With Pete Alonso having apparently shaken off the
post Home Run Derby doldrums, it’s time to think once again about his campaign
for Rookie of the Year and what it portends for his baseball future and the
Mets. Let’s take a look at some of the
previous winners with Mets ties and see how their first year success translated
into future stardom.
Tom Seaver
The Mets first ever winner of the Rookie of the Year award
is deservingly Tom Terrific. He carried
the team on his back for many years and was rightfully rewarded with a plaque
in Cooperstown.
Jon Matlack
Many people seem to forget how very good Matlack was for the
Mets. He played for some awful Mets and
Rangers teams, finishing his career a game under .500 but also with a sparkling
3.18 ERA over those 13 seasons in the big leagues.
Pat Zachry
Back in 1976, then with the Cincinnati Reds, Zachry shared
the honors of the Rookie award with another future Met, San Diego’s Butch
Metzer. Zachry was the only pitcher who
came back to the Mets in the horrific Tom Seaver trade, so there was no way he
was going to ever measure up in the fan’s eyes.
He was not a bad pitcher, but surely not Hall of Fame material. His middle-of-the-rotation stuff had him
finishing with a 3.52 ERA. Nowadays that
would land him a $15 million or more per season contract.
Butch Metzger
After starting his career with 10 games in San Francisco,
Metzger moved to the Padres where in 1976 he led the league in games finished,
sported an 11-4 record and secured 16 saves and a 2.92 ERA. That was apparently good enough in the eyes
of MLB to have him share honors with Zachry.
He came to the Mets as a waiver wire deal from the Cardinals, but was
horrible and was out of the majors at age 26 never to return.
Darryl Strawberry
A mid-season callup in 1983, Strawberry flashed power and
speed as well as formidable right field skills.
He finished the year in 122 games with a .257/26/74 slash line to go
along with 19 SBs. Yup, that looked
pretty good for a rookie indeed.
Dwight Gooden
The following season Doc Gooden exploded onto the NY Mets with a remarkable 17-9 season in which he struck out 276 in just 218 IP to go along with a stellar 2.60 ERA. I can remember his starts back then as if it was only yesterday, but just like his teammate Darryl Strawberry, his career went off the rails due to substance abuse issues. Ironically, as remarkable as he was in the early stages, he finished with a Pat Zachry-like 3.51 ERA for his career.
Vince Coleman
As a 23-year-old rookie for the St. Louis Cardinals, Vince
Coleman hit a rather pedestrian .267 en route to his Rookie of the Year
award. However, it was not what he did
with his bat, but rather his legs that got him noticed. He stole a remarkable 110 bases that year,
the first of six consecutive seasons leading the league in that category. He came to the Mets as a part time player for
three years at age 30. While he still
contributed speed, he’s unfortunately best remembered for a number of off-the-field
incidents. He was part of a trio of
players cited by a Florida woman in a sexual assault incident along with Darryl
Boston and Doc Gooden. The case was
eventually dropped. He argued with
management personnel, including Mike Cubbage, Jeff Torborg and Bud
Harrelson. He injured Gooden by swinging
a golf club in the clubhouse, striking him on the pitching arm. However, the one most people remember is when
he threw a lit firecracker into a crowd of autograph seekers in the Dodger
Stadium parking lot, injuring two children.
Dallas Green may not have done much as the Mets manager, but one thing
he got right was dumping Coleman after that season.
Mike Piazza
Like Tom Seaver, what can you say about Mike Piazza except that
his career and trip to Cooperstown were well deserved. The fact that the Dodgers decided to part
ways with him in his prime, banishing him to the Marlins along with Todd Zeile
for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, Bobby Bonilla and Manuel
Barrios was a sign of transition from the winning traditions of the O’Malley
family to the corporate ownership concerned more with bottom line costs and
Piazza’s impending free agency. The
Marlins flipped him to the Mets 8 days later for Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz
and Ed Yarnall. (They also flipped Zeile
to the Rangers who, ironically, also later became a Met).
Hideo Nomo
Another former Dodger on the list, the well-traveled Nomo made
an undistinguished 16 starts for the Mets in 1998, going 4-5 with a 4.82
ERA. He finished his career with an ERA
north of 4.00, but was one of the early high-ticket imports from Asia to have
an extended career in the majors.
Jason Bay
It seems hard to imagine Jason Bay once hit .282 with 26 HRs
and 82 RBIs in less than a full-time role for the Pirates to earn his ROY
award. We only remember the latter stage
of his career where he is the poster child for bad contracts (concussions
notwithstanding). What makes it worse is
that he was once a NY Mets minor leaguer who they dispatched to the San Diego
Padres along with Josh Reynolds and Bobbly Jones for Jason Middlebrook and
Steve Reed. Yup, that was a stinker for
sure. Then the Padres turned around and
traded him to the Pirates along with another former Met, Oliver Perez, and Cory
Stewart for slugging outfielder Brian Giles (not to be confused for the weak
hitting gloveman who manned the infield for parts of three seasons in the early
1980s.
Jacob deGrom
That brings us to reigning Cy Young Award winner and current
Mets ace, Jacob deGrom. His career ERA
is a remarkable 2.68. If he played for a
team with more offense, his record would be far better than the 62-48 he’s
compiled since winning Rookie honors back in 2014.
So how does Pete stack up against the competition? Well, there’s not a whole lot there at his
level. Chris Paddack of the Padres was
at one point demoted to AA but he’s currently sporting a 7-5 record and a nice
3.19 ERA, good for 2.0 WAR. (Pete is at
3.9 WAR, but who’s counting?) Alonso’s
only other competition would seem to be Paddack’s teammate, Fernando Tatis,
Jr. He’s have a great year with a .322
AVG, 20 HRs and 48 RBIs to go along with 14 SBs while playing the physically
demanding role of shortstop. He’s also
at 3.9 WAR.
If I had a vote it would go to:
7 comments:
Pete for ROY in my books. Without him (and McNeil) the Mets = the Marlins.
We do not need a ROY repeat of 1968, when highly deserving Jerry Koosman gut nudged out by Johnny Bench.
I know it is another subject, but the Yanks roll is incredible, even more so given that they have gotten little from Judge, Andujar out all year, Gregorious missing much of the year, Stanton out almost the whole season, Severino and Betances missing in action, etc. How do they do it?
Lemahieu, Urshela, Maybin, and Tauchman.
This 4 have been up 1,063 at bats, .327, 78 doubles, 52 homers, 202 RBIs, 211 runs scored. That is MVP level performance - from 4 guys who weren't expected to play much - or at all.
Meanwhile, the Mets have had Nido, Broxton, Lagaraes, Altherr, Hecchavaria and Guillorme hitting under .200. Subs of quality really matter.
Compare Yanks foursome to last off season's coveted and ultra-expensive stars Harper and Machado, who combined are up 851 times, 236 Ks, 46 HR, 143 RBI, .259. Yankee foursome much better - and cheaper. OK, I'm done.
Gee, it's almost as if they have an experienced GM who knows what he's doing.
Sure seems that way
It has to be Pete.
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