Knight was a waiver wire deal in late August 1984 when we trailed Chicago by 4 games and Houston was 10 back. Houston got 3 guys, two of whom had careers. Gerald Young (5th round) and Manny Lee (IFA) and a former 3rd round pick of the Cubs who we had picked up (Mitch Cook.)

Without those prospects we don’t get Knight and perhaps Carter either since Cashen could very well (almost certainly) have been talking to Montreal and knew what Carter would cost (Hubie Brooks among others) Why else do you bring in a RH hitting 31 year old Knight when you have a perfectly good young 27 year old RH hitting third basemen already? What good would it do to fill one need at the expense of another one your already taken care of at?

Cater was traded for Brooks (1st rounder) Winningham (1st rounder) Youmans (2nd rounder) and Fitzgerald (6th rounder) All of them played in the Majors and wouldn’t have been able to be traded if we had given away those draft picks for a year and a half of David Weathers or Vince Coleman Kevin Appier or Jason Bay.

Bobby Ojeda was obtained for Calvin Schiraldi (1st round 27th pick, same as the one we gave up for a 40 year old LFer who lasted 100 games over 2 years) If Cashen had thrown that draft choice away we don’t GET Ojeda.

Notice a common theme here. These 3 important pieces of the 1986 Mets were acquired with 3 prospects (or current young players) drafted in the 1st round, another from the 2nd, one from the 3rd, another from the 5th and one from the 6th as well as an IFA and all but Cook did have careers in the Majors. That’s an important part of understanding the value of prospects in your farm. They have great trade value, unlike guys you give up draft picks to sign as FA’s because few can afford them and fewer still even want them. They also kill you with no trade clauses, vesting options and frequently bust at an even higher rate than first rounders do.

The last 20 years we’ve been turning a large percentage of our #1 and #2 draft choices into free agent busts and/or salary dumps or watching them play well for exceedingly short periods of time at the rate of almost one per year. Considering the fact that #1 and #2 picks are iffy to begin with is it any wonder we now find ourselves with no one to trade and four first basemen in the starting 8 and 5-10 glaring needs elsewhere on the 40 man roster?

In addition none of these deals were made until we had already won (or were closing in on) 90 wins. Other than Hernandez all the deals before this were FOR prospects.

Darling, Terrell and Sid.

Build up, then build out. As old as the game itself.

Nothing new about it at all but without the farm, can’t be done.

Go through the newspaper account, article and book written at that time – or even better yet, find statements made by any player or coach from that 1969 squad to find out just how much Ed Charles meant to the team and how wrong you are on this.

I was a college freshman at the time and know as a fact that the players were vocally unicent about their depending upon Ed’s guidance, wisdom, calming hand and experience keeping them emotionally even keel and thus preventing the young club from not straying away from emotional highs and lows and staying in focus.

Being a young club with limited major league experience to a man they say how they could not have done it on the field without the glider being there to help them through the stress and pressure.. They also was Ed’s first and only shot to be on a championship club and so he took it upon himself to be a leader.

One other way to understand how much the Glider meant to the club was seen a year later. I was at the home opener welcoming back the world champions. The players were lined up along first base, each coming forward to receive his world series ring, being called up in alphabetical order. Suddenly, we heard the name Ed Charles over the P.A. system and out came from the dugout wearing a trench cut and running onto the field was Ed – the club wanted him there to get his ring.

On a veteran team, yes, he would not have been needed for such leadership and his .200 batting average would have been seen as detrimental but with a team that Tom Seaver said a few minutes after clinching the series was “just a bunch of young kids who love to play this game, someone like Ed was essential. Again, ask any player on that club and they will tell you Ed Charles was as valuable as any other player on the team.

So asking how a .200 hitter could provide leadership proves my point about how little is known about a team and the players by just looking at statistics. Overlooking that was a mistake on your part Fonzie, no disrespect intended.

Joe

Maybe could also mean ZERO years doesn’t it?

I never even thought it through to that point since I never saw Sandy buying anything he couldn’t get at a flea market!

I can see him cutting Ed Charles also saying at 35, he was a .200 hitter holding up the development of Wayne Garrett. We all know Glider’s contributions to the Miracle Mets as the elder statesmen was invaluable to the kids who looked up to him in so many ways for leadership that could never be found in stats.

Even if it was June.

Not unreasonable for either considering the factors at that time. But not prudent, either.

Excuse me if I’m wrong, Bayonne, but could you be thinking of the 1969 Mets playing in 2011 with Sandy as the G.M.? Being 9-1/2 games out, with the financial situation being what it is, would he try selling off veterans like Clendennon, Cardwell and Taylor – who by today’s standards would be making much millions – for young and promising prospects and the shredding of contractual olbligations, had the trade deadline been extended by maybe three weeks?

I think he would.

“I truly believe the birth of this new culture must be the first step in the rebuilding campaign.” – Matty, we disagree on this one. if it was just the possibility of the Madoff civil suit, why would the Wilpons be making such drastic cuts across the board at this time – and even moreso, why the need for two loans just to meet payroll and the hiring of a financial consulting agency if the financial crisis had yet to come?

In my opinion there is no answer. You always try to win and sometimes you are going to have to take risks. I don’t want to hear it years later, after the games are played and after the late inning HR is given up, or the strike out with the bases loaded happens that the Mets..back then..should never haven made those moves. That’s BS and it’s second guessing.

Sadly, going over the list of FA’s, I don’t see much that excites me outside of Cain…Who knows what the needs will be next year? 2nd base? 3rd base? LF? CF? Catcher? (yes) Pitching? (always) Closer? (damn straight)

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/?page_id=177