1998 Mets, Pedro Feliciano, International FA, Ed Bouchee, and George Foster

1998 Mets:

They had a young Edgardo Alfonzo, who had a .315 BA, a .391 OBP, and a .823 OPS, and also John Olerud, who hit 30 home runs and had a .400 OBP. Additionally, Todd Hundley had a second straight fine year, also hitting 30 HR with a .394 OBP and a .923 OPS. Their pitching was effective, if not stellar. Rick Reed won 13 games, had a 2.89 ERA and a WHIP of 1.043. Another strong starter was Bobby Jones, who had 15 wins, a 3.89 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. John Franco anchored a decent bullpen with 36 saves.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/de-constructing-the-piazza-trade



Pedro Feliciano:

He’s letting more runners on base, he’s pitched a ton of innings over the last few seasons, he’s walking more and striking out less, and he showed he’s not very effective against right-handed batters last season, at least to the extent that he should be used as anything more than a situational lefty. So, is it wise to sign a 35-year-old situational lefty, with a lot of mileage on his arm, to a two-year, $8 million deal? I don’t know that it is… the Mets might be better suited going out to the open market to find a replacement

http://baseballmusings.com/  



International FA:

The Mets continued to be more aggressive internationally than in the draft in 2010, handing six-figure bonuses to Venezuelan outfielder Vicente Lupo and Dominican third baseman Elvis Sanchez, both of whom drew positive reviews for their raw power. They join a growing contingency of Latin American prospects in the system, headlined by righthander Jennry Mejia, shortstop Wilmer Flores and outfielder Cesar Puello—the Mets' three best prospects

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2011/2611054.html



Ed Bouchee:

Since debuting with a terrific rookie season in 1957, Bouchee’s road had been decidedly bumpy. But he was still just 28, and some regular exposure to the Polo Grounds short porch in right field might be just the thing to get his career back on track. Had the Colt .45s not exhausted their picks from the Cubs so quickly, our Mets would have been drafting Bouchee earlier.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-virtual-1960s-new-york-mets-part-1-the-expansion-draft



George Foster:

Imagine how crazy Met fans would get today if we acquired an outfielder who had hit 52 home runs and knocked in 149 runs while winning the NL MVP 4 years earlier?? In the prime of his career, at the age of 33??? Coming from an organization (the Cincinnati Reds) steeped in tradition and recognized as one of the best dynasties of all time?? That's right- we'd be skeptical, call him over-paid and over-rated, and wait for the bottom to fall out! But it wasn't always that way- in fact, when the Mets acquired Foster from the Reds in exchange for pitchers Greg Harris & Jim Kern, and catcher Alex Trevino, most Met fans thought we'd finally received our payback for the Seaver to Cincinnati trade.


http://www.macksmets.blogspot.com