When I caught the enthusiasm and fervor of Tug McGraw's great battle cry "You Gotta Believe," I have watched the Mets through 30-plus years of the good, the bad, the ugly and the mediocre.
Despite last year's incredible debacle of a season that was one of the worst baseball nightmares for any fan to endure, I came to realize after weeks of feeling miserable that this memory soon shall pass.
Many friends and observers of the team are sold on the premise that Johan Santana would be the answer to take us to the World Series.
While I really am enamored at the prospect of acquiring an ace, (not to mention a left-handed one that everyone believes is the best in the game) I admit to having some trepidation.
Santana may be a confidence boost for a ballclub that may need that injection of enthusiasm and positive thinking after the disaster of 2007, but trading five maybe six prospects away scares the heck out of me! Excuse me for comparing scenarios, but those of you who have followed this team for years may recall a similar deal back in 1990.
I'm talking about the deal in which we traded five pitchers for Frank Viola (ironically also of the Twins.) Two of those five pitchers pitched for over 10 years (Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani.)
Aguilera had over 300 saves and pitched in the 1991 World Series, helping them to their second World Series championship in five seasons.
After we emptied out our farm system for Viola who had one good season with us (20-11) the Mets completely disintegrated for YEARS! After that, Viola ended up in Boston two years later and then out of baseball.
Sure, I believe the Mets are a better team than back in 1990, but if you trade away five or six of the prospects, this farm system will most likely be in dire straits for years.
While "the magic has been back" to some degree, I am wondering if the "tragic will be back" if the Mets make this deal.
While I think we'd love to have a new ace to go with Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and maybe Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, I think we should be careful what we wish for. We might be better off waiting until mid-season to acquire someone of Santana's caliber so we don't have to mortgage our future for a quick fix NOW!
For more opinions on sports please watch "On The Sportslines" every other Thursday 9PM EST on Ch. 57 0r 84 in New York, NY or on www.mnn.org.
Thank you
12 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
John Fennelly about 1 year ago
I would not make this trade
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Steve Ferguson about 1 year ago
I agree with you. You'll see more of my comments as to why I am not in favor of this trade either.
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Dylan Levinson about 1 year ago
i would make the trade
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Steve Ferguson about 1 year ago
Dylan, while I respect your opinion and admit to being tempted to trade for Santana if you see my comments you'll know while I am wary of making this trade
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sellitman . about 1 year ago
Pass on Santana.
Emptying your farm to be able to negotiate a contract is madness.
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Steve Ferguson about 1 year ago
Amen Sellitman! While any METS fan would love to Santana I agree the price is too steep to pay!
You are also correct when you say we have to negotiate a contract with Santana and he will be a free agent after the 2007 season. If this winds up like the Mike Hampton scenario where the METS acquired this lefthander for Octavio Dotel and Roger Cedeno and then wound up with Hampton leaving for the Colorado Rockies talking about "how great the school system is there" as his excuse to fly the coop than who's to say Santana can't do the same. He could easily run off to the Yankees or Red Sox for example and we wind up with a BIG FAT ZERO!
I say either make a trade in mid-season for an ace if possible or otherwise acquire Santana in 2008 or C.C Sabathia for example if you still need the ace pitcher so badly!
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Passing on Santana is madness! Otherwise write off this season. Remember that next year with Martinez and Delgado off contract they will have lots of new money to spend. Just hold onto Reyes, Wright and Beltran. Everybody else is expendable.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Wow, comparing Santana to Frank Viola? I hated that trade when it happened...but on the other hand, we had just won the World Series, and we all knew we were going to win at least one more (curse you Orel Hersheiser). But prospects are exactly that...anyone remember Gregg Jeffries or Alex Escobar? For every Jose Reyes, there are 30 Bill Pulsiphers. I've also given up on Pelfrey and Humber ever making a difference for the Mets. I mentioned I was never thrilled by the idea of Frank Viola in a Mets uniform, but I am definitely jazzed about the idea of an actual number one starter who can take the ball when we need him to (and not give up 7 runs in the first inning of a big game). It's been a long time since we've had that person, and I for one would roll the dice on Johan, especially if we can keep F-Mart.
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Steve Ferguson about 1 year ago
As for commentary of Santana versus Viola while I respect the overall talents of Santana over Viola by far I believe that trading so many prospects can be a scary proposition. If I knew for sure that the METS had considerable talent in their farm system as some teams seem to have (i.e. the Red Sox, the Braves or the Oakland A's) then I might be more inclined to pull the trigger on this deal with no questions asked. I think this will strip the cupboard bare forcing us to have nothing to trade down the road when we would like to go after another great player. Remember C.C. Sabathia will also be available as a free agent after the 2008 season and so will Santana!
While Jose Reyes and David Wright don't come along every day if you look at organizations that have done well over the years recently like the archrival Braves the majority of these teams KEEP their farm propsects. Case in point the Atlanta Braves while not quite the powerhouse they once were they still have proven that you can win with Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, Escobar at shortstop while keeping good veteran talent like Chipper Jones. If the METS make this trade my question is where does the deal leave us in 2-3 years if Santana is only a little over a .500 pitcher as (15-13) as he was in 2007! We are at an important crossroads in our history and we have to make smart and careful decisions not just for now but for the future.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Steve, here's the question that I have...why would we have any better shot at getting Santana a year from now, or Sabathia, or Ben Sheets, or anyone for that matter? There are just three teams in the current Santana derby, but any pitcher that hits the open market next year (especially the way pitching is overvalued right now) is going to be pursued by at least 12. If we can't get a pitcher when he's practically begging to come to the Mets, why can we compete on the open market when every other team will need pitching?
I am also concerned about cleaning out the system, but Mets Blog reports we do have some decent pitchers on the way, and don't forget we get two draft picks from the Bravos for Glav. Shea has always been a tough place for rookies (the mid-80s excepted), and we always seem to do better with the Endy Chavezs and Marlon Andersons than any new up-and-coming kids.
The Mets need a shot in the arm, and signing Santana would ensure that other big names want to come to Citi Field (just like getting Pedro allowed us to get Beltran and Wagner).
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
From ESPN.com: "If the Mets indeed work out a tentative deal for Santana, they won't conclude the trade unless they can sign him."
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Steve Ferguson about 1 year ago
Well, for those of us who were hoping for Santana to come to the METS the miracle of miracles has occured. Thankfully they got a 2 hour extension yesterday to make this happen otherwise this would have been a very embarassing concludion for the Amazins.
As for the person who commented on us getting two draft picks for Glavine thank you for pointing that. I definitely didn't even think about that. That can certainly help the METS donwn the line.
I agree that the Endy Chavez's and Marlin Andersons of the world have been fortunate pickups for the METS the last few years. However it is definitely helpful to have an ace that is the caliber of a Santana. Frankly when you have a couple of major stars like Beltran, Martinez, Wright, Reyes and Wagner then you can balance that with the Chavezs and Andersons of the world. Now it looks like we are set to go with our rotation and we don't have to wait for C.C. Sabathia or Ben Sheets to be available next year assuming Santana works out the way many of us believe he will.
Let's go METS in 2008!
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