Frank had 32 that season and since we no longer have Hairston, I think you are right again. Of course, Frank loved hitting in the Polo Grounds with those short distances down the line.

Though he hit .306, Ashburn did not have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting leaders yet the Mets always had him listed as their all-time batting champ till Cleon hit his .340 in 1969.

While Santana might love some guarantee of his option being picked up, there’s just no way — even if he had a killer year — that option gets exercised.

The other trading deadline option that would be appealing to another club at midseason if the Mets are out of it is Marcum.

“…..the fact remains the the current outfield hasn’t even one player with a full season of experience under his belt. I can’t say I ever recall a similar situation in the history of the franchise.”

Technically you are right, for even though Lucas Duda has almost 900 plate appearances in the majors, he did have those two small stints in the minors each of the past two seasons.

At this point I would love to go into the season just with our original outfield alignment that first game in Sportsman Park back in 1962 – Thomas, Ashburn and Bell – even at the stages their careers were at the time.

After two years under Sandy, it seems Terry now gets the idea.

We won’t get much back for him but it will uncomplicate the situation next offseason.
I’m not sure we would even get a comp pick if we let him leave with the option in place.

Not sure you can deny the option and then make a qualifying offer after the fact.
So getting anything for him is probably better than going into the offseason with him.

As for Terry he will be the next casualty in the BUYING TIME agenda that tripped up and cost us Dickey.
A new manager will give them another two years to say “Give him Time to instill his managerial philosophy” while Sandy GMs the team to the top of the draft picks to do what he )and others) CLAIM he has been doing for the last two years.

Wouldn’t this be true only if Johan is dealt before the season started? If a player is dealt in-season, the new team doesn’t get draft picks even if they make a qualifying offer (which they wouldn’t bother to do in these cases.)

I would say 3/36 to 3/39 is more like what they would be offering.

Trading him, depends entirely on how well he is doing and how desperate some team is for a SP.

the money is easy enough to work out, and they could easily do what they did with beltran. Eat the money they are on the hook for anyway, and get real talent back. If they go the KRod route and get a team to take on a lot more of the money, than no, they won’t get much back other than the salary relief.

I really dont expect him to be back next year. I am pretty sure that Alderson promised Wally the job in 2014 to keep him in the fold one more year. I wont cry for Terry if he loses his job as I am sure he wont be applying for unemployment benefits.