New York Mets hire new GM and Manager to change their fortunes

[hvs1717]

Last year, I made 3 rounds of cuts. This year we had a much smaller roster of invitees so I kept everyone for the entire spring training.

Starting Pitching - Ed Lynch pitched very well this spring and earned one of the open spots in the rotation. I gave Mike Scott the 5th spot by default. John Capella pitched very poorly and Juan Berenguer showed once again that he is probably best suited to coming out the pen. Capella pitched so poorly that I tried to demote him but he was out of options. He was claimed by Seattle.

Opening Day Rotation:
1. Tim Leary (22, 49/56)
2. Pat Zachry (28, 48/48)
3. Geoff Zahn (35, 44/44)
4. Ed Lynch (25, 39/42))
5. Mike Scott (35, 37/47)

Bullpen - There was only one surprise here. Mark Bomback, who flamed out as a starter last year, was dominant out of the pen this time around. None of the left handed options (Glynn, Searage, von Ohlen) separated themselves. Von Ohlen was slightly better than the other two.

Opening Day Bullpen:
CL - Neil Allen (23, 61/61)
S - Jeff Reardon (25, 59/51)
S - Roy Lee Jackson (26, 50/49)
LH - Dave von Ohlen (22, 41/33)
RH - Tom Hausman (28, 45/41)
LR - Mark Bomback (27, 44/46)

Infielders - Greg Brock hit for power but no average. No need to rush him. He will start out in AAA. Gantner did not hit at all in the spring and Brooks barely beat him out for the 3B job. Threre were no real surprises.

Opening Day Infielders:
1B - Lee Mazzilli (26, 53/51)
2B - Wally Backman (21, 46/49)
SS - Alfredo Griffin (23, 44/47)
3B - Hubie Brooks (24, 34/46)
2B/3B - Jim Gantner (28, 41/42)
1B - Terry Crowley (34, 40/38)
2B/SS - Doug Flynn (29, 33/33)

Catchers - No surprises here at all. None of the young guys in camp were ready other than McClendon.

Opening Day Catchers
Starter - Rick Cerone (26, 44/47)
Bench - Lloyd McClendon (22, 42/42)
Bench - Alex Trevino (23, 32/40)

Outfielders - Left field and center field were easy choices. Right field was a little tougher. Hatcher played decent but I don't think he is quite ready. So we are going to start McClendon in RF. If they youngster is going to be on the roster, he needs at bats. LeFlore was terrific in the spring. If he keeps playing like that I can trade him. As much as I love his bat and speed, he is a butcher on defense.

Opening Day Outfielders:
LF - Willie Wilson (25, 60/54)
CF - Omar Moreno (28, 46/46)
RF - Lloyd McClendon (22, 34/31)
LF/CF - Ron LeFlore (32, 44/44)
1B/LF/RF - Tom Paciorek (34, 41/41)

Overall we are not very good. But I think we are making progress. We look to be better than last year's opening day roster. And we have more young talent in the minors. We are predicted to go 75-87. I will take that since we only won 59 games last year.

[hvs1717]

Our minor league system is getting better too. We are now top 10 overall and have 3 players in the top 100 - Kevin Mitchell (#6), Darryl Strawberry (#19) and Greg Brock (#90). We definitely need more top line guys but the depth in our system is better already after just one year.

[hvs1717]

April Recap - We went 7-10 in April. We started the season 1-4 so 6-6 over the rest of the month is encouraging. Lee Mazzilli hit .403 and is 2nd in the NL in batting average. Omar Moreno has 8 sbs and is 3rd. Mazilli's .973 slugging percentage is good for 2nd. Willie Wilson's 15 game hit streak from last season ended at 20. Tim Leary leads the NL in strikeouts with 36. Zahn has been better than we could have hoped. Bomback and von Ohlen have not pitched well. Hubie Brooks seems overmatched. McClendon has been a bad experiment in RF.

Apr 19, 1981 - Mike Scott throws the first No-Hitter in Mets history, in the 9-0 win over the Expos.

Transactions - May 1. Greg Brock has been tearing up AAA. 7 hr 13 rbi .339/.400/.742. He seems ready. Bringing him up and sending Brooks and Bomback down. Gantner can take over 3B for now.

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May 6 - Terry Crowley, 1B (34, 42/41) is not happy with Greg Brock being called up and now being a part time player. Traded with Minor Leaguer Jody Johnston, SP (19, 20/20) to Toronto for Bob Bailor, SS (29, 42/43. Bailor is able to play SS, RF, CF, 3B and LF at a high level. I really like his versatility and want to start him all over the place.

May 8 - After losing the first 7 games of May, the Mets finally got our first win of the month, 6-4 over the Dodgers. Tim Leary almost blew a 6-0 lead but recovered to hold on and Jeff Reardon recorded his first save of the season.

May 17 - Ed Lynch shuts out the Dodgers 4-0 in LA. Ed is 2-2 with a 2.53 ERA. Greg Brock hit his first home run for the Mets in the win.

After starting the month with 0-7, we finished the month 11-17 and on a four game winning streak. As a bonus, we swept the hated Chicago Cubs in the last 3 games. Being 18-27 and only 9 games below .500 is encouraging. We still don't have a lot of talent but maybe we can keep battling.

Our rotation has been decent. Ed Lynch wins NL Rookie of the Month Award for May. He started 6 games, pitching 47.0 innings and going 2-2 with a 2.30 ERA. Geoff Zahn has been the worst starter so far.

Jeff Reardon has been getting shelled. I may need to send him down to AAA to restore his confidence. Roy Lee Jackson hasn't been much better but has been a stalwart for us since being called up in September of 79. The rest of the bullpen has been solid.

Greg Brock is still getting fooled often, as evidence by his .189/.252/.453 after one month in the majors. But on the positive note, he displayed his prodigious power and is already 3rd in the NL with 7 home runs. Willie Wilson, Mazzilli, Backman, Bailor and Gantner have been solid but overall the Mets have struggled to score runs. The lineup isn't built very well yet.

Willie Wilson has a league leading 20 game hitting streak.

[hvs1717]

Oh my word, June was brutal. We went 2-3 in our first five games and then the wheels fell off. We finished the month 4-23 overall. From June 7 - June 28 we were 1-19. We lost 12 straight from June 7 - June 19 and then lost 7 straight from June 21 - June 28.

The only win in that stretch was a 4-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves on June 20. Pat Zachry threw 8 innings of 4 hit ball and Neil Allen finished up with a perfect 9th inning.

Tim Leary won the only other game, outdueling the Cubs, Rick Reuschel 2-1. Leary threw 6 1/3 innings of 2 hit ball. He got help from Tom Hausman, Roy Lee Jackson, while Neil Allen picked up his 8th save on the season to finish out the win.


June 5 - Jeff Reardon goes on the DL with a tired arm. He has been brutal so maybe the arm was the issue. To take his place, we brought up submariner Terry Leach.


As bad as June was, I think it is best to move on.

[hvs1717]

We finished 10-18 for the month of July. That is still really poor but thank god not as bad as June. We started the month 1-9, with our only win coming on the road at St Louis, 5-4 on July 7. The Mets scored 2 in the top of the ninth on a triple by Willie Wilson to take a 5-4 lead. Neil Allen closed out the game for the Mets. Wilson went 4-5 with 3 rbi to lead the Mets.

July 1 - Traded all bat, no field Ron LeFlore, LF (33, 46/46) and minor leaguer Rusty Tillman,CF (20, 30/37) to the Chicago White Sox for Thad Bosley, CF (24, 37/46) and a 4th Round draft pick. Bosley was assigned to Tidewater (AAA).

With the roster spot created by trading LeFlore, I promoted Mickey Hatcher from Tidewater. Hatcher was killing it at AAA. He was hitting .361/.377/.479 over 175 plate appearances. He had 5 doubles and 5 home runs with 32 rbi.

Have a spot open in the bullpen. We are bringing up Juan Berenguer, RP (26, 44/52) from AAA to see if he can harness his potential as a reliever instead.


July 2 - Cut Doug Flynn, 2B and Tom Paciorek, OF. Paciorek was not hitting well and wasn't getting many at bats so we need to free that time up for younger players. Flynn was hitting decently but we couldn't get anyone to offer us any minor leaguers for him and we needed to clear space for our younger players.

Promoted Brian J Giles, 2B (21, 38/44) from AAA. Giles was hitting .280/.357/.462 over 264 at bats. He scored 46 runs and stole 17 bases. He showed decent extra base power too with 21 doubles, 3 triples and 7 home runs.

Promoted Hubie Brooks, CF (24, 39/49) from AAA. Brooks still lacks power with only 1 home run in 166 at bats but was tearing up AAA - .337/.385/.494. He also showed his speed with 11 stolen bases and 8 triples.

Promoted Darryl Strawberry, RF (19, 36/70) to AAA from AA. Straw hit .299/.368/.590 with 17 home runs and 58 rbi over 268 at bats for the Jackson Mets. He also had 13 doubles, 7 triples and 11 stolen bases.

Promoted #1 draft pick Kevin Mitchell, 3B (32/75) from Lynchburg (A) to AA. Mitchell was hitting .328/.415/.539 with 15 doubles, 1 triple, 15 home runs and 68 rbi over 293 at bats for Lynchburg.

Promoted #2 draft pick Dick Schofield, SS (36/45) from Lynchburg (A) to AA. I can't imagine the power will continue at the major league level but has been a pleasant surprise so far. Schofield hit .271/.393/.510 over 288 at bats. He blasted 17 home runs and drove in 53, while stealing 12 bases for Lynchburg.


July 19 - Traded Omar Moreno, CF (28, 46/46) to San Francisco for Jerry Royster, 2B (28, 45/45) and DeWayne Buice, RP (23, 35/50). Moreno ended up being a nice free agent signing. He hit ok but getting Royster and Buice in return I think is a win. Royster is a solid depth piece and hopefully Buice will be in our bullpen in a year or two.

Demoted Brian J Giles, 2B (21, 39/44). I just couldn't get him at bats. He got 5 at bats in 2 weeks. He needs to be playing not sitting the bench.

Demoted Juan Berenguer, RP (26, 44/54). He was a disaster pitching out of the pen. He just doesn't seem like he is going to live up to his potential.

Promote Douglas Hensley, RP (24, 39/39). We don't have a lot of talent at AAA. Hensley was pitching very well so we are going to give him a chance. He was 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA over 19 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts.

We didn't make any moves at the trade deadline. I couldn't get young pieces to improve our talent. We just don't have a lot of desirable talent to deal in exchange at the moment.

We also had a nice streak after the All-Star break. We went 7-2 from July 19 - July 27.

July 22 - Tim Leary led the Mets to a 5-0 win with a complete game shut out. Leary only gave up 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. The win raises Leary's record to 5-9 on the season.

July 25 - Mike Scott pitched his second No Hitter on the season, shutting out the San Diego Padres. Scott struck out 5 and walked 3. On the season, Scott is 2-8 with a 3.69 ERA on the season. Greg Brock hit a 3 run home run in the 8th to break the scoreless tie. Scott drove in the Mets final run with a 9th inning double.

[hvs1717]

August was a really boring month. At this point, I didn't really make any moves. I instead was hoping to let our young guys work through any issues that arose. We went 12-19 which again is not very good but better than last month.

August 7 - Jeff Reardon ended his rehab assignment at Tidewater. Reardon made 9 appearances and threw 10 innings. He had a 0.90 ERA and went 1-0 with 3 saves and 8 strikeouts.

August 9 - In the second game of a double header, Pat Zachry, Dave Von Ohlen and Doug Henley combined for a 3 hit shoutout win over Pittsburgh, 5-0. Willie Wilson and Lloyd McClendon each drove in 2 runs in the win.

August 26 - Geoff Zahn led the Mets to a 6-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, with a complete game shutout. Zahn allowed 6 hits and walked 4. Zahn even drove in a run during the Mets 4 run 7th inning that broke open a 1-0 game.

Aug 29 - The Mets swept the Cincinnati Reds in a double header, 5-4 in both games. In game 1, Mickey Hatcher went 2-4 with 4 rbi to help lead the Mets to the win. Neil Allen pitched a perfect 9th to record his 15th save.
In the second game of the double header, Mickey Hatcher again drove in the winning run, this time with an 11th inning single off of Mike LaCoss. Tim Leary threw 6 shutout innings in the nightcap, but Tom Hausman and Jeff Reardon gave the lead right back.

[hvs1717]

We went 13-14 in September, by far our most successful month of the season. Then back in form, we went 0-4 in October. We finished 57-105 and 48 games out of first place on the season, two less wins than last year. It also the first time in Mets history we have been below 60 wins in back to back season since 1964 and 1965. The small consolation being that we get the #1 pick in the draft. The draft pool hasn't been announced yet but some of the best names are Dwight Gooden, Barry Bonds, Bo Jackson, Barry Larkin and Will Clark.

September 1 - We have so little talent ready for the majors so I only called up two players, both pitchers. Brent Gaff, SP (23, 38/33) and Ty Hubbard, RP (38/35). Gaff was dominating at AAA. He was 14-7 with a 2.40 ERA and ended up being voted the International League Pitcher of the Year. So even though his ratings are low, I want to see if he can have success in the majors. Hubbard started the season with AA Jackon in their rotation. After 13 appearances, all starts, Hubbard was 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA with 82 strikeouts over 108 2/3 innings. He continued his dominance at AAA also. He mostly came out of the pen starting only 2 games over 8 appearances. He was 1-1 with a 1.76 ERA. He threw 30 2/3 innings and struck out 29. Again even though his ratings don't correlate, he deserves a chance to see if he can pitch at the major league level.

September 12 - Mike Scott pitched another gem. Scott allowed 3 hits and 3 walks over 7 shoutout innings. Doug Henley allowed 1 hit over the final two innings to finish out the 9-0 win over St Louis. Greg Brock had a huge game, going 3-4 with a double, home run and 4 rbi. Mickey Hatcher also had a 2 run triple in the first inning, helping the Mets jump out to a 3-0 lead after one.

September 15 - Tim Leary recorded his 9th win of the season while shutting out the Phillies, 3-0. Leary threw 8 2/3 innings allowing 6 hits and 1 walk. Neil Allen came in to get the last out and his 17th save on the season. Rick Cerone hit his first triple of the season to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the 5th inning.

September 25 - Tim Leary led the Mets to a 2-0 road win over NL East Champion Montreal. Leary allowed 5 hits and 2 walks in his complete game win. The win brought Leary to 11-11 on the season with a 3.20 ERA. Hubie Brooks and Lee Mazzilli drove in the Mets only runs.

October 4 - Geoff Zahn was diagnosed with shoulder inflamation and will miss 7 months. He turns 36 in December. This is probably the end of his career. He had a decent season for us.

[hvs1717]

Now that the season is over, I think it is time to evaluate my 40 man roster and how they fit in moving forward. Unfortunately, I think I am going to lose a couple of guys that were huge pieces in my rebuild. I think are really unhappy with the losing. They wanted ridiculous contracts to stay. Contracts that I can't sign because I think they would hurt our ability to be competitive in the future. But I could get 1st round picks if they sign before the draft so this could speed up my rebuild in the end.

Starting Pitching -

Tim Leary (22, 54/56) - Already our best starter. Pitched his best in August and September. He started 13 games throwing 87 1/3 innings, going 5-3 with a 2.47 ERA. Led the NL in games started with 36.

Ed Lynch (25, 47/43) - Ed had a solid season and is still on his rookie contract so he is expected to be one of our starters next year. Lynch pitched well for most of the year but he really struggled in June going 0-6 with a 5.77 ERA.

Pat Zachry (29, 47/47) - Zachry is not part of our future. He is arbitration eligible but he will probably be making close to $400k next year. That is too much for a guy that was 9-20 with a 4.39 ERA. We need to see if we can trade him.

Geoff Zahn (35, 47/43) - Zahn hurt his shoulder in his last start. He is out until May. He is a free agent at the end of the season. We won't be resigning him. We probably wouldn't have resigned him if he was healthy. He was an ok roster filler for a season.

Mike Scott (26, 44/47) - He is maddeningly inconsistent. He can be brilliant. He threw the first two No Hitters in Mets history this season and a few other gems. He was brilliant in April and September. He was brutal in May, June and August. He just still hasn't found the consistency he needs to become a top end starter. But he is still on his rookie contract and should be one of our starters next year.

Brent Gaff (23, 38/33) - Gaff was a September call up. Gaff doesn't measure up based on his ratings. But he was very effective in AAA, earning International League Pitcher of the Year. Gaff was 14-7 with a 2.40 ERA at Tidewater (AAA). In his 4 starts, he went 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA and looked very good other than one bad start against St Louis. We will give him a long look in Spring Training.

Juan Berenguer (26, 36/46) and Mark Bomback (28, 34/35) are on the 40 man roster but finished the season in the minors. Time to trade or release them. Both were brutal in their time in the majors.

Expected Opening Day Pitchers - Tim Leary, Mike Scott, Ed Lynch


Relief Pitching

Neil Allen (23, 62/62) - Neil was our best reliever this year. Unfortunately, by the time we are good, he will probably be too expensive for us. But for now he is still nice and cheap.

Jeff Reardon (26, 56/51) - Reardon was awful before his injury. But based on his numbers after, I have to say his poor pitching was probably the result of a tired arm. Before going on the DL, he was 1-1 with 3 saves and gave up 16 runs in 18 1/3 innings pitched (7.86 ERA). After coming back from rehab, he was 1-2 with 4 saves but only gave up 6 runs in 28 2/3 innings pitched (1.88). He and Allen are starting to form a nice 1-2 punch out of the pen.

Roy Lee Jackson (27, 47/47) - Jackson was our most consistent reliever coming into the season. This year he was terrible. He is still on his rookie contract and relievers are notoriously inconsistent, so we will give him another chance but I am not expecting much.


Tom Hausman (28, 44/41) - Hausman has given us everything he can. He just isn't very good. For us to start improving we need better middle and long relievers than Tom. Tom is up for arbitration and I don't plan on bringing him back.

Terry Leach (27, 39/38) - Like Gaff, Leach's ratings aren't impressive but he gets the job done. After his promotion from Tidewater (AAA), Leach was our best middle reliever this year. The rookie sidearmer was 2-0 with 1 save anda 2.45 ERA over 44 innings pitched.

Douglas Henley (24, 38/37) - Doug pitched very well at AAA this year, but he looked overmatched in the majors. Since he is on his rookie contract and he can start in emergencies, we will give him another look. Maybe an offseason of hard work can fix some of his issues.

Ty Hubbard (21, 38/35) - Ty has rocketed through the Mets system. Taken in the 10th round in 1980, we placed him in AA for his first stop. He started 13 games and threw 108 2/3 innings for the Jackson Mets. He went 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA. He struck out 82 and walked 29. He was even better once he moved up to AAA, going 1-1 with a 1.76 ERA over 30 2/3 innings. He struck out 29 and walked 10. As a September call up he continued to get even better. In 10 innings with the Mets, he was 0-0 with 1 save and a 0.90 ERA. He struck out 12 and walked 2.

Dave Von Ohlen (22, 38/33) - He pitched well in spring training but the only reason he stayed on the roster is because he is left handed and we have no other left handed options for the future. His control needs to get much better if we are to bring him back, 33 walks in 54 innings is not going to get it done.

Ed Glynn (28, 33/28) and Ray Searage (26, 25/32) are on the 40 man roster. They are both going to be released to clear space on the 40 man. We will be willing to reassign them to the minors since they are both LHP.

Expected Opening Day Pitchers - Neil Allen, Jeff Reardon, Terry Leach, Ty Hubbard

Infielders -

1B - Greg Brock (24, 46/52) - Brock started the season in AAA and hit 7 home runs and drove in 13 runs while hitting .339/.400/.742 the first month of the season. He immediately hit for power, hitting 7 home runs in May but only .189/.252/.453. I thought about demoting him but he had some big games and showed that even though he wasn't quite ready, he could handle the starting job. In September, he hit .306/.397/.490 with 4 hr and 18 rbi so I am really interested to see his growth this offseason. He should be our starting 1B next year.

2B - Wally Backman (22, 48/50) - I think I brought him up to soon last year. He didn't hit great this year but he definitely improved from his rookie season. He hit .238/.313/.294 as a rookie and .254/.341/.337 in year two. And he tore it up in September, .388/.474/.567. I do see why the Mets brought in Tim Teufel in real life. Backman is much better hitting against LHP than RHP at this point in his career. Expected to be our 2B next year.

2B - Jerry Royster (28, 43/43) - Got Jerry from the Giants midseason. He was a solid back up for us, elite speed and above average defense. Jerry is a very competitive guy and is not happy with us right now because of our W/L record. I am not sure if he will be good in the clubhouse, so I may need to move him.

SS - Alfredo Griffin (24, 46/48) - I think I am going to let Alfredo walk or see if I can trade him before the playoffs end. He is a very good defensive SS. But his bat is only ok and he wants a big raise. I don't know if I have a replacement for him but I don't think I can justify $450k per year for a guy that isn't a GG and only hit .254/.281/.335.

SS - Bob Bailor (30, 41/41) - Bob is a free agent. He was a pain in the butt almost immediately after we got him from Toronto. He wanted to be the SS and I wanted him to be a utility guy starting all over the place. I will not be bringing him back.

3B - Hubie Brooks (25, 41/46) - Hubie dominated AAA this year but didn't hit well in his first stint with the Mets. After going down to AAA to get his confidence back, he came back and was one of our best hitters. He hit .291/.331/.369 for the season. Defensively he is a liability at 3B. His best position is probably LF or CF. He is much better defensively there.

3B - Jim Gantner (28, 44,43) - Jim was solid for us, both as a starter and off the bench. He shouldn't be starting for a World Series contender but he isn't bad for us while we wait for Kevin Mitchell.


Brian J Giles (21, 34/42) is on the 40 man roster. Giles had a solid year in AAA but wasn't ready for the Mets. He can play multiple positions and could develop into a solid utility player. Jose Moreno (23, 31/26). He is not a major league player. If he is willing, we will assign him to one of our minor league teams after we release him.

Expected Opening Day Infielders - Greg Brock (1B), Wally Backman (2B), Jim Gantner (2B/3B)

Catchers

Rick Cerone (27, 43/46) - He wasn't a wasted free agent pick up because he seems to be helping our young pitchers develop but his bat was a waste. Unless he takes a huge pay cut from $300k, I have no interest in bringing him back.

Lloyd McClendon (22, 38/40) - Lloyd was not ready for the majors but we had no other options. I may send him down to AAA next year to get his confidence back.

Alex Trevino (33/40) - Alex didn't hit at all but he can play pretty much anywhere and is solid defensively. He is a pretty decent 3rd catcher for that reason. I am 50/50 on bringing him back. It can't be that hard to find someone else that can do what he can do but better.

Expected Opening Day Catchers - None

Outfielders

LF - Lee Mazzilli (26, 58/60) - Lee was one of our best players this year but he won't be coming back. He is a free agent and has no interest in resigning with us. He wants $800k per for 10 years. I wouldn't come close to that and now he is mad. And no one is offering me anything in trades. I hope he signs with someone else before the draft so we get the extra pick this year.

CF - Willie Wilson (26, 63/58) - Willie has been our best player since coming over from KC last year. Like Lee Mazzilli, he wants a huge contract to sign with us. 10 yrs $850k per. I tried to negotiate 7 yrs $700k. It made him so mad, he won't talk to me. So hopefully he signs with someone else quickly. 3 1st round picks this year would help an awful lot.

RF - Mickey Hatcher (26, 43/49) - The jury is still out on Hatcher. I think my scout was off on his initial assessments but Hatcher has shown the ability to deliver the big hit and drive in key runs. His on base percentage is brutal and his ratings for that are brutal (25/35) so that may never improve. I think if his eye/discipline doesn't improve, then he may never develop into the player he could be.

Thad Bosley (25, 35/42) came over from the White Sox in a trade this year and had to be put on the 40 man roster. He was ok in AAA but I am not sure he is ready for the majors. He should be a solid backup once he is ready.

Expected Opening Day Outfielders - Hubie Brooks (LF or CF), Mickey Hatcher (RF)

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Tidewater (73-67) had a solid season. They finished in 4th place in the International League, 16 games out of first place and 10 games out of the wild card.

Brent Gaff earned IL Pitcher of the Year. He also led the IL with a 2.40 ERA and was 2nd with a 4.7 WAR.
1B Mike Ancich won IL Gold Glove.
LF Mookie Wilson finished 3rd in the IL with 49 stolen bases.

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The Jackson Mets finished 80-58 this season to win the Texas League Eastern Division title. They then defeated the Amarillo Gold Sox 4-1 to win the Texas League championship. SS Dick C Schofield was playoff MVP. Schofield hit 3 home runs and drove in 7 runs in the series.

SP John Violette (23, 24/23) was TL Pitcher of the Year. He also led the league in wins with 19 and ERA with 3.05.

RP Angel Moreno (26, 24/32) finished 2nd in the TL with 19 saves.

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The Lynchburg Mets won the Carolina League North Division by 3 games this season, finishing 82-58. Unfortunately, Lynchburg couldn't duplicate Jackson's playoff win, dropping their championship series 4-1 to the Peninsula Pilots.

C/DH Stephen DeMatties (22, 36/39) won MVP
SP Kevin Spicer (21, 20/20) won Pitcher of the Year
C Phil Ouellette (19, 35/47), 3B Kevin Mitchell (19, 30/74) and LF David Howard (23, 29/43) won Gold Gloves
C Phil Oullette, SS Dick C Schofield (18, 34/43), 3B Kevin Mitchell, CF Roger Frash (21, 26/32) and DH Stephen DeMatties all won Silver Slugger Awards

DeMatties had a ridiculous season with 58 home runs, 134 rbi .291/.447.685
Frash was almost as good with 37 hr 122 rbi .294/.382/.552

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Back in 1980, the didn't really refer to it as A+ and A but for all intents and purposes, Lynchburg is our A+ team and Shelby is our A team. Shelby did not have a good year. The Sally League Mets finished 59-85 on the season.

C Jack Fimple (22, 26/41) was a silver slugger winner.
CF Darryl Denby finished 2nd in the league with 20 home runs.

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The Kingsport Mets had a decent season in the Appalachian League, finishing 3rd overall (41-29) and just missed the wild card by 1 game.

C Douglas Davis was the second straight Kingsport Met to win the Appy League MVP and gave a run at the league triple crown, finishing 2nd in avg (.319), 3rd in HR (11) and 3rd in RBI (60). He also finished 2nd in OBS .988, and 1st in WAR 4.3. And finally he was the Silver Slugger winner at C.
2B Trey Brooks finished 3rd in avg at .316 and 2nd in WAR at 3.8.He also was a Gold Glove winner and Silver Slugger
SS Jose Oquendo won the Gold Glove
RF Mike Hennessy won the Silver Slugger
1B Robert Williamson led the league in HR (17) and finished 2nd in RBI (65)

SP Randall Brown led the league in wins with 8.
SP Jeff Bittiger led the league in strikeouts with 84 and was tied for 2nd in wins with 7. Bittiger also won a Gold Glove.
SP Donald Magdzuik finished 3rd in strikeouts with 65
RP Theodore Damiter finished 3rd with 10 saves

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The Little Falls Mets (32-38) joined Shelby as the only teams to not have a winning season, finishing 6 games below .500 and 15 games out of 1st.

3B Dean Kornacker (22, 20/37), LF David Morris (22, 20/26) and RF Tony Beal (19, 20/31) all won Gold Gloves. Morris also won the Silver Slugger for his position.

RF Tony Beal lead the league with 49 stolen bases and 2B Todd Zacher finished 2nd with 41.

[hvs1717]

We don't have a ton of talent yet but we have some bats almost ready. If we can come up with a few nice pitching pieces we might be able to start showing some improvement in a couple of years.


1. Kevin Mitchell, 3B (19, 30/74) - Our #1 pick started out the season in the Carolina League at Lynchburg. We only kept him there for 74 games before we promoted him to AA Jackson. He hit 28 doubles 22 home runs and drove in 108 runs while scoring 105 runs and .324/.390/.507 between the two stops.

2. Darryl Strawberry, RF (19. 34/68) - Straw also split his season between two cities, starting in Jackson and ending the season in Tidewater. He hit 28 doubles, 9 triples, 25 home runs, drove in 93 runs, stole 35 bases and hit .300/.368/.500

3. Greg Brock, 1B (24, 46/52) - Brock had a solid rookie season with 23 hr 79 rbi over 519 at bats. his slash .220/.308/.387 needs to get better but it was very good in September.

4. Greg A Harris, SP (25. 33/44) - Harris started the season with the White Sox after getting selected in the Rule 5 Draft. He couldn't stick with the Chi Sox all year and finished the season in Tidewater. It is depressing that he is our best pitching prospect at the moment.

5. Ed Lynch, SP (25, 47/43) - Lynch had a solid rookie season, even winning Rookie of the Month once. I don't think he is a guy that will help us win a title but I think he is a good piece to help us get to that level.

6. Phil Oulette, C (19, 35/47) - Our first of 2 2nd round picks this year. Phil had a decent rookie year. He hit 15 hr 49 rbi and .246/.399/.478 and won his league's Gold Glove.

7. Jose Oquendo, SS (18, 23/51) - Jose is an elite defender but I am not sure if he will ever hit enough to play in the majors. The last regime had him in Lynchburg at 17. I backed him down since he is so young and want to see if we can get him some confidence. And it has shown some positive results. He hit .263/.427/.369 with 4 triples and stole 11 bases in only 208 plate appearances.

8. Hubie Brooks, 3B (25, 41/46) - Hubie was better than AAA coming out of spring training but his fist stint with the Mets was not good. However, after a brief demotion, he came back with a flourish, hitting .291/.331/.369 with 12 doubles, 3 triples and 6 stolen bases.

9. Brent Gaff , SP (25, 38/33) - Gaff had a tremendous year winning International League Pitcher of the Year and leading the league in ERA. He pitched well in a September call up and has earned a spring training invite.

10.Jeff Bittiger, SP (20/33) - Bittiger was among league leaders in wins and strikeouts but still struggles with control issues, 5.3 BB/9 and a 1.57 WHIP.