WILLIE MONTANEZ: The Hot Dog

On December 8, 1977, the Mets were one of four teams involved in one of the most complex deals in the history of baseball. This was it :

• The Mets sent John Milner to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The Atlanta Braves sent Willie Montanez to the New York Mets.
• The Texas Rangers sent Adrian Devine, Tommy Boggs, and Eddie Miller to the Atlanta Braves.
• The Texas Rangers sent a player to be named later and Tom Grieve to the New York Mets.
• The Texas Rangers sent Bert Blyleven to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Al Oliver and Nelson Norman to the Texas Rangers.
• The New York Mets sent Jon Matlack to the Texas Rangers.
• The Texas Rangers sent Ken Henderson (March 15, 1978) to the New York Mets to complete the trade.

I wish I could tell you who conceived this deal and how it fell into place, but frankly, I have no idea. For the Mets’ part, they replaced John Milner with Willie Montanez and sent Matlack away for Tom Grieve and Ken Henderson.

Montanez was considered a better all-around player and certainly flashier than Milner, but I think that Met fans were disappointed with Willie’s production and expected a major upgrade from Milner. Actually, the one full year Willie spent with the Mets wasn’t bad statistically (.256, 32 2B, 17 HR, 96 RBI), but he seemed to fail a lot in big spots and hit his best in one-sided games. Ironically, the following season, the Mets sent Montanez to Texas, another of the parties in the original deal, in exchange for Ed Lynch and Mike Jorgensen and a couple of years later, the Pirates traded Milner even-up to Montreal for Montanez.

As for the other part of the trade for the Mets, it turned out to be a lot less than either side expected. Matlack had one solid year for the Rangers, but that was about it. Neither Grieve nor Henderson was anything other than a part-time player, though the Mets were expecting more, I’m sure.

The big names in the deal were Blyleven and Oliver, so maybe the deal started out as a one-for-one and other general managers just joined the party. I suppose after giving up Blyleven, the Rangers needed another pitcher and that’s how Matlack got involved, but it looks to me like the Mets were a pawn in this trade, and they were probably fortunate it didn’t turn out any worse than it did for them.

Travis d’Arnaud jumped to the top of the Mets prospect list.

Until the trade that sent RA Dickey to the Blue Jays for prominent prospects Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard, it sure didn’t look like a team that was rebuilding. The Dickey trade was the first action taken by general manager Sandy Alderson that signaled that the team may be undergoing a rebuilding phase.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances, the Dickey trade was not really so much a part of the rebuilding process as it was picking the pocket of a team (the Blue Jays) that is putting all of their eggs in one basket in 2013.Trading a prominent major league commodity for minor league prospects is generally the tell-tale sign that a team is entering a rebuilding phase. The question is, should the Mets be rebuilding from the ground up?

Rebuilding is a term that we generally hear coming from places like Kansas City and Pittsburgh. They always seem like they are rebuilding, don’t they? That’s because once a team takes on a rebuilding project, unless everything clicks, meaning the prospects all gel and hit their stride at the same time, there will be setbacks. Baseball prospects are about as unpredictable as lightning strikes. There is no such thing as a sure thing. Because of that, a rebuilding phase can sometimes take years to complete.

Another reason why these rebuilding teams always seem to be rebuilding is because they are generally from small markets. With little money to spend on free-agents, they have no choice but to rebuild year after year and hope that prospects pan out. The problem is, when they finally do pan out, they often lose the players due to the inability to pay them once they hit free-agency for the first time.

What ends up happening? Large market teams have no reason to build their minor league systems because they know that the prospects that are developed by the small market teams will eventually be out of their price range. They just sit back and wait to write them out a fat check. It makes you wonder if the small market team decided to start spending some money and keeping their prospects, how the power would shift in the major leagues if the large market teams could no longer subsidize these prospects.

Now the question is: Are the Mets truly rebuilding?

Let’s get one thing out in the open – large market teams don’t rebuild, they replenish. There is a major difference. Replenishing entails filling in gaps in the organization; rebuilding entails starting from scratch. The Mets should not be rebuilding, they should be replenishing.

They want to make everyone think they are rebuilding because if a team claims to be rebuilding, they think it gives them a free pass for stinking up the joint. Well that may fly in Pittsburgh. It may have flown in Kansas City. But in New York, that just isn’t going to fly.

Not to mention, this has to be the absolute worst rebuilding in the history of rebuilding. Rebuilding teams don’t sign players to $138 million contracts; they trade them. Rebuilding teams don’t let 23 of their draft picks to go unsigned; they sign them.

Unless this is some new hybrid type of rebuilding process where you don’t trade your biggest trade chip and you don’t sign draft picks, it is not rebuilding. Do you want to know what it is? It’s an excuse for not spending money. Period.

The Chicago Cubs are another team that is said to be in a rebuilding process. However, the difference between the Cubs and the Mets is that their front office has been busy all off-season signing players in an attempt to improve in 2013. They’re rebuilding and yet spending money to improve in the interim. Who would’ve thought it was possible?

What have the Mets done this winter? They have accomplished the impossible feat of being the only team to not sign a major league free-agent.

The Mets are not rebuilding, they are stalling. They were hoping the Mayans were right. But now we are in 2013 and they don’t know what to do.

Through the use of the scorecard, let’s take a look at how Johan Santana did this week:

Despite not having any wins this week between his two starts, the Mets won both games. Santana had an absolutely stellar start Tuesday against the Marlins, holding them to 1 run through 6.2 innings, striking out 11. Yesterday, the Mets finally scored with him on the mound, spotting him a 4-0 lead, which he left with, but the bullpen blew the lead and he wound up with two non-decisions this week.

Honorable Mentions

These players, although not winning the Player of the Week award, had a very strong showing this week and deserve to be recognized. We will also show how strong a showing they had through the use of the scorecard.

David Wright

Lucas Duda

Ruben Tejada

Not So Hot

The Not So Hot area mentions a few players who did not have a good week this week.

Ike Davis

Frank Francisco

Manny Acosta

Miguel Batista

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

This area shows the scoreboard of the Players of the Week, and who has won already this season and how many times.

T1. David Wright – 1

T1. Kirk Nieuwenhuis – 1

T1. Johan Santana – 1

Trivia

To finish off the Player of the Week announcement each week, I’ll be asking you a trivia question. The answer will be announced during the next Player of the Week announcement, as well as the first person who answered correctly. Another question will then be asked. Last Week’s Answer is: Pittsburgh Pirates. Alex68 was the first person to correctly answer the question. So here is this week’s question:

What Met was traded for himself?

Naturally I don’t condone what those guys did, but in a small way I definitely appreciate McGwire admitting it and wanting to move on.  All of which reminded me of the 1987 season, and specifically when a young Mets pitcher named Dwight Gooden failed a drug test and shed light on what many of us suspected–that something had affected his performance in 1986.  He began that season 5-0 with a 1.04 ERA before the wheels began to fall off and he finished the campaign a more pedestrian 17-6 with a 2.84 ERA.  Gooden was even more pedestrian in the postseason, including Game 5 of the World Series when he was visibly sweating in frigid Boston, while giving up four runs on nine hits in four innings. I had gone to almost every home game Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1986, so I knew something with him was not right.

Then he failed that whiz quiz in April of 1987, and while it was shocking and disappointing, we as fans were a bit relieved that Gooden’s recent shortcomings were now easier to explain.  He probably wouldn’t have admitted guilt on his own, but before being admitted to the Smithers Clinic he at least showed remorse, and seemed relieved to be able to rehab from cocaine addiction and get on with his life and career, and I respected that.

Gooden didn’t pitch again until June 5, 1987, a Friday night game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea.  Dick Young of the New York Daily News, who was never afraid to stir up controversy, offered this advice to fans: “Stand Up and Boo!” Well I was there, and that’s not what happened….we all gave Doc a standing ovation for like five minutes, and had chills when he struck out Bonds to start the game.  He then went on to beat the Pirates in what was, despite four walks, vintage Gooden.

Gooden’s career would have plenty more ups and downs, and he’s still battling the demons that caused him to use drugs in the first place.  But I remember June 5, 1987, and I remember it because, after accepting Gooden’s shortcomings, I and many others forgave him and welcomed him back with open arms.

For many years while the Atlanta Braves had a chokehold on the rest of the National League East, Turner Field was a veritable house of horrors for the New York Mets.  Since it opened in 1997, the Mets are 34-66 at Turner Field and have had numerous crushing defeats, including some of the season-ending variety (see 1999 season).  Last year, the Mets were 1-8 in Atlanta, easily their worst record against any team on the road.  Clearly, Atlanta was not one of the cities the Mets looked forward to visiting every season when the schedules were released.

It appears that Turner Field may not be the only ballpark that causes the mighty Mets to turn into the mini-Mets.  Is it possible that PNC Park in Pittsburgh has become the new Turner Field in the mind of the Mets’ players?

Granted, the Mets have been playing shorthanded so far in their current series at PNC Park.  However, the Mets were also short a few guys last week while they were winning five out of six games at Citi Field.  If they could defeat the Nationals and Marlins a few players short of a full deck, surely they could defeat the lowly Pirates.  Ah, but the aura of PNC Park has permeated through the Mets’ bats and gloves.  How else can you explain squandering a 5-0 lead Monday night?  Not even Johan Santana could fend off the PNC Park Monster Tuesday night in a 3-1 loss that saw him give up the first major league home run to Jason Jaramillo and back-to-back RBI doubles to Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche.  This week’s games are just a small sample of the unfathomable defeats the Mets have suffered at PNC Park over the years.  Do any of these other games bring back memories?

July 8, 2005:  The Mets held a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning.  It wasn’t even a save situation, so Willie Randolph brought in Aaron Heilman to start the ninth inning.  Unfortunately, Heilman created a save situation for Braden Looper.  The two of them combined to give up four runs in the ninth inning, followed by another run in the tenth.  Pirates win 6-5.

September 15-17, 2006:  Needing one win to secure their first division title in 18 years, the Mets proceeded to lose all three games in Pittsburgh.  Fortunately, these losses did not have a negative effect on their season.  However, it was now becoming obvious that the Mets were having difficulty playing at PNC Park.

August 18, 2008:  The Mets were holding on to a slim lead in the National League East.  The previous week, they had lost a heartbreaker to the Bucs at Shea Stadium when they couldn’t hold a 5-1 seventh inning lead.  The bullpen gave up three runs in the seventh inning followed by three more in the ninth, leading to a 7-5 loss.  The Mets needed the bullpen to recover from that bitter taste the Pirates had left in their collective mouths just a week earlier.  Unfortunately, they wasted a beautiful shutout performance by John Maine by giving up five runs over the last three innings en route to a 5-2 defeat.

Is it any wonder the Mets have lost the first two games at PNC Park this year, losing in similar fashion to numerous previous losses there?  The Mets are now 6-9 in Pittsburgh since they became perennial contenders in 2005.  At least when the Mets were losing all those games at Turner Field, they were losing to a Braves team that was playing regularly in October.  The Pirates haven’t had a winning record since 1992 and could set the all-time record for consecutive losing seasons this year.  No Mets team, no matter how injury-depleted they are, should have that type of record against a team whose annual goal is to be mediocre.  No matter how you slice it, it appears that PNC Park is becoming the new Turner Field, a ballpark where good things only happen to the team wearing the home whites.  I’m just glad the Mets don’t have to make a return trip to Pittsburgh this season.

If you’re a Pirate fan, you are either incredibly loyal, or you like misery.

Back in the late 1970′s, the Pirates were one of the toughest teams in the NL East. Those were the Pirates of Willie “Pops” Stargell, and Dave “The Snake” Parker. I remember watching a young second baseman, who would later become a manager of the Mets break in with the Pirates (Willie Randolph).
In the early 1990′s the Pirates were once again a force to be reckoned with. These were the Pirates of Andy Van Slyke, Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. Current Detroit Tiger’s manager, Jim Leyland was the Pirates skipper back then.

Since the early 1990′s the Buckos have fallen on tough times. Whether it was poor ownership, or bad management decisions, the Pirates just haven’t been able to hit the .500 mark, and that’s too bad. They have the Super Bowl Champion Steelers, the Penguins are battling the Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup. They need a decent baseball team.

That said, I do believe the Pirates are on the right track. They are pretty good up the middle. There regular catcher Doumit is out for the season with an injury, but at second base they have Freddy Sanchez, the one time NL batting champ. Jack Wilson is solid at short, and Nate McLouth in center is going to be a huge star. The Pirate infield is rounded out by the La Roche brothers at the corners. Outfielder Nyjer Morgan is another potential big star.

I really wish the Pirates well in the future (so long as the Mets only play them 7 times a year). This once proud franchise, in this great sports city deserves to be a winner again.

We’re all aware that the Marlins have defeated the Mets each of the last two season finales to quell their playoff hopes.  But it’s been the Nationals who have given the Mets fits in September, causing those season finales to be more meaningful than they should have been.  Over the past two seasons, the Mets are a combined 3-7 against Washington after that notorious “17 games left in the season” point.  Just splitting those ten games could have put the Mets in the playoffs in one of those seasons, and perhaps both years.  The Mets must not take the Nationals lightly.  Winning these games in May could take some pressure of the team in September.  The Mets must not go into September saying “what if we had beaten the Nats in those games in May?”

Regardless of the makeshift lineup put together by Jerry Manuel in this series, the Mets should be able to handle the Nats.  I say “should” because these Mets have been making too many mistakes on the basepaths and far too many errors in the field.  As long as they can keep the mental and physical errors down to a minimum, they shouldn’t have any problem defeating the 13-30 Nationals.  After all, these Nats are playing so poorly that last year’s Nats would be itching to play them.

Following the Nationals series, the Marlins will be coming to Citi Field.  These are clearly not the same Marlins that took two out of three from the Mets during the first week of the season.  That Marlins team had everything clicking at once.  Their young pitching staff was complementing their strong hitting perfectly and they stormed out of the gate to an 11-1 record.  Where have the Fish gone since then?  They’ve been swimming in the opposite direction to the tune of a 9-24 record.  If not for the lowly Nationals, the Marlins would be bringing up the rear in the NL East.

After the Marlins, the next course to be served on the Mets’ plate will be the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They have the best record of the trio at 20-24.  Although they have been playing better of late, the Mets had no trouble handling them at Citi Field earlier this month, sweeping them in a three-game series.  PNC Park has been a difficult park for the Mets to play in over the past few seasons, so if the Mets are going to lose or split a series in this 13-game stretch, it could be this one.  Fortunately, Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey are scheduled to pitch in this series, so the series remains winnable.

The two-week period of opponents with losing records ends with a series in Washington.  Don’t expect the Nationals to be any better then than they are now.

If the Mets can play fundamentally solid baseball, there’s no reason to believe that they can’t win nine or ten of these 13 games.  During this two-week stretch, the Phillies will be going out west to face the Padres (with Jake Peavy scheduled to pitch one of the games) for three games and the Dodgers for four.  After their West Coast trek, they close out their road trip with three games at Citi Field.  The Mets have a great opportunity to be in first place by the time the Phillies make their cross-country trip to New York.  They must not look past their supposedly inferior opponents, but at the same time, they should take full advantage of their light schedule.  It all starts tonight.  Let’s get it done!