Reinventing the Mets: 1973

After a terrific regular season in 1972 and a nail biting rush to the division title with the Pirates, the Mets had fallen short of returning to the World Series, again falling to the Big Red Machine from Cincinnati, as they had in 1970. After losing out to the Reds twice in three years, the Mets would have gone into the 1972 offseason with the goal of bridging that gap.

Here’s the roster that the Mets would have finished 1972 with:

Tommie Agee
Dick Allen
Bob Bailey
Lute Barnes
John Briggs
Buzz Capra
Tim Foli
Jim Fregosi
Danny Frisella
Larry Fritz
Woodie Fryman
Wayne Garrett
Gary Gentry
Jerry Grote
Bud Harrelson
Bob Johnson
Mike Jorgensen
Von Joshua
Jerry Koosman
Ted Martinez
Jon Matlack
Willie Mays
Tug McGraw
John Milner
Tommy Moore
Amos Otis
Harry Parker
Bob Reynolds
Ray Sadecki
Dave Schneck
Tom Seaver
Ken Singleton
Duke Sims
Bill Stein
Bob Stinson
Brent Strom
Bill Sudakis
George Theodore
Hank Webb
Bernie Williams

The first order of business was to free up the forty man roster for more prospects. With that in mind the Mets would have quickly sold Stinson to the Expos. Despite being a switch hitter, Stinson had shown subpar defensive skills and still developing offensive skills. Unfortunately, he was out of options and the Mets attempt to slide him through waivers would have failed at Montreal. They would slide prospects Barnes and Theodore through waivers however, and would designate them for assignment at Tidewater. With three roster spots open, the Mets would have added former number one pick, right handed pitcher Randy Sterling, third base prospect Roy Staiger and left handed hitting outfielder Greg Harts.

With these moves made, the Mets would work to find ways to improve a deep and talented roster. They would achieve improvement in one area early in the offseason after making the following trade:

The Mets trade Gentry and Frisella to the Braves for Felix Millan and George Stone.

The Mets had not been able to adequately replace Ron Hunt at second base since trading him for Tommy Davis prior to the 1967 season. Millan, a three time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award winner, would finally provide stability at that position. Stone was a twenty five year old left handed starter, who had been a stable part of the Braves rotation before having a down season in 1972. The Mets were giving up significant parts of their pitching staff in Gentry and Frisella, but the team was so deep in this respect, that it was a point from which a deal could be made.

On a less happy, but necessary note, the Mets also made the following trade:

The Mets trade Agee to the Astros for Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris.

Agee had come off of two injury-plagued seasons in which his fitness and his knees had given way on him. To get even two borderline young players like the left handed hitting Chiles and right handed starter/reliever Harris, was a boon for the former star center fielder. With Otis locked down in center field and younger players looking to take control of other outfield spots, Agee and his balky knees needed to go. Fans would always remember his play in 1969 and 1970 though.

The Mets would stay fairly static with their roster from this point forward. They would look at replacements at third base, as Bailey had struggled both offensively and especially defensively in 1972, but the prices for players like Don Money and Graig Nettles, both traded in this offseason, were too high for the club. In the end they would have stood pat with Bailey, hoping they had enough depth on the roster to cover up for Bailey if he performed like he did in 1972.
However, as spring training came closer and the team began to look at the roster, two things stood out. Despite improving the roster at second base, they had sacrificed a good starting pitcher and quality bullpen arm to get that done. The rest of the offseason had not resulted in successfully replacing those players. The team had to look at themselves and wonder if they had closed the gap with the Reds. In the outfield, Mays was one year older and Briggs had shown that he was really just a platoon player. The team had a variety of young outfielders, but none of them, outside of Otis, had laid claim to a job. The player they Mets were looking at most to take control of a position was Singleton, but when given the majority of at bats in 1972, Singleton had been ok, but not exceptional.

With this in mind, talks with the Expos, dropped in spring training prior to the 1972 season, were rekindled. The two teams were in different places now though. Rusty Staub, the target of the club, had missed half the season due to injury the previous year and was one year closer to 30. Singleton, although not putting together and All-Star campaign, had proven that he could be at least a major league average starting outfielder. With all of this in mind, the team finally put together the following trade:

The Mets trade Fryman, Singleton, Jorgensen and Foli to the Expos for Rusty Staub, Carl Morton and John Strohmayer.

The additions of Fryman, Morton and Strohmayer are the results of this trade occurring in 1973 instead of 1972. Fryman had pitched exceptionally for the Mets down the stretch in 1972 after being picked up on waivers from the Phillies, but including him on the roster with Koosman, Matlack, Stone, Sadecki and McGraw made the pitching staff far too heavily left handed. Morton was a quality right hander, a few years younger than Fryman and, in the real 1973, was actually traded to the Braves for Pat Jarvis. Fryman was a better pitcher than Jarvis by 1973, making this change to the Staub deal realistic. Strohmayer was a hard throwing, mid-twenties reliever who the Mets hoped would help fill the role Frisella had left. Giving up young players wouldn’t sit well with the team, but adding a known hitter like Staub in the place of a still relative unknown like Singleton, had to give the team the feeling that, along with Morton stabilizing the rotation, they were that much closer to overtaking the Reds.

With spring training in motion, the club had to feel very complete. What became obvious though, was that young prospect Milner was clearly putting his name in the hat for the player to platoon with Mays. Several years younger than Briggs and with more power potential, Milner played himself into a platoon spot, leading the Mets to trade Briggs to the Brewers for a couple of prospects, most notably Rick Auerbach, the Brewers former starting shortstop, who was still young and had intriguing potential as a speedy plus fielder at the position.

The other big story of the offseason was Allen. The team’s star hitter, and the last member of the 1962 Mets to remain on the team, Allen’s 1972 season was one to remember. He had again fallen short of MVP honors, but had been a close runner up to Johnny Bench and was still one of the premiere hitters in the game. By this time, he would also have been a favorite of original owner Joan Payson, who was known for having an extreme fondness for players that had been around the organization for a long time. Allen had regularly made much of his contract status, yearly going to bat for himself with ownership, but this time the team, led by Payson, opposed by M. Donald Grant, would have signed Allen to a three year contract, one of the most lucrative in baseball history.

Allen, with contract in hand, would start the season where he left off in 1972, slugging 16 home runs and posting a 1000 plus OPS through the first 69 games of the season. He was joined, at that point in the season, by fellow lineup stand outs Staub (773 OPS), Bailey (984 OPS and 13 home runs) and Otis (833 OPS and 11 home runs) in what was the most explosive lineup in team history. The pitching staff was as good as ever, with Reynolds stepping easily into Frisella’s role and a bullpen deep in strong arms, whether it was swing man Parker, the hard throwing Johnson, veteran Sadecki and forkballer McGraw. Morton, brought in to be the team’s fourth starter, was having one of the best years of his career, making the starting pitching, led by Seaver, Koosman and 1972 rookie of the year Matlack, arguably the best staff in the National league.

Even the bench was functioning well, with a healthy Sudakis slugging home runs, Sims acting as a solid left handed option opposite Grote and Garrett filling in nicely at several infield positions. Only the left field platoon of Mays and Milner was not that productive.

The only thing that kept the team from running roughshod over the national league was injuries. Harrelson struggled again with injuries. Grote and Mays also missed time with injury issues. The most devastating though was Allen, who during game 69, had a collision while playing first base and broke his leg. Allen would be slow to heal, attempting to come back a few times over the next few months, but the team would take it in stride. Strong performances by Garrett and Sudakis helped, as they allowed for a variety of players to fill in at first base without losing ground at other positions. Milner and, a now healthy, Mays would help fill that productivity with stronger remainders of the season, while Staub helped by improving on his already solid first 69 games.

In the end, what had originally been a long, drawn out battle for first place in 1973, with the now famous moniker termed by McGraw, “You gotta’ believe” helping the team to a hard fought division title, this club would have won well in excess of 90 games and waltzed into the postseason with their most comfortable division title since 1969.

This time though, things would be different when the Reds came to town. The original 1973 Mets, a far inferior club to this one, won a hard fought (literally regarding a certain altercation between Pete Rose and Harrelson), five game series. These Mets would have run through the Reds in probably four.

Those original Mets also fought one of the best teams of the 1970’s, the Oakland Athletics, in the World Series, losing in seven as one of the feistiest under dogs in baseball history. Our team though will be different.

These Mets don’t have to wait until 1986 for a championship. Our reinvented Mets will parade down Broadway in the fall of 1973 after beating the Athletics in six.

Why such a bold prediction? Think about Otis manning center field instead of Mays, about Bailey slugging the ball from third base, with Garrett filling in at other position. Spot starts by Sudakis or Sims to provide Grote with a break and the chance for a game changing home run. How about an at least somewhat healthy Allen, walking out on a partially healed leg, doing what he always did, hit home runs in big moments. Can anyone say Kirk Gibson?

Originally in 1973, a slightly above average team with excellent pitching, went toe to toe with two of the best teams in baseball history, beating the Reds in five and losing to the Athletics in seven. Our far superior team will get to celebrate a championship, further cementing the Mets, with two World Series championships and four playoff appearances in five years, as one of the best teams of the decade.