Mets Step Up to the Mike

If the departure of Mike Piazza helped trigger what has been a numbing descent of the Dodgers, his 1998 acquisition and signing by the New York Mets, General Manager Steve Phillips was saying Wednesday, was the one transaction that restored credibility, made the Mets attractive to other players rather than a team to avoid and accelerated the emergence from the sub-.500 doldrums of the earlier ‘90s.

“It gave the team on the field credibility, the front office credibility and the ownership credibility that they were willing to invest in winning,” Phillips said. “We went from being a good little team to being a competitive and contending team.

“It also changed our perception among players. We became a team players considered playing for rather than a team listed in no-trade clauses. His acquisition made the Mets a cool team to play for again.

“We took a risk in trading for Mike [because of his eligibility for free agency at the end of that year], but it was one we had to take. There is no substitute for winning in New York, and he’s helped make us a winner.”

From wild card in each of the last two years to current National League champion, the Mets now have a chance to take back their city, to emerge from the “shadow of second fiddle,” as relief pitcher John Franco described it Wednesday, by beating the New York Yankees in the Subway Series starting Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.

The World Series is the World Series, of course, but this time Big Apple bragging rights may be even bigger.

Especially for the Mets, who have always lived in that Yankee shadow, repeatedly blown out of the tabloid headlines by George Steinbrenner and his Bronx Zoo and by the Yankees’ three World Series wins in the last four years.

Even a Met rookie such as Jay Payton knows whose town it is.

“The Yankees have all those championships and are definitely the team in this city,” he said.

“Wherever I go, I run into a lot more Yankee fans. We’re just trying to get our piece of the pie, and this is our chance to step up and show what kind of team we have.”

Said Phillips, “The perception that the Yankees are the No. 1 team in New York and the Mets are No. 2 is based in reality. It’s hard to debate when a team has won three of the last four World Series. They’ve earned it by their performance.”

For Phillips and staff, it’s a tough obstacle. The Yankees haunt their decisions. The marquee is always a consideration, as it is in every two-team city.

“We know it’s there,” he said, referring to the Yankee shadow, “but any move we make has to make sense from a baseball standpoint. If it’s a good baseball decision and it has appropriate splash in the market, then it’s an even better decision. But once you start making decisions to steal the limelight, then you’ll start making bad decisions. We know the issue is there, but I think we’ve closed the gap over the last couple years because we’ve gotten back to being a contending team.”

Piazza, of course, filled the bill two ways: an impact player who lit up the marquee. Phillips had already raided the disbanding Florida Marlins for Al Leiter and Dennis Cook when he made the deal for Piazza, who had been traded by the Dodgers less than a month before. The seven-year, $91-million contract that Piazza subsequently signed with the Mets added to the pressure in his new environment.

“There were a lot of days he was greeted with boos here and had a negative press for the first time because the expectations were so high,” Phillips said. “But when you put in the work and persevere as Mike has, the rewards are that much greater.

“I don’t think any marquee player could exceed what Mike has meant to our club, not only with his production on the field but even more with his effort, the way he goes about his job and the way he represents the organization off the field. He’s been a class act.”

Piazza’s presence has helped lure free agents Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile, among others, and might help retain Mike Hampton, who is likely to start the Subway opener for the Mets and is eligible for free agency next month.

“I think the Mets had already started the process here when they acquired Leiter and Cook,” Piazza said, “but it’s obviously a good feeling to know you’re considered an important piece of the puzzle. We’ve put in a lot of work and the results are finally here. I couldn’t be more excited. I mean, playing for this team in this town is almost like being a rock star, and now I can appreciate that twice as much.”

The man who has lifted the credibility and visibility of the Mets next plays the off-Broadway theater that is Yankee Stadium.

Piazza said he can appreciate the Subway Series impact on history and fans and generations of youngsters here, but “for me it is simply about winning the big one, dude. We’re the underdogs trying to knock off the champs, but we can beat anybody when we play our game.”

The Mets have been. They are 7-2 in the postseason, getting solid performances in all aspects, contributions throughout a lineup that has taken on a new dynamic with the improbable emergence of leadoff batter Timo Perez.

“We have the depth of our lineup right now where we have a chance to score in every inning and be a threat in every inning,” said Phillips, who like Manager Bobby Valentine is unsigned beyond Oct. 31. It’s an inexplicable situation given their contributions. Only this year, for instance, Phillips made the preseason deal for Hampton, flushed out Rickey Henderson and Bobby Bonilla and responded in midseason by acquiring Mike Bordick, Bubba Trammell and Rick White.

He and Valentine now have a team capable of taking the city away from the vaunted Yankees, who, in the view of Met outfielder Darryl Hamilton, “have the most to lose in this series, and I don’t mean that strictly as a negative. It’s just that they’ve won so many times they’ve owned the city, and now we have a chance to take it from them. The one certainty is that whoever loses, there’s going to be no place to hide.”

Phillips knows that feeling, working in that shadow of the Yankees, every trade and signing scrutinized. No. 2, of course, is said to try harder, and now he has a shot at No. 1.

“We’ll only know what’s going to happen when it’s all said and done,” he said, “but I think our emergence into the postseason last year brought back a lot of Met fans and probably some of the undecided voters who were looking our way and at the way we performed. I would suspect we’ll continue to grow our fan base and that every fan is excited about a Subway Series.”

No matter which side of the tracks they are on.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

How the Mets Were Built

A look at the Mets’ 25-man postseason roster before and after the acquisition of catcher Mike Piazza from the Florida Marlins on May 22, 1998 for outfielder Preston Wilson and pitchers Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz. Sixteen players were acquired via trade, four came up to the team through the farm system, and five signed as free agents:

BEFORE PIAZZA

* John Franco, relief pitcher--Acquired from the Cincinnati Reds on Dec. 6, 1989 for pitchers Randy Myers and Kip Gross.

* Edgardo Alfonzo, second baseman--Signed as a non-drafted free agent Feb. 19, 1991.

* Bobby J. Jones, starting pitcher--Selected in the supplemental round as a compensation pick between the first and second rounds of the 1991 free-agent draft.

* Benny Agbayani, left fielder--Selected in the 30th round of the June 1993 free agent draft.

* Jay Payton, center fielder--Selected in the first round of the June 1993 free-agent draft.

* Glendon Rusch, starting pitcher--Acquired from the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 14, 1995 for pitcher Dan Murray.

* Rick Reed, starting pitcher--Signed as a free agent to a minor-league contract on Nov. 7, 1995.

* Todd Pratt, catcher--Signed as a six-year minor league free agent on Dec. 23, 1996.

* Turk Wendell, relief pitcher--Acquired from the Chicago Cubs with outfielder Brian McRae and pitcher Mel Rojas on Aug. 8, 1997 for outfielder Lance Johnson, pitcher Mark Clark, and infielder Manny Alexander.

* Al Leiter, starting pitcher--Acquired from the Florida Marlins with infielder Ralph Milliard on Feb. 26, 1998 for pitchers Jesus Sanchez, A.J. Burnett, and outfielder Robert Stratton.

AFTER PIAZZA

* Armando Benitez, relief pitcher--Acquired from the Baltimore Orioles on Dec. 1, 1998 in a three-team trade that sent catcher Todd Hundley and pitcher Arnold Gooch from the Mets to the Dodgers, outfielder Roger Cedeno from the Dodgers to the Mets, and catcher Charles Johnson from the Dodgers to the Orioles.

* Robin Ventura, third baseman--Signed as a free agent on Dec. 2, 1998.

* Todd Zeile, first baseman--Signed as a free agent on Dec. 11, 1999.

* Dennis Cook, relief pitcher--Acquired from the Florida Marlins on Dec. 16, 1998 for outfielder Fletcher Bates and pitcher Scott Corner.

* Derek Bell, right fielder--Acquired from the Houston Astros with Mike Hampton on Dec. 23, 1999 for pitcher Octavio Dotel, outfielder Roger Cedeno, and pitcher Kyle Kesser.

* Mike Hampton, starting pitcher--Acquired from the Houston Astros with Derek Bell on Dec. 23, 1999 for pitcher Octavio Dotel, outfielder Roger Cedeno, and pitcher Kyle Kesser.

* Darryl Hamilton, outfielder--Acquired with pitcher Chuck McElroy from the Colorado Rockies on July 31, 1999 for pitcher Rigo Beltran, and outfielders Brian McRae, and Thomas Johnson.

* Kurt Abbott, shortstop--Signed as a free agent Jan. 26, 2000.

* Joe McEwing, outfielder--Acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals on March 18, 2000 for pitcher Jesse Orosco.

* Lenny Harris, infielder-outfielder--Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks with cash on June 2, 2000 for pitcher Bill Pulsipher.

* Mike Bordick, shortstop--Acquired from the Baltimore Orioles on July 28, 2000 for infielder Melvin Mora, catcher Mike Kincaid, and pitchers Lesli Brae and Pat Gorman.

* Bubba Trammell, outfielder--Acquired from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with pitcher Rick White on July 28, 2000 for pitcher Paul Wilson and outfielder Jason Tyner.

* Rick White, relief pitcher--Acquired from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with infielder Bubba Trammell on July 28, 2000 for pitcher Paul Wilson and outfielder Jason Tyner.

* Timonial Perez, outfielder--Contract purchased from Norfolk of the International League (triple A) Aug. 30, 2000.

--Research by Roy Jurgens