Today former Mets General Manager Steve Phillips discussed his decision to acquire Mike Piazza in a blockbuster trade with the Florida Marlins on MLB Network Radio (Metsblog). He explained that the best trade is often the one that you don’t make.
“Back in 1997, 1998, we had a good little team with the Mets, but we knew we needed some star power,” he explained, telling a story from his time as GM of the Mets. “I remember sitting in the owner’s box with Mr. Doubleday and he would say, ‘Fans here love stars, they love super stars,’ and so did Mr. Doubleday. And he said, ‘If we get a super star, we’ll fill this stadium up like we did in the 80s, so I really want you to focus on getting that super-star, marquee player.’”
“We kicked the tires on Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, and other guys that were out there,” Phillips said, speaking about his winter after the 1997 season. “But, it wasn’t until Mike Piazza came around (early in 1998) that we felt, after a bit of hesitation, let’s get him. And, it was the right move to make. In other words, we were better served having not gotten the other guys, even though we may have been able to put a deal together, because the right guy came along at the right time. So, there is a level of patience you have to balance with patience in order to move your franchise forward.”
Thoughts:
This was easily the best move of Phillips’ tenure as GM. Piazza performed like a true superstar, and he was arguably the greatest Mets hitter of all time. Phillips dealt three top 100 ranked prospects in order to bring Piazza to Queens, but Preston Wilson was the only one who achieved any success in the majors.
While the perception of Phillips’ time with the Mets is unfavorable, the one attribute I admire about him was his aggressiveness. He made a lot of bold moves, and he wasn’t afraid of making any mistakes. Even though his risky decisions to acquire veterans like Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar and Bobby Bonilla backfired severely, his boldness also propelled the Mets to success during the late 90’s and early 2000’s. His acquisitions of key players such as Piazza, Al Leiter Robin Ventura and Mike Hampton resulted into one of the most exciting and memorable eras in Mets history.
