1979 Mets Restart

[hvs1717]

Feb 26, 1979, I got my first major league job. The Mets hired me as their GM and Manager. I would have preferred to have taken over immediately after the 66-96 season in 78 but I can't worry about that so I just have to work with what I have. I have got my work cut out for me to turn this mess around. The Mets are a far cry from the teams of the early 70s. There are no Tom Seavers, Nolan Ryans, Jerry Koosmans. We do have Craig Swan, who led the National League in ERA in 1978, so that is something. My best hitters are C John Stearns, who tied the NL record for steals by a catcher in a single season with 25, OF Lee Mazzilli and free agent acquisition 1B Richie Hebner. All solid bats but no murderers row. * - As an aside, this replay league uses the OOTP developmental engine not real stats moving forward. I set trades on hard and neutral and left almost everything else to the defaults on historical replays. Ok time to dig in and see if I can build this team into the power they became in the mid 80s.

[hvs1717]

The first two days were uneventful. There aren't any interesting free agents and no one on waivers yet so going into Spring Training we will have to work with what we have.

Spring Training Potential Starting Pitchers - Craig Swan, Kevin Kobel, Pat Zachry, Pete Falcone, Mike Bruhert, Roy Lee Jackson, Neil Allen, Mike Scott, Juan Berenguer, Tom Hausman, Scot Holman and Jeff Reardon.

Our starting pitching is not going to scare anyone. Craig Swan is the ace but although a solid #3/4 starter is definitely not the next Tom Seaver. Pat Zachry has been solid since coming over in the Tom Seaver trade in 77 and should be our #2 starter. Just like Swan, Zachry would be better off being a back end starter. The rest of the potential rotation would scare no one.
We do have some young talent in Allen, Berenguer, Reardon and Scott so there is some hope for the future.

Spring Training Potential Relief Pitchers - Skip Lockwood, Dale Murray, Kevin Kobel, Wayne Twitchell, Roy Lee Jackson, Ed Glynn, Neil Allen, Dwight Bernard, Jesse Orosco, Bob Apodaca, Bob Myrick, Jeff Reardon

Our bullpen isn't any better than our starting rotation. Skip Lockwood has been our best reliever over the last few seasons. He was very average in 1978. Hopefully, he will have a bounce back season. Lockwood and Bob Myrick are the only returners from the 78 Mets season. Myrick is a lefty that always seems to put up better number than he should. Hopefully, that trend will continue. Bob Apodaca was a solid reliever for the Mets in 1976 and 77 but missed all of 1978 with an injury so I have no idea what we will get from him as he continues his recovery. Before I came in, the old GM tried to overhaul his bullpen bringing in Dale Murray and Wayne Twitchell as free agents. Murray should be an improvement over the departing relievers.
Just like with our starting pitching, we do have some young talent in Allen, Jackson, Orosco and Reardon to give me hope.

[hvs1717]

Taking a look at our hitters, there isn't a stud in the bunch. There are few solid players but definitely not the most talented bunch in the National League.

Spring Training Potential Infielders -
1B - Richie Hebner, Ed Kranepool, Willie Montanez, Marshall Brant
2B - Doug Flynn, Jose Moreno
SS - Tim Foli
3B - Elliot Maddox, Ron Washington

There is not much talent there and I am not sure there is even anyone with any real trade value. Maybe I will get lucky and someone will have a career year and I can sucker another GM into overvaluing that player later. There aren't any players in AAA either that are ready to help. There are a couple of decent players - Wally Backman, Hubie Brooks - lower in the minors that might be ready next year though.

Spring Training Potential Catchers -
C - John Stearns, Alex Trevino, Ron Hodges, Jody Davis

Stearns is one of the few All Star level players on the team. He is probably the clubhouse leader too. He is probably the guy I need to trade when Davis is ready. Davis hasn't played above A ball but his current and potential ratings have me bringing him in to gain experience and hopefully speed up his development. He probably isn't ready but he should be my catcher of the future.

Spring Training Potential Outfielders -
LF - Steve Henderson, Ed Cipot
CF - Lee Mazzilli, Dan Norman
RF - Joel Youngblood, Bruce Boisclair, Gil Flores

Henderson and Mazzilli are decent. Mazzilli is a hometown hero and fan favorite. Mazzilli may even development into an All Star this season but after that not only is there little talent but there is almost no depth either. The fans won't like it but he is one of the few tradeable pieces that I have.

[hvs1717]

As of the first day of Spring Training, there are no AI lists for Top Prospects so I am going to post one based on the ratings and what they did in real life to get an idea of what kind of talent I have in the minors.

1. Mike Scott (23, SP) - 31/61 Pitched solidly in AAA last season. May be ready for the majors but probably needs one more season in the minors.
2. Neil Allen (21, RP) - 49/59 Neil could start or pitch out of the bullpen. He projects as a back end starter but an above average reliever. Could be ready now.
3. Greg A Harris (23, RP) - 34/59 His role in the future is probably going to be in the bullpen. He projects as an above average reliever but a back end starter. He is a starter in the minors.
4. Roy Lee Jackson (24, RP) - 47/54 Roy is another Met prospect that starts in the minors but projects to be a better reliever. Roy should be ready to take on a solid role in the Mets bullpen and be an emergency starter this season.
5. Jeff Reardon (23, RP) - 38/53 Reardon is a starter in the minors but projects to be much better out of the bullpen. He may be ready for bullpen work this season.
6. Wally Backman (19, 2B/SS) - 26/52 Has dominated at Short Season A and A ball. Since he is only 19 I am not going to rush him and start him in AA Jackson. I really want to bring him in to Spring Training because my 2B are terrible but don't want to rush him
7. Jody Davis (22, C) - 39/52 Not sure if Jody is my catcher of the future or a good trade piece. Either way he should be ready some time this season, although it may be September.
8. Juan Berenguer (24, SP) - 30/51 Power pitcher. Had a solid season at AAA. May be ready for the rotation this season.
9. Mike Fitzgerald (18, C) - 30/50 Mike is a very strong defensive catcher. Hit solidly at Short Season A. I may start him at Jackson (AA ball) and see if he is ready for it. I normally wouldn't skip A ball at such a young age but his ratings intrigue me.
10. Jesse Orosco (21, RP) - 36/49 Based on OOTP ratings, Jesse won't develop into the stud he was in real life. I hope they are wrong. He is one of my all time favorite Mets. Probably not ready until next year.

Other prospects:
SP/RP - Kevin Kobel (25) 48/48
CF - Hubie Brooks (22) 34/46
SS - Jose Oquendo (15) 20/46
CF - Juan Monasterio (24) 20/43
3B - Randy Johnson (22) 27/42
RF - Rusty Tillman (18) 30/42
1B - Marshall Brant (23) 31/41
CF - Dan Norman (24) 36/41
LF - Mookie Wilson (23) 28/41
2B - Brian J Giles (18) 27/40
C - Alex Trevino (21) 35/40


The minor league system I inherited isn't the best but there are some very solid prospects. Hopefully, I can keep improving the depth of that talent over the next couple of seasons.

[hvs1717]

Pitchers - Daniel Smith, Bob Apodaca, Bob Myrick

With a real lack of talent. I brought in a relatively small Spring Training roster of 41 players, 21 pitchers and 20 hitters. I plan on keeping 10 or 11 pitchers and 14 or 15 hitters.

So there is no reason to make major cuts. I was really disappointed with how poorly Apodaca and Myrick were pitching. Hopefully, they can turn it around in Tidewater. I had no expectations for Smith. He earned his look with a solid AAA season but doesn't seem to be a prospect. We have few lefty relievers so I really hope Myrick gets it figured out.

Next week I will cut a few more pitchers and may send down a hitter or two.

[hvs1717]

Pitchers - Roy Lee Jackson, Wayne Twitchell, Ed Glynn, Mike Bruhert

All four pitchers struggled in the Spring. Glynn was one of three lefty relievers we brought in. Now Orosco is the only one left and I am not sure he is ready yet. On a bright note, Mike Scott has been dominant in the spring. Hopefully, it will carry over, he could develop into the ace we need. Now I have 14 pitchers left for the final cuts of the spring.

Hitters - Marshall Brant, 1B

Brant struggled and is fourth on depth chart for 1B. With 19 hitters, I will cut the last 4 or 5 during the final cuts.

[hvs1717]

Pitchers - Neil Allen, Juan Berenguer, Jesse Orosco

I decided to start the season with 11 pitchers so our opening day pitchers are:

SP - Craig Swan, Pat Zachry, Kevin Kobel, Pete Falcone, Mike Scott
CL - Skip Lockwood
S - Dale Murray
MR - Scott Holman, Jeff Reardon
LR - Tom Hausman, Dwight Bernard

Hitters - Bruce Boisclair, Gil Flores, Ed Kranepool, Jody Davis

Since we are starting with 11 pitchers that means I can only keep 14 hitters. Davis deserves to be in New York. He was our best hitter in the preseason but right now the market for Stearns is luke warm so I am going to start Davis in AAA and see if I can get a better offer closer to the trading deadline.


1B - Richie Hebner, Willie Montanez
2B - Doug Flynn, Jose Moreno
SS - Tim Foli
3B - Elliot Maddox, Ron Washington
C - John Stearns, Alex Trevino
LF - Steve Henderson, Ed Cipot
CF - Lee Mazzilli, Dan Norman
RF - Joel Youngblood

[hvs1717]

Thankfully, the team owner isn't telling me to win the World Series this year. His expectations are .500 season. I am not sure we can even get that.

The top 100 prospect list has been published. We have the 17th ranked minor league system with only 3 top 100 prospects. Mike Scott, SP (#21), Wally Backman, 2B/SS (#54) and Jody Davis, C (#69).

Preseason Predictions - The Mets are predicted to finish 69-93, 36 games behind the first place Montreal Expos. Craig Swan was the only Met to make either the top hitters or top pitchers lists.

We open the season on the road against our rivals, the Chicago Cubs. For at least one day we didn't look like a team that will struggle to win 70 games. Craig Swan threw a complete game shutout. And Mets hitters battered Chicago Cubs starter, Rick Reuschel for 6 runs in 5 innings. Steve Henderson had a big game going 3-4 with 2 runs scored, 1 rbi. Elliot Maddox and Tim Foli each drove in 2 runs.

[hvs1717]

Wow. This is not what I or anyone else expected. 16-6 and 1st place on May 1st? I just can't believe we are playing this well. I expect us to start losing a lot of games any time soon.

Starting Pitching - Swan has been dominant so far. But even more surprising is Pete Falcone. Mike Scott is having a very solid rookie season. Our starting pitching has been much better than I expected. They have been so effective that my bullpen has hardly been used other than the closer.

Relief Pitching - Lockwood has thrown 16 innings and been dominant doing so. The rest of the bullpen has been solid but has only thrown 16 total innings. So for now, I sent Tom Hausman down to the minors to get more work and Dale Murray is on the DL for 3 weeks with a calf strain. Neil Allen was dominating at AAA so I want to see if he is ready and brought him up.

For now I am comfortable with 10 pitchers.

[hvs1717]

Our pitching is carrying us. We are getting on base but our bats are just not driving in enough runs, 10th in the National League. If we can't figure out how to score more runs we may not be leading the NL East for very long. Davis is tearing up AAA, hitting homers and driving in runs. I may need to bring him up soon but John Stearns is playing very well.

[hvs1717]

Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for the wheels to fall off. After going 16-6 in April, we went 8-20 in May. Craig Swan is still proving me wrong and pitching like an ace, 2.47 ERA 7 CG 3 SHO. Pat Zachry and Mike Scott's ERA's have ballooned to over 5.00. Falcone's has risen from 1.16 to 3.92. Allen, Lockwood and Murray are pitching very well out of the bullpen. Reardon has pitched well but is on the DL. The bullpen is by far the deepest position on the team right now.

As far as our hitting goes, we have fallen to 10th or worst in most hitting categories. Lee Mazzilli is hitting well in the leadoff spot. Steve Henderson is playing much better than expected. Richie Hebner has been our best power hitter and run producer. Joel Youngblood is driving in runs. Other than that there isn't much to be happy about. John Stearns average has plummeted almost 100 points since May 1.


I completed my first trades, sending 1B Willie Montanez 42/42 and C John Stearns 51/55 to the Cincinnati Reds for prospect SP Mario Soto 37/51. Soto was pitching really well out of the bullpen for Cincinnati but he will start in AAA and see how he does as a starter. Time to bring Jody Davis up and see if he can drive in some runs.

And then sending SP Pat Zachry 47/49 to Oakland for SP Mike Norris 43/52 and their 4th round pick in 1979.

I don't think those moves will win us a title but they do help us get better and deeper.

[hvs1717]

The Mets did start to play a little better in June, winning 12 and losing 15. We are 36-41 on the season now and have fallen into a tie for last in the NL East with the hated Chicago Cubs.

One bright spot this month was back to back shutouts of the Reds by our young starters, Mike Scott and Mike Norris.

The bullpen has been outstanding
Skip Lockwood is leading the NL in saves with 17.
Neil Allen is pitching much better after his time in AAA

The starters haven't been very good. Scott and Norris's ERA's are over 5.00 but they are showing signs of what they can be.
Swan is still throwing like a front end starter.
Falcone's ERA has climbed another run. I think it is time to move him and see what Juan Berenguer can do.

Joel Youngblood continues to lead the team in RBI with 40
Richie Hebner continues to lead the team in HRs with 8
Lee Mazzilli continues to entrench himself in the leadoff hitters role
Steve Henderson has cooled off quite a bit but is still hitting pretty well
Tim Foli has been a huge surprise, hitting third and driving in runs.
Jody Davis has been very good in his first month in the majors.

[hvs1717]

I thought about totally cleaning house and trading away Swan, Lockwood, Mazzilli and anyone else the AI valued but in the end I did very little. The core of the team is young. I want to add around them and get rid of the dead wood. In the end the only move I made was trading a couple of minor leaguers, sending SP John Pacella to the Houston Astros for OF Gary Rajsich. Both project to be major leaguers but the other teams value Pacella more than I do.

Craig Swan continues to pitch at a high level taking home NL Pitcher of the Month for July. Juan Berenguer has stepped in and pitched very well also. The bullpen has continued to be one of the best in baseball. And the bats are still not helping much. Some how though we went 18-10 in July and have moved back into 4th place, 7 1/2 games out of first and back above .500 with a 54-51 overall record.

On the down side we had a rash of serious injuries. Our top pitching prospect, Mike Scott, tore his flexor tendon in his elbow and will be out 13-14 months. RP Scot Holman tore his UCL and is out 10-11 months and Wayne Twitchell fractured his elbow and is out 7-8 months.

[hvs1717]

We finished much better than predicted. The experts predicted we would win 69 wins and we were able to gut out 78. Not quite .500 but not bad. I was kind of hoping that we would finish worse to have a shot at Darryl Strawberry but Toronto, Atlanta and Oakland all finished with less than 60 wins. We draft 10th in the first round.

Skip Lockwood won Reliever of the Year. He was 2-4 with 38 saves and a 1.65 ERA. His 38 saves finished 2nd to Bruce Sutter who had 42. He even saved 26 straight without a blown save. Craig Swan finished 6th in Cy Young voting. He went 18-15 with 195 strikeouts and a 2.67 ERA.

[Edster007]

Nice write up. Being a youth in NY in the 70's lots of memories in this era. I see Jim Spenser had a career year with 45 HR's for the Yankees. Look forward to more updates