Comparing the 2000 Offseason to the 2006 Offseason

Comparing the 2000 Offseason to the 2006 Offseason

You know, alot of people have done that, complaining that Freddy "Coupon" is back, etc, hyperbole...these fans need to stop thinking so short term. Gain a little perspective, please.
The 2000 team, for all it accomplished, overachieved tremendously. And it was an old core.

The 2000 infield was comprised of: 26 year old Edgardo Alfonzo (2b), 34 year old Todd Zeile (1b), 31 year old Mike Piazza (c), 33 year old Robin Ventura (3b), and basically a 4 or 5 man platoon at shortstop after Rey Ordonez got hurt.

The 2000 outfield was 31 year old Derek Bell, 27 year old Jay Payton, 28 year old Benny Agbayani, 35 year old Darryl Hamilton and 41 year old Rickey Henderson.

There is NO FUTURE there to build on. None. Fonzie hit .324/.425/.542, and he was the youngest regular at 26. In fact, the youngest players to get ABs that year were 23 year old outfielders Timo Perez and Jason Tyner. Combined, they got 90 at bats that year. 49 for Timo, 41 for Jason.

The pitching staff was anchored by a pair of very good, ace lefties in Al Leiter and Mike Hampton. Hampton was 27, Leiter, however, was 34. Glendon Rusch, Rick Reed and Bobby Jones round out the starting 5. Ages: 25, 35, 30.

The bullpen was anchored by a pair of solid setup men in Crazy Turk Wendell (who thinks we need to teach Ollie how to do the rosen bag thing. And for that matter, get Ollie a shark tooth necklace, STAT!), and John Franco. And we all know who the closer was, I'm not going to lower myself to name him (coughs BLOWNITEZ!).

So there is your 2000 team. Youngest players to make a big contribution? 25 year old Glendon Rusch, and 26 year old Edgardo Alfonzo. 94 wins, WS berth, 4-1 loss to the Yankees, but each game was close, and winnable. Team status: remarkably flawed for a team which won 102 games. Needs? Ace to replace departing Mike Hampton, shortstop to replace Mike Bordick.

On the market: One Alex Rodriguez, arguably, the best player in baseball, coming off a .316/.420/.606 season with 34 2b, 41 HR and 132 RBI. The Mets? Need a shortstop. The Mets? DON'T TALK TO ALEX RODRIGUEZ AT ALL, even after he indicated (I remember because I was incensed we didn't sign him) he would take 10/180 to come play for his favorite team, leaving $72 mil on the table. The Mets? Signed Kevin Appier and Steve Trachsel, two back of the rotation starters, and no shortstop named Alex. On the market for pitching? Mike Mussina, coming off a very good 11-15, 3.79 era season in the horror show that is Camden Yards for pitching. Yeah, Mike was 31, but we could've given him a deal similiar to the one the Yankees did, 6 years and $88.5 mil. Instead, we gave Trachsel and Appier a combined 8 years and 49 mil.

OK, that's done. The past. Conclusion: the 2000 team was heavily flawed. It overachieved tremendously getting to the 2000 World Series, and was losing it's ace to free agency. Hampton made it clear he wasn't resigning with us. Rather then replacing an ace with an ace (Mussina), we replaced him with, at best, two 3 starters. Instead of heading into 2001 with the best player in baseball on our team, we entered 01 with Rey Ordonez. Wonderful. Good job, Wilpon. Way to put the team over the top. Oh, and the coup de gras, the 2000 payroll? $80 mil. The 2006 payroll? $101 mil.

Prior to 2000, what had the Mets done? 1998, 99: Al Leiter, Bobby Bonilla (yippee for that one, idiots), Dennis Cook, the closer who's name doesn't deserve mention (BLOWNITEZ), Roger Cedeno, Robin Ventura, Rickey Henderson, Orel Hershiser, the other pitcher who deserves to not be named (THROW A FUCKING STRIKE, ASSHOLE!). After the 99 season, we lost John Olerud (replaced with Todd Zeile), Orel Hershiser (replaced with Mike Hampton), Roger Cedeno (traded for Hampton), Octavio Dotel (traded for Hampton). But still had a really low payroll, for NY standards.

Now, fast forward to 2006. The Mets make it to Game 7 of the NLCS down 2 pitchers, and are in a position, with OLIVER PEREZ starting, to win the game. The offense goes AWOL. Pitching was not a problem. Ages? Reyes and Wright 23 years old, Lastings Milledge 21, John Maine, Oliver Perez, 25. Much much more youthful then the 2000 team, that's for sure. Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, 27 and 26.

Past two seasons, what have the Mets done? 2004, 2005: Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Billy Wagner, Paul Lo Duca, Duaner Sanchez (lost Jae Seo), Orlando Hernandez + John Maine (lost Kris Benson), Oliver Perez + 2 draft picks (lost Xavier Nady).

Point being? The 2000 team was flawed and needed significant upgrades, especially with what we'd lost (Hampton + Olerud). The 2006 team was not flawed, but really unlucky. Unless you want to deplete the farm system (2002, 2003 anyone?) for aces (Yeah, Milledge, Pelfrey and Gomez might land you CZam, and Humber, Heilman, FMart, Guerra might land you Dontrelle, but then where are you?), there wasn't much to do this offseason. Zito at 126 mil? No thanks. Soriano for 138 mil? No thanks.

Farm system: What top prospects did we have coming into 2001?

18. Alex Escobar
63. Pat Strange
64. Brian Cole

Farm system: What top prospects do we have coming into 2007?

Mike Pelfrey
Phillip Humber
Carlos Gomez
Lastings Milledge
Fernando Martinez
Deolis Guerra

6 legit top 100 prospects (Milledge misses out by 16 ABs from offically qualifying).

Bottom line: The 2006 Mets didn't need the total facelift the 2000 team did. So this offseason doesn't compare at all to the 2000 offseason. End of story.

Thanks for hanging with me on this one. It's much longer then my norm, I know.