successful season, with the team’s young core only growing that much stronger.