1969 was the first year I followed baseball fan, and even though I was a Yankees fan (RIP Joe Pepitone), it was impossible to grow up in the NY area and not be caught up in the excitement of the Miracle Mets.
After 1969, the team showed it was not quite a fluke (that 1969 team is very under-rated historically in my view, winning 100 games, sweeping the Braves and then taking four straight from the historically awesome Orioles after losing the first game of the World Series), by contending for some years after that. They even sneaked into another pennant in 1973, though barely breaking .500.
Still, there is a sense that more was possible: After all, in the worst trade not involving Babe Ruth they traded Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi who was washed up by that point. They had Ken Singleton and Tim Foli on their 1970 roster.
What might have been?
I have decided to start playing the Mets beginning in the 1970 season with a few rules:
1. Don't trade Ryan, Singleton or Foli
2. Don't trade Seaver or Koosman or Tug McGraw
3. Ed Kranepool MUST play out his career as a Met. He is THE career Met player after all as this great Don Lagreca rant - THE GREATEST polemic by anyone ever on any subject, makes clear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnzgpbE3xrE
4. Try to keep Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson, Tommie Agee and Cleon Jones even into being useful bench players if at all possible.
5. No unfair or uneasonable trades with the AI (Houston keeps trying to trade me Doug Rader for not enough in return.
This leaves Mike Jorgenson and maybe some bench players as tradeable commodities to improve the team. But the Mets, like the 70s Astros or the Indians are better if they don't trade then if they do in most cases.
Obviously, the principle at work here is to have a Big Three of Seaver, Ryan and Koosman with Tug McGraw in the bullpen. Also, the team must continue to be at core the team of the 1969-early 70s Mets. A trade here or there, a substitution, but without Kranepool, Harrelson, Grote, Agee and Cleon it is not the Mets any longer, at least for a few years. At least through 1973-4 I would say.
With Foli and Singleton able to pick up the slack in the next few seasons, there is good reason to think the team can be strong.
For now, RF is the Shamsky/Swoboda platoon, and 1B is Clendennon and Kranepool. Wayne Garrett and Joe Foy is the 3B platoon and Garrett is ok, we need a better RH 3B or else a trade of both for a full time 3B. Not sure which to go with. We'll see what's offered.
I have injuries on, 3-year recalc, player development off and the same with all the clubhouse/team morale/personality stuff, off, Finances off. Five rounds of new player draft. Trades are set to two clicks more difficult than center and also for preference for prospects.
Here goes.