Mets Sign Up Vince Coleman

The New York Mets, seeking to replace some of the offense they lost in Darryl Strawberry, today signed free agent Vince Coleman to a four-year contract worth nearly $12 million.

The Mets had not dipped into the free-agent market since 1980, but believed that they needed to do something drastic after Strawberry signed with Los Angeles.

“Vince Coleman will add a new dimension to our lineup that we haven’t had in some time,” Mets General Manager Frank Cashen said. “He just brings fear into the hearts of the opposition each time he gets on base.”

Coleman, one of baseball’s best base stealers, ends the Mets’ search for a leadoff hitter. He will play left field, and Kevin McReynolds, who had been in left, will move to right field.

The Mets led the majors by scoring 775 runs last season. But they have scrambled to find an effective leadoff hitter ever since trading Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson.

Coleman, 29, batted .292 and stole 77 bases last season for St. Louis. He began his career with the Cardinals in 1985 and stole more than 100 bases in his first three seasons.

The Cardinals were given a final chance to match the Mets’ offer of $11.95 million, but chose not to. The Cardinals did offer a four-year contract, but the money was not as great.

“The Cardinals were in this thing until the very end,” said Coleman’s agent, Richie Bry. “He was torn by the decision. He thought about it through the night.”

Terry Pendleton and Ken Dayley left St. Louis earlier this fall as free agents.

Last August, Willie McGee, also potential free agent, was traded by St. Louis to Oakland. McGee, another of the Cardinals’ main cogs through the 1980s, this week signed with San Francisco.