This is the conclusion to a series of posts postulating what could have been for the Mets, dating back to the 1962 expansion draft. Some of the players mentioned in these posts played for the Mets, some didn’t. In the end, these posts have been an exercise in logical fantasy to see what differences there might have been if things were done differently.
After a successful 1975 seasons that fell a little bit short of a playoff appearance, one would think that the fans and organization would be excited about how the team was progressing. The pitching staff was as good as ever and the team had slowly begun to incorporate some young talent into the roster to supplement some of the aging players that had started the teams’ success back in 1968.
Unfortunately, two factors would derail the team as the 1975 season ended. The first was the death of team founder and owner Joan Payson. Payson had been the teams’ greatest supporter and fan since she first purchased the fledgling franchise prior to the 1962 season. She was a savvy business woman and actually had a solid feel for the game of Baseball and what her part, as financier, was to the New York Mets. The original version of the Mets didn’t lay the proper groundwork for the franchise, which lead to a miracle season in 1969, but a struggle to repeat that season in years afterwards. Our Mets developed the team more completely, which allowed Mrs. Payson to spend money appropriately and judiciously. With her passing though, control of the team fell to chairman M. Donald Grant, who was less interested in the product on the field or more interested in running the Mets as a business.
The problem with this methodology was the other factor that was becoming prevalent. As 1975 rolled into 1976, the structure of professional Baseball was heading into a drastic time of change. The Reserve Clause, which had dominated organization and player relations for decades, had been challenged, first by Curt Flood and subsequently by Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally. In the 1974 to 1975 offseason, Catfish Hunter had taken an opportunity given to him by notoriously stingy Athletics owner Charley O. Finley to file for arbitration and make himself a free agent, which had resulted in the Yankees making him the highest paid player in Baseball. It was clear the money was going to start to dictate how teams were constructed. Grant was old school and unwilling to bend on these matters. Without Mrs. Payson in charge, the years of Grant’s dominance over the financial aspects of the major league roster had begun.
All of these factors are why a season by season comparison for this reinvention series becomes naught. Grant’s desire to avoid big free agent contracts or even big contracts for his own player’s, would have started in the offseason of 1975. Rusty Staub would be the first player to go, as his veteran status and long term success in the game would make him a highly sought after commodity on the open market. In the original offseason, the Mets would trade Staub for Mickey Lolich. Our team is much deeper, so acquiring the veteran Lolich would not have been a priority. More than likely, our team would have traded Staub to the Orioles, which originally did occur but was nixed for the acquisition of the veteran Lolich. The trade would have definitely netted Doug DeCinces, one of the Orioles top prospects, and may have been a deeper deal that included another prospect or even the exchange of veteran pitchers, a la the trade the Orioles would make in the real world for Reggie Jackson, which they wouldn’t have to do with Staub on the roster. We know that DeCinces would have been dealt because Frank Cashen admits as much in his autobiography and our Mets still do need a third baseman.
The next to go would have been Amos Otis. Otis was still in his prime which meant that he might be due an even bigger payday than Staub. The Mets had Lee Mazzilli burning his way through the system and our team acquired Willie Davis at the trade deadline in 1975. Davis was at the end of his career, but was still a solid, everyday player, so the thought process would have been to allow Davis to bridge the gap to Mazzilli and send Otis out to fill other aspects of the roster. It’s hard to guess where Otis would have gone to, but the Royals seem like a logical fit (with Whitey Herzog in charge, who had been a big proponent of Otis when with the Mets organization) and they had some top prospects that they might have been willing to move. Such a deal may have involved top left handed outfield prospect Ruppert Jones, who the Royals thought highly off, but didn’t protect in the 1976 expansion draft in order to protect players like Willie Wilson and U.L. Washington.
The final initial piece of the puzzle to go would have been Dick Allen. Allen had been the team’s offensive superstar since he broke in with the team in 1963, possibly as the rookie of the year, after being taken by our Mets in the expansion draft of 1962. Allen had been last signed to a contract by Payson, who was notoriously loyal to her players, but that contract had expired as of the end of the 1975 season. That season had been Allen’s worst as a professional player, due to lingering injuries that had finally caught up to the powerful hitter. Without Payson, Grant would not have wanted to meet Allen’s salary demands and would have allowed the veteran slugger to leave as a free agent.
It would have marked a sad end to an era for the reinvented Mets, and makes for a perfect coda to end this series. Allen would have walked away from the team as the organization’s historical leader in runs scored, doubles, triples, home runs, hits and RBI. Of the records that Allen would have left with, he would still own the team leads in all but doubles (David Wright) and triples (Jose Reyes), although he would still rank second in both of those categories. Wright, who currently owns most of the career hitting records on the team, would still be close to 150 hits and nearly 200 runs scored and RBI behind Allen going into the 2015 season, not even mentioning home runs, which at about 350 in his Mets career for Allen, would be so far off that Wright might never reach it. He also would still have had several in season records, including home runs and RBI (for his 1969 season) and would have been the only Met to hit at least 40 home runs in more than two seasons and over 30 home runs in six seasons (only Mike Piazza comes close with four 30 home run seasons). Only Wright would have more 100 RBI seasons than Allen and Allen would be the only Met to have an OPS greater than 1000 more than once (Piazza is the only other Mets player with an OPS over 1000, achieving that distinction in 2000). That’s how great Allen’s career would have been and why his leaving prior to 1976 is a fitting end to our reinvention series. More than likely his number also would have been retired and discussions would still occur about who was greater between Allen and Tom Seaver.
So how would our Mets have fared in this time period? 1976 would have been successful, as it was in the real Mets world, with DeCinces providing a definite upgrade at third base. That team would still have fallen short of a terrific Phillies team and would be rife with controversy regarding contract negotiations as the Seitz decision occurred and free agency went into full effect in the 1976 offseason. Our Mets, held back by Grant, still wouldn’t have signed their own players to fair contracts and also wouldn’t have put money out for big free agents. The notorious Midnight Massacre at the trade deadline in 1977 would still have occurred, although the fall out may have been buoyed by DeCinces and Jones (potentially acquired for Otis), who both had excellent offensive seasons in 1977, that team’s biggest weakness in the real world. However, that team wouldn’t have been a contender and may have won 80 to 82 games with a better offense, so that success would have been limited. 1978 and 1979 would have been just as disastrous as the team continued to get rid of its stars from yesteryear and couldn’t replace them with the young players coming up through the system.
In the end, the team still would have bottomed out enough that it would have been sold and Cashen would have been named GM entering into the 1980 season.
The legacy of our reinvented Mets would still have been profound. Instead of the organization being looked at as a team that got lucky in 1969 and again in 1973, our Mets would have been a force to be reckoned with from 1968 until 1976, winning two World Series (1969 and 1973), making it to the 1974 World Series and making it to the playoffs in 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1974, while just falling short in 1971 and 1975 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The hard years from 1978 to 1983 would have been slightly less hard on a franchise that had so many banners to fly at the top of Shea stadium and the franchise would have had a much better reputation. Instead of Mets fans looking back in history at one glory era (1984 to 1990), we would have had two to remember when adding in the run from 1968 to 1976.
By the time the team resuscitated itself in 1984, more than likely nothing would have remained of consequence from the era of greatness that had occurred. Of all the players that had taken the field at Shea Stadium during that time, only DeCinces might have remained, although this is debatable as well as DeCinces struggled with back problems and was a free agent prior to the 1984 season. If DeCinces was though, our reinvented Mets may have had one last impact on the history of the organization as his power and defensive prowess at third base may have been the difference to push the Mets to a division title in 1984 or 1985. Would the 1984 Mets with DeCinces manning third base and Hubie Brooks manning shortstop (not out of the realm of possibility as Brooks did that for the Expos after being traded to them for Gary Carter), have beaten the San Diego Padres in 1984 or the Kansas City Royals in 1985? It’s fun to think about, which was the whole point of this discussion. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the ride.