18
2011
The Myth of the Franchise Player
An article by 
Synonymous with the New York Mets is Tom Seaver. “Tom Terrific” is known as “The Franchise,” the player who was singularly responsible for making the Mets relevant. Adding him to the pitching staff with the likes of Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry and Nolan Ryan, and coupling him with players like Cleon Jones and Tommie Agee, caused the Mets to win their first championship in 1969.
Legend has it that the Mets were never quite the same after Dr. Evil himself, M. Donald Grant, traded away the Franchise, literally and figuratively, for some spare parts. It was true, in a way, but then again, so was the dynamic changing in baseball. Indirectly relating to the trade of Tom Seaver was the underlying notion that he wanted to be paid up, suckas. Grant didn’t think Seaver was above the Mets name, and subsequently got rid of him by planting some unfavorable quotes in the NYC sports “tabloids,” if you will.
But the dynamic was also changing because of the era of free agency. And to that, I ask, is the “franchise player” still relevant?
You know who that is: the guy who is known for playing for one team; who made his mark with one team; who may have played for another team, but was never quite the player he was with that synonymous team. I think the closest we might have today is Albert Pujols. That, however, may change this offseason due to his contentious situation with being the best player in baseball (well, maybe Alex Rodriguez takes umbrage with that) and being a free agent. I think his brand with the Cardinals is significant, but as my friend Bill Ivie has said, the Cardinals were a great franchise before Pujols, they’ll still be a great franchise without him. Time will tell.
But then look at Carlos Beltran. Perhaps one of the most divisive Mets in recent memory, his injuries may prevent him from ever making the Hall of Fame. Yet, I had a Twitversation the other day with some other Mets fans about him playing a few more years, uninjured. I think if it walks and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck, and Beltran cannot stay healthy. I said, the harsh reality is he could be another Moises Alou, a great player whose injury-marred seasons keep him from getting his call to the Hall. However, someone said, if he DID come around with great numbers and played into his 40s without as many injuries, it would be hard pressed to have him go in as a Met, even though he did play seven years with them.
I guess I am raising these questions because of the Mets’ own “Franchise Players” and “Faces of the Franchise,” David Wright and Jose Reyes.
The Mets and those of us who live, breathe and eat any information surrounding the team have a contentious situation on their hands, especially regarding Reyes’ status as a free agent after the 2011 season. Couple that with David Wright, which is another contentious situation in and of itself. While not a free agent, he has an option that he can decline if he gets traded (which makes him a less attractive trading candidate), but then he’s had a noticeable drop off, but on the flip side he’s had one of his first injury-plagued seasons in recent memory (he’s been relatively healthy, considering all the injuries this stupid team has had in the last three years).
It gives me pause because they are still young and productive, yet I wonder if perhaps we all need a change of scenery. Meaning we, as fans, with the same “cornerstone” players, and the players themselves. M. Donald Grant may have been a clueless idiot, but perhaps he was prophetic in trying to set with us, that a player isn’t above the Franchise. Well, he was wrong in the case of Seaver, but the dynamic of the game has changed since then.
Look at the Dodgers. Their two franchise players, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, are essentially the equivalent of our Reyes and Wright. They even have an A+ starter in Clayton Kershaw. And they STILL can’t provide a winning season (or make money)! I would say that Ryan Braun is probably the closest to a “Franchise Player,” since the Brewers see him as part of their long-term plans (and also since it appears Prince Fielder is going to go to the highest bidder in the offseason).
Look, the Mets situation is precarious, and perhaps I am too close to it. I was discussing on Twitter the other day with my friends over at the Daily Stache about the Reyes situation. Basically, I feel like the issue is now that the Mets are mailing it in (something that Terry Collins is NOT happy about), we are going on our third straight losing season, our legs and asses are cramped up from wanting to jump for joy but we can’t because there is nothing making us do that, and now the prospect of losing guys we feel should be in Mets uniforms forever is something we are nonchalant about. “Whatever” has been my philosophy at this point.
I know things will change once the postseason is over, and who knows, maybe the Mets and Reyes will come to an agreement and we’ll all be happy. But I think what will make us happier is WINNING. Reyes and Wright certainly have not been enough. The onus is on the personnel to seriously evaluate the team and not attend to what the fans want. Yes, I know Reyes makes us a lot of us happy. And his injuries are a cause for concern, especially since they basically have said his running game (what makes Jose Jose) has been halted because of his hamstring issues this year.
I know I would hold onto Reyes simply for emotional reasons because I love him and want him to be a Met forever. The other more rational side of me says that the time is not now. This team is a few years away from winning, and would it make a huge difference to lose with him or without him.
About the Author: Taryn Cooper
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“This team is a few years away from winning, and would it make a huge difference to lose with him or without him.”
Well Coop I don’t buy they are a few years away, Could be only a year or two. I define FEW as more like 3 or 4 years away.
As to would it make a difference to lose with him or without him? Well you have to look at more than the standings here.
What was our biggest accomplishment this year and was different about this year compared to the previous years (including the 2006-2008 years!)
You would have to say it was they way they fought and fought hard in almost every game and made it a game right up until the game was over. (recent homestand aside)
That is a total sea change compared to recent years!
Reyes has been the only player we had who has exhibited this ALL OUT NEVER GIVE UP attitude before this year. This year we added guys like Murphy and Turner who also have this all out attitude and bear down when the game is on the line and fight!
This attitude is what the team has sorely lacked as proven by the collapses in 2007 and 2008. And it needs to be continued if we ever hope to succeed in much the way the fight and never quit attitude of the 86ers dominated the league.
You need to keep the players that exhibit that “MAKEUP” and build around them with even more players that have that fight and all out attitude to create a champion.
Want Proof? Look no further than the Philiies who have built their team not by spreadsheet but by internal fortitude and a lot of hired guns on the mound!
I joked about it in a column by Brandon but like I hinted there is a lot of truth in what is said in jest.
When you look around the field at what we have there is not a lot of weakness! Not a lot of greatness true but enough goodness to win against everyone provided they are not forced to score 6 runs per game! And you solve that by getting better pitching not rebuilding the regulars!
I am writing a piece now that compares our regulars to the phillies which should answer any debate about the FEW YEARS AWAY part of your post.
Hired guns is a good way to put it. 3 guys in their early/mid 30s getting a combined 55+mill this year certainly sounds like that!
Hey ANY – what is your thought on the hired guns issue? I think the Phillies are close to a denouement. What say you?
Certianly they went all in on hired guns. Not sure even the yankees ever went this heavy buying a rotation.
As you note, they are pretty much all in on an old, expensive (and locked up) core. And hopefully, the age starts catching up to them more and more.
Actually, recently the phils have hit the same issue they had last year. The offense is sputtering quite often. Even at this point, the Mets have scored just about as many runs, while playing in less of a hitters park.
Not sure how long the PHils can keep up this pace (into the future). Oswalt is likely gone. Hamels could be a Yankee by 2013 (FA after 2012).
so who knows, if the workload finally catches up to Halladay and/or Lee? They could get real average real quickly.
I know thay have been on a great run (once a century!), but at some point, it has to end. especially if the revenue drops back a little, and they can’t keep running 170mill payrolls out there.
I just want to see them flame out early in the playoffs again, and then have the rotation spring some leaks next year (and the remaining old guys can continue to have injury issues)
Hey Metsie, I always love your responses. I wrote this mainly because it’s funny how a few months ago, we were all hell-bent on keeping Reyes at all costs. That he is a “franchise player” and blah blah blah. I’m writing this from a perspective of “now” thinking that it’s clearly obvious that the Mets’ issues don’t lay in giving Reyes anything he wants, or trading Wright, or getting a bunch of hired guns as you say like the Phils did (esp their mound presence). It lays in giving this team a thorough cleaning and fine-tuning, something I’ve argued has been in neglect since Frank Cashen became a grumpy old man and started dismantling his 80s teams.
And with all due respect, I think you are dead wrong on how the Phillies did it. They won in ’08 on complete guile and one can argue on their home grown talent: Hamels, Howard, Rollins and Utley. Their “hired guns” like Rowand and Werth were complimentary. Now, we are seeing what I believe the denouement of that team. Giving Howard $25mm per year till 2019, I want to say? (2018 perhaps) That’s INSANE! Rollins is gone and getting old. I could go on, but I won’t, for this a piece on the Mets. But I will always appreciate your comments here, Metsie, they are so well thought out and argued!
Compare the operformance of this team with the team Cashen has in 1984 before he got Hernandez which really turned it around!
You don’t see the light because your letting the tunnel walls get to you IMO.
This team doesn’t need a good cleaning…
By cleaning do you mean get rid of Wright Reyes Davis Duda and Murphy?
Do those guys need to go to be good?
Did Phillies do that with Rollins and Utley?
They have 4 core guys they built around.
Do not Wright Reyes Murphy Davis and Duda exceed that core?
Compare them one on one!
Tell me which Phillies player trumps which met>
Rollins vs reyes? Not even on Rollin’s BEST day!
Wright vs Polanco? Look at the SLG!
Howard vs Davis? Again look at the SLG AND BA plus fielding!
Duda is the only one who doesn’t match up to what the Phillies have playing the outfield and thats all based on SLG of players who play in a bandbox!
Add Murphy to the mix and you really have a much better TEAM than the Phillies who bought just about ALL of their pitching!
You are playing the grass is greener! It isn’t!
We just took two of three from Atlanta! they of the home grown pitching.
As while the Phillies had to buy their starting rotation we have Harvey Familia, mejia and Wheeler poised to come up!
I know Yuppies like the whole CLEANSING thing and go and get enemas like most people go get a coffee but this team is not in need of one of those!
And anyone who thinks they do either hasn’t been paying attention to the production or merely looking at the standings everyday but not the box score!
WE score more runs than the Phillies do!
We are 11th in the league in scoring and the top run scorer in our division!
It’s just that we don’t have the pitching to stop allowing more than we score!
But you would like to cleanse us of that distinction by getting rid of all the guys who score and produce those runs?
I say SKIP the enema and get your self some eyeglass cleaners!
Metsie! I ask you…what team have you been watching these past three seasons, and since 2007? There are so many flaws on this team it weighs down the overall production of the team. We are 11th in league in scoring…okay, but we can’t compete within the division, have no home field advantage, and our pitching sucks. Moving in the walls is only going to make a bad problem worse — we might hit more HRs, but the other teams will too! I certainly never said let’s trade Wright, Duda, Murphy, etc. There is some depth, however, that has shown that Nick Evans and Murphy can be serviceable, but that’s not the point here. My thinking is that signing Jose Reyes isn’t the only thing to worry about, especially in thinking that he’s the franchise future. No one wants to see Jose Reyes more on the team than me. I think we are going to have to agree to disagree.
PS I am not for hi-colonics by the way. Causes more harm than good
The team that had no pitching! Which one have you been watching because it obviously isn’t the biggest run producer in the NL East namely the NY Mets…
Name a team in the NL East who scored more runs than them!
This article makes no sense. Tons of teams have franchise players. They Yankees have Jeter and Rivera. The Padres had Tony Gwynn. The Twins have Mauer. The Orioles had Cal Ripkin Jr. These aren’t that long ago. I am sure fans can name tons of other franchise players. The Mets just haven’t been loyal to players to have franchise players since Seaver. The Mets either give up on players or trade them away. Thats how the history of the team has been and we (the fans) have suffered because of it. A lack of faith in the players has definately hurt the team over the years. How many guys have been shown that loyalty that even the Yankees have to their franchise players. The Mets keep trying to sign new free agents instead of showing loyalty and building franchise players and it burns them all the time. If they get rid of Reyes and Wright it will happen again. I could see Reyes signing somewhere else easily even though he has stated repeatedly that he wants to stay in NY. He moved his whole family to NY. Instead of working on a good relationship with Reyes though the Mets have made it into a huge ordeal for Reyes and for the fans to go through. The Mets are so obsessed with trying to win that they lose sight of what actually lets teams win. Its about building a good team and that includes making players happy. Only one team can consistantly buy championships, the Yankees, and even they have some loyalty to their players. Just because its NYC doesn’t mean the Mets can buy a World Series, they have tried for twenty years now and it hasn’t worked.
Doesn’t make sense? What exactly doesn’t Metsguppy? Methinks you missed the part where I said NOW as opposed to “ten years ago,” which is the last time Gwynn or Ripken played (who, by the way, I loved and is my favorite player to this day). The dynamic of the game started changing back then, and now it is. I may have forgotten Mauer, but I did include Braun and Pujols. As for Jeter or Rivera, I will not say they are “franchise players” because the argument is that no player is “above” the Yankee brand (which Steinbrenner and Cashman both said when Jeter was renegotiating this year). So bad example. But I find it curious that is what you decided to hone in on. What else would Reyes say about staying in NY? That he wouldn’t stay here? No, Reyes would be absolutely stupid to not entertain offers from other teams, where I will say money trumps all. He can move his family or keep them in NY while he travels. Trust me, plenty of players do it.
BTW I wouldn’t disagree that the Mets burn bridges all the time. I’ve said that repeatedly on here, and it mostly relates to how they undervalue their own players. I suggest you read this: http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/03/crash-and-burn.html, where I discuss that very topic.
At the end of the day, the Mets’ current issues don’t lie in needing to sign Reyes, whether or not they hold onto Wright, or building pitching through development or through hired guns. It’s about overvaluing, emotional attachments and true value of players we consider “ours.”
Your article stated that the free agent era brought an end to Franchise players. Thats why I brought up guys that had played long after that era had begun. I would include Chipper Jones (the hated LARRY!) on the list of franchise players also. The Mets too easily give up on players and it has hurt the team and the fanbase numerous times. In the game of baseball the emotional attachment should be considered, the fans bring in the money and fans are emotionally attached to players. Finding the balance between that attachment and the business side is difficult but the Mets have not been even trying to find that balance. They are too willing to give up and throw away good players and it has hurt us fans and the team in the long term. Seaver, Ryan, Gooden, Cone all had their no hitters AFTER the Mets got rid of them (Hideo Nomo had his after he left the team too but he really couldn’t be considered a franchise player for anyone) and we all are still waiting for the Mets to have one. Loyalty gets rewarded sometimes.
You know what’s funny – I was going to mention Chipper (I hate him too, but respect the hell out of him), but I was thinking more of DW’s and Reyes’ generation, even though Braun could theoretically not be part of that. Franchise players exist, but not at the level as they did. I mean, how many players play their entire careers with one team, are synonymous with one team…Larry? Jeter? I told you I didn’t count Jeter, but that’s a bias of my own. Someone like a Robin Yount or a Cal Ripken exist very rarely these days. Whether that’s a direct result of FA or not, I’m not 100% sure but it’s been good for baseball.
I’m preparing myself for the possibility of no Reyes. Mostly because at the beginning of the season I thought it was the be-all end-all. My theory is that the Mets have larger problems that Reyes can solve. Ya know?
PS Hideo Nomo was an anomaly. He had no-hitters before AND after he was on the Mets!
Another nonsensical article trying to rationalize getting rid of the team’s two best players. You build a winning team not by getting rid of your best players, but replacing your worst with good ones. The Dodgers isn’t a playoff team not because of Kemp, Either, or Kershaw, but because they have no good position players beside them. The Mets aren’t making the playoffs because their rotation and bullpen are terrible compared to that of the Phillies or Braves, not because of the failures of Wright or Reyes. None of the has anything to do with the notion and importance of a “Franchise Player”, which I couldn’t care less about. Whether the Mets keep or get rid of a player depends on whether the player is conducive to winning, and Wright and Reyes are obviously not the problem. Everyone knows the Mets need to improve their pitching, and with the current finances of the team there might not be a quick fix like a C.J. Wilson or Yu Darvish.
really a crap shoot trying to decide if Darvish would actually be a fix in 2012.