Baseball Articles | 1998
Post-Season Reviews
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Baseball Articles | 1998
Post-Season Reviews
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1998 Post-Season Review -- New York Mets By Tom Ruane This article takes a look at how the New York Mets did in the 1998 season relative to pre-season expectations. For an overview of the approach used in this review, and a definition of some of the key terms and statistics, please see the overview page called 1998 Team-by-Team Performance Reviews. Capsule SummaryProjected Actual Runs for 687 706 Runs allowed 667 645 Run Margin 20 61 Wins 84 88 Pythagorean wins 83 88 Placement 2nd 2nd The general perception among fans and reporters was that the Met front office had done little to improve their club before the 1998 season. They picked up a couple of pitchers from the Marlins in the fire-sale down in Miami and signed Masato Yoshii from the Japanese league. But it was the Marlin that they didn't get, Gary Sheffield, that seemed to disappoint many following the club. By the end of May, GM Steve Phillips would land another Marlin, Mike Piazza, and effectively end complaints about the team's penny-pinching ways. Key Position PlayersThe Mets scored 19 more runs than projected in 1998. Piazza accounted for more than that all by himself, meaning that the rest of the team did slightly worse than expected. The outfield was to blame for this, as Huskey, Gilkey, Phillips and Hundley all hit poorly last season, effectively negating outstanding seasons from Piazza and Olerud. Mike Piazza, C, age 29AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection LAN 607 210 27 0 41 108 125 2 82 16 95 2 1 .346 .424 .593 1.017 150 Prorated LAN 141 49 6 0 10 25 29 0 19 4 22 0 0 .346 .424 .593 1.017 35 Actual LAN 149 42 5 0 9 20 30 0 11 4 27 0 0 .282 .329 .497 .826 24 Actual FLO 18 5 0 1 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 .278 .263 .389 .652 2 Actual NYN 394 137 33 0 23 67 76 2 47 10 53 1 0 .348 .417 .607 1.024 98 Actual TOT 561 184 38 1 32 88 111 2 58 14 80 1 0 .328 .390 .570 .960 123 The Mets gave up one of their best outfield prospects to land Piazza, but it's hard to imagine Preston Wilson ever doing enough in Florida to prevent this from looking like a great deal for New York. Piazza was having an off season (at least by his standards) prior to coming to the Mets, but returned to his normal level after his arrival. He knocked in only 24 runs in his first 57 games for New York and was booed for his lack of production. At the time, it seemed unlikely he would be willing to sign with the Mets after the season. 52 RBIs in his last 52 games won over the fans and that, as well as $91 million, convinced him to stay in New York. He turned thirty toward the end of 1998 and there's some concern about how much longer he'll be able to catch 140 games a season and hit effectively. Eventually, his work behind the plate will start to hurt his production at the plate. Until that happens, however, Mets fans can continue to enjoy the greatest hitting catcher in major league history. Todd Pratt, C, age 31AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 177 45 6 1 5 23 25 2 18 0 47 0 1 .254 .328 .384 .712 22 Prorated NYN 63 16 2 0 2 8 9 1 6 0 17 0 0 .254 .328 .384 .712 8 Actual NYN 69 19 9 1 2 9 18 0 2 0 20 0 0 .275 .296 .522 .818 11 Pratt had enjoyed an fine season as a backup catcher in 1997 and we expected him to see quite a bit of action until Hundley returned from shoulder surgery. A poor spring training got him sent down to the minors, however, and after being recalled in early May, he went on the disabled list two days later with shoulder problems. Shortly after that, Piazza arrived. Pratt hit extremely well at AAA (.356 average and a 1.027 OPS) and should be able to help someone in 1999. Tim Spehr, C, age 31AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 302 49 9 0 9 27 27 4 18 0 93 0 4 .162 .216 .281 .498 19 Prorated NYN 55 9 2 0 2 5 5 1 3 0 17 0 1 .162 .216 .281 .498 3 Actual NYN 51 7 1 0 0 3 3 2 7 1 16 1 0 .137 .267 .157 .424 3 Actual KCA 25 6 2 0 1 5 2 2 8 0 3 0 0 .240 .457 .440 .897 6 Actual TOT 76 13 3 0 1 8 5 4 15 1 19 1 0 .171 .337 .250 .587 9 Spehr, a career .200 hitter, batted .429 in spring training and on the basis of those 35 at-bats won the interim catching job from Todd Pratt. This created a dilemma for us. Our projections showed that giving Spehr the job over Pratt was a big mistake, but we felt we had no choice but to run our 1998 simulations with Spehr in the lineup because the job was given to him. With Pratt getting those 300 atbats, the Mets would have been projected for about 86 wins instead of 84. Sure enough, once the games started to count, Spehr's hitting stroke disappeared and he was still struggling when he broke his wrist in early May. He was sold to the Royals at the beginning of September. John Olerud, 1B, age 29AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 584 162 33 1 21 88 91 14 90 8 67 0 0 .277 .383 .445 .828 103 Prorated NYN 560 155 32 1 20 84 87 13 86 8 64 0 0 .277 .383 .445 .828 99 Actual NYN 557 197 36 4 22 91 93 4 96 11 73 2 2 .354 .447 .551 .998 141 Prior to last season, Olerud had been pretty much a one-year wonder. While playing for Toronto in 1993, he had posted a .363 average and a 1.072 OPS--all at the age of 24. At the time, he was expected to have an outstanding career, but it hasn't happened. His batting average in his other seasons from 1989 to 1997 was only .281 (with a .833 OPS). Not bad, but not great either. That was pretty much what we expected from Olerud, but he ended up with the second great year of his career instead. His performance seems even better when you consider that he plays half his games in a tough park for hitters. Olerud hit .373 on the road and only the rarefied air of Coors Field kept him from winning his second batting crown. He's also a very good fielder that nobody ever talks about. Carlos Baerga, 2B, age 29AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 582 157 28 1 12 67 69 6 24 2 50 3 4 .270 .303 .383 .686 62 Prorated NYN 517 140 25 1 11 60 61 5 21 2 44 3 4 .270 .303 .383 .686 55 Actual NYN 511 136 27 1 7 46 53 6 24 6 55 0 1 .266 .303 .364 .667 52 I was amazed to discover that Baerga didn't turn 30 until last November. In 1995, at the age of 26, he had completed his fourth consecutive season with a .300+ batting average and an .800+ OPS. He should have been entering the prime years of a great career. Instead, he has suffered through three straight mediocre seasons and looks close to washed up at an early age. Who would've guessed? With Alfonzo moving to second in 1999, Baerga will have to find a job with some other team. Luis Lopez, 2B/SS/3B, age 27AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 70 18 4 0 1 7 6 1 4 1 14 0 1 .257 .307 .357 .664 7 Prorated NYN 272 70 16 0 4 27 23 4 16 4 54 0 4 .257 .307 .357 .664 28 Actual NYN 266 67 13 2 2 37 22 4 20 3 60 2 2 .252 .312 .338 .650 27 Lopez saw the most action of his career in 1998, and hit about as expected. He's hit two of his seven career home runs off of Pedro Martinez, which made Lopez one of the few NL hitters sorry to see Martinez leave for Boston last year. Rey Ordonez, SS, age 25AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 525 122 12 5 2 55 44 2 26 7 55 7 8 .232 .270 .286 .555 38 Prorated NYN 506 117 12 5 2 53 42 2 25 7 53 7 8 .232 .270 .286 .555 36 Actual NYN 505 124 20 2 1 46 42 1 23 7 60 3 6 .246 .278 .299 .577 40 Ordonez improved slightly on offense in 1998, but was still awful at the plate. When he first came up three years ago, the comparisons to Ozzie Smith seemed striking. They both came to the majors at about the same age, and both were spectacular fielders who couldn't hit a lick. While Smith eventually learned how to handle a bat, he always got to a lot more balls than an average shortstop. The problem with Ordonez at this point is that he's NOT getting to more balls than other shortstops--even after you take into consideration the number and type of balls hit in his direction. He still looks great in the field and it's a mystery to me why his defensive numbers don't seem to reflect this. He batted .352 in July, but with only 3 extra-base hits and 2 walks all month, probably still wasn't contributing a whole lot on offense. Edgardo Alfonzo, 3B, age 24AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 582 173 27 3 10 79 77 4 57 1 68 9 3 .297 .360 .405 .765 90 Prorated NYN 556 165 26 3 10 75 74 4 54 1 65 9 3 .297 .360 .405 .765 86 Actual NYN 557 155 28 2 17 94 78 3 65 1 77 8 3 .278 .355 .427 .782 87 Alfonzo didn't come close to hitting .315 again in 1998, but his career high 17 home runs almost made up for it. His home run prowess was late in coming: he had hit only 6 by August 5th. He missed three weeks in May with a strained rotator cuff and perhaps his injury was partly responsible for a somewhat disappointing season in the field. With the addition of Robin Ventura, Alfonzo will be moving to second base (where he started his career) in 1999. Matt Franco, 3B/LF/1B, age 28AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 69 19 4 0 1 8 9 0 5 1 8 0 0 .275 .320 .377 .697 8 Prorated NYN 172 47 10 0 2 20 22 0 12 2 20 0 0 .275 .320 .377 .697 21 Actual NYN 161 44 7 2 1 20 13 1 23 6 26 0 1 .273 .366 .360 .726 20 Both the injury to Alfonzo and the poor play of the outfielders caused Franco to see more action than expected. He was once again one of the league's busiest pinch-hitters, going 14 for 55 with 12 walks in that role. Bernard Gilkey, LF, age 31AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 559 152 36 2 22 94 93 5 70 3 115 11 10 .272 .352 .462 .814 91 Prorated NYN 265 72 17 1 10 45 44 2 33 1 54 5 5 .272 .352 .462 .814 43 Actual NYN 264 60 15 0 4 33 28 4 32 1 66 5 1 .227 .317 .330 .646 30 Actual ARI 101 25 0 0 1 8 5 1 11 0 14 4 2 .248 .327 .277 .605 9 Actual TOT 365 85 15 0 5 41 33 5 43 1 80 9 3 .233 .320 .315 .635 38 It was reasonable to assume he would bounce back somewhat from a poor 1997 campaign, but instead he hit even worse. A stress fracture in his elbow sent him (and his .314 batting average) to the sidelines for a month early in the season. From the time he returned until he was traded to the Diamondbacks for Willie Blair, Gilkey would hit .196 with only 4 HRs and 19 RBIs in 194 at-bats. When he was traded, he had fewer RBIs than Rey Ordonez. Gilkey has had a strange mixture of very good and bad seasons throughout his career, but this is the first time he has posted back-to-back poor ones and, at his age, that's not a good sign. His OPS in the last three seasons has been .955, .755 and .635. Tony Phillips, LF/RF, age 39AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection 63 15 3 0 1 12 6 0 12 1 15 1 1 .238 .360 .333 .693 8 Actual TOR 48 17 5 0 1 9 7 2 9 1 6 0 0 .354 .467 .521 .988 12 Actual NYN 188 42 11 0 3 25 14 0 38 0 44 1 1 .223 .351 .330 .681 25 Actual TOT 236 59 16 0 4 34 21 2 47 1 50 1 1 .250 .375 .369 .744 37 The Mets tried to sign Phillips in spring training but couldn't come to terms with the outfielder. The Blue Jays eventually picked him up before trading him to New York at the end of July for a minor league pitcher. He was on a hot streak prior to his arrival, but hit about as well as expected after coming to the Mets. Despite his reputation as a speedster, he stole only a single base in 1998. One of the crucial moments for New York last season was a base-running blunder by Jay Payton in the the opening game of their decisive series with Atlanta. Payton had been inserted into the game as a pinch-runner for Phillips, hardly an endorsement for the speed of their leadoff hitter. The Mets have decided to replace him next season with another great leadoff hitter from the past, future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, who turned 40 last Christmas. Henderson probably has more left than Phillips, but that's not saying much. Todd Hundley, LF, age 29AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 113 30 5 0 9 19 23 0 20 4 30 0 0 .265 .376 .549 .925 24 Prorated NYN 121 32 5 0 10 20 25 0 21 4 32 0 0 .265 .376 .549 .925 25 Actual NYN 124 20 4 0 3 8 12 1 16 0 55 1 1 .161 .261 .266 .527 10 Hundley wasn't expected to return from elbow surgery until late in the season. Of course, the Piazza trade forced him to attempt his comeback from left-field but it wasn't clear, at least to me, that his fielding problems were responsible for his extremely poor hitting. He will move back behind the plate for the Dodgers in 1999 and attempt to regain his hitting stroke. Brian McRae, CF, age 30AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 610 154 34 7 11 94 50 9 67 3 89 24 10 .252 .334 .385 .719 81 Prorated NYN 569 144 32 7 10 88 47 8 62 3 83 22 9 .252 .334 .385 .719 76 Actual NYN 552 146 36 5 21 79 79 5 80 3 90 20 11 .264 .360 .462 .822 97 McRae was the only regular Mets outfielder who wasn't a big disappointment in 1998, as he bounced back from an off season to enjoy the best year of his career. He set highs in home runs, RBIs, walks and slugging percentage. The plan now is to move him to right field and have 40 year-old Henderson take over in center. Butch Huskey, RF, age 26AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI HP W IW K SB CS AVG OBP SPC OPS RC Projection NYN 617 172 29 2 31 78 105 2 41 6 115 7 6 .279 .321 .483 .804 88 Prorated NYN 371 103 17 1 19 47 63 1 25 4 69 4 4 .279 .321 .483 .804 53 Actual NYN 369 93 18 0 13 43 59 1 26 3 66 7 6 .252 .300 .407 .707 41 Huskey took a step backward in 1998, particularly in the power department. He went on the DL in early August with a hamstring injury and, although he returned to action a month later, was little help down the stretch, going 6-26 with one home run and only three RBIs. After the season, he was traded to the Mariners for a minor leaguer. Key PitchersThe Mets had a slightly better pitching staff than we figured they would. Among the starters, Al Leiter dramatically exceeded our expectations, while fine seasons in the bullpen from Brian Cook and Turk Wendell just about made up for Mel Rojas' awful year. Al Leiter, Starter, age 32Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 3.88 32 32 12 10 0 188 163 15 108 171 .235 Prorated NYN 3.88 30 30 11 9 0 178 155 14 102 162 .235 Actual NYN 2.47 28 28 17 6 0 193 151 8 71 174 .216 1998 was a good year for the Leiter family, as both Al and Mark Leiter enjoyed the best seasons of their major league careers. Al had previously turned in a sub-3.00 ERA in 1996, when he went 16-12 as the ace of the Marlins, but the 4.34 mark he put up during their championship run lowered expectations among Mets fans when GM Phillips took Leiter (and his hefty salary) from Florida prior to spring training. A knee injury he suffered at the end of June cost him three weeks and a shot at 20 victories. Bobby Jones, Starter, age 28Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 4.25 32 32 10 11 0 197 201 25 56 124 .266 Prorated NYN 4.25 31 31 10 11 0 190 194 24 54 120 .266 Actual NYN 4.05 30 30 9 9 0 195 192 23 53 115 .262 Jones has been a very consistent pitcher during his six years with the Mets, and although he won fewer than ten games for the first time since his rookie season, his performance was right in line with what he had done previously. Rick Reed, Starter, age 32Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 3.62 32 32 12 10 0 204 199 22 40 124 .257 Prorated NYN 3.62 33 33 12 10 0 207 202 22 41 126 .257 Actual NYN 3.48 31 31 16 11 0 212 208 30 29 153 .261 Reed was a journeyman pitcher for most of his long career before surprising both the Mets and the rest of the NL with an outstanding season in 1997. Few thought he would post a 2.89 ERA again, and while he didn't, he was still a big winner last year. He certainly enjoys pitching at Shea Stadium. He went 10-4 with a 2.24 ERA at home in 1998, compared to a 6-7, 5.38 mark on the road. Masato Yoshii, Starter, age 33Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 4.07 4 4 1 1 0 24 25 3 8 13 .266 Prorated NYN 4.07 28 28 7 7 0 168 175 21 56 91 .266 Actual NYN 3.93 29 29 6 8 0 172 166 22 53 117 .255 A former teammate of Hideo Nomo with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan, Yoshii started very strongly and on June 2nd had a 4-1 record to go with a 2.25 ERA. He would win only twice more in 1998, the victim of the poorest run support among Mets starters. Dave Mlicki, Starter, age 30Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 4.50 27 27 8 9 0 162 168 20 59 133 .269 Prorated NYN 4.50 10 10 3 3 0 61 63 8 22 50 .269 Actual NYN 5.68 10 10 1 4 0 57 68 8 25 39 .297 Actual LAN 4.05 20 20 7 3 0 124 120 15 38 78 .253 Actual TOT 4.57 30 30 8 7 0 181 188 23 63 117 .267 Mlicki did about as expected in 1998. Unfortunately for the Mets, he saved the good part of his season for the Dodgers, who sent Hideo Nomo and Brad Clontz to the Mets in early June for Mlicki and Greg McMichaels. Hideo Nomo, Starter, age 29Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection LAN 3.49 32 32 13 9 0 211 179 22 93 237 .229 Prorated LAN 3.49 11 11 4 3 0 70 59 7 31 78 .229 Actual LAN 5.05 12 12 2 7 0 68 57 8 38 73 .228 Actual NYN 4.82 17 16 4 5 0 90 73 11 56 94 .224 Actual TOT 4.92 29 28 6 12 0 158 130 19 94 167 .226 His career continued to spiral downward in 1998. After a poor start in LA, the Mets were hoping a fresh start (and perhaps a new pitching coach and manager) could help Nomo return to the form of his first two seasons. The move to New York didn't seem to do the trick, as he ended up pitching about the same on both coasts. His ERA has now gone up every year since he entered the league in 1995. The strange thing is that Nomo remained very hard to hit. He gave up a few more home runs and quite a few more walks, but not enough to explain the difference between an ERA of 3.49 and 4.92. Armando Reynoso, Starter, age 32Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 4.16 34 4 3 3 0 76 76 7 24 40 .263 Prorated NYN 4.16 31 4 3 3 0 69 69 6 22 36 .263 Actual NYN 3.82 11 11 7 3 0 68 64 4 32 40 .256 Reynoso strained his elbow before the season began and wasn't able to return until the end of July. He won his first five starts after coming off the DL, and seven of his first eight. He'll attempt to continue the hot streak next season in Arizona, where he signed a two-year contract for $5 million. John Franco, Closer, age 37Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 3.25 70 0 5 5 32 75 69 4 29 65 .247 Prorated NYN 3.25 64 0 5 5 29 69 63 4 27 60 .247 Actual NYN 3.62 61 0 0 8 38 65 66 4 29 59 .267 Franco had one of the worst seasons of what has been a remarkably consistent career in 1998. Only once before in his 14 major league seasons had he finished with an ERA higher than 3.20. It was a year of hot and cold streaks for him. He didn't allow an earned run from May 16th to July 2nd, and then gave up 14 runs in his next 12 innings. Someone should tell him that Shea Stadium is a pitcher's park: Franco had a 2.20 road ERA and a 5.06 mark at home. Brian Bohanon, Swing man, age 29Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 4.49 32 32 10 12 0 206 215 22 77 152 .271 Prorated NYN 4.49 8 8 3 3 0 53 55 6 20 39 .271 Actual NYN 3.15 25 4 2 4 0 54 47 4 21 39 .234 Actual LAN 2.40 14 14 5 7 0 97 74 9 36 72 .213 Actual TOT 2.67 39 18 7 11 0 152 121 13 57 111 .221 Bohanon was coming off the best year of his career, and we figured he wouldn't be able to match either the 6-4 record or the 3.82 ERA of 1997. He was pitching even better than that, however, when the Mets sent him to LA for Greg McMichael at the end of July. Dennis Cook, Middle Relief, age 35Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 3.84 70 0 4 3 1 73 68 4 29 73 .247 Prorated NYN 3.84 64 0 4 3 1 66 62 4 26 66 .247 Actual NYN 2.38 73 0 8 4 1 68 60 5 27 79 .240 He was another exile from the Marlins, and like Leiter, Cook would have a fine year for the Mets. Except for more strikeouts, he did just about what about was expected in 1998. Don't get too carried away by his ERA, as it's a full run lower than a typical ERA for this level of performance. Greg McMichael, Middle Relief, age 31Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 3.24 53 0 3 2 0 58 52 5 17 54 .241 Prorated NYN 3.24 56 0 3 2 0 61 55 5 18 57 .241 Actual NYN 4.02 52 0 5 3 1 54 64 8 29 44 .299 Actual LAN 4.40 12 0 0 1 1 14 17 1 6 11 .309 Actual TOT 4.10 64 0 5 4 2 68 81 9 35 55 .301 McMichael was sent to the Dodgers in the Nomo deal at the beginning of June and returned (in exchange for Bohanon) five weeks later. Shuttling between LA and New York didn't seem to help his pitching, and he suffered through the worst year of his six year career. Mel Rojas, Middle Relief, age 31Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 3.39 70 0 4 3 7 74 63 8 30 80 .230 Prorated NYN 3.39 58 0 3 2 6 62 52 7 25 67 .230 Actual NYN 6.05 50 0 5 2 2 58 68 9 30 41 .305 Rojas was a tremendous disappointment for the Mets. After an off-season in 1997, many of us felt that Rojas would bounce back last year. After all, this is the same pitcher who saved 36 games for the Expos in 1996. He started strongly, and on June 9th had allowed only 4 earned runs in his first 26 2/3 innings. He was brutal after that, posting a 10.05 ERA the rest of the way. The Mets were so anxious to unload Rojas after the season that they were willing to take Bobby Bonilla off the Dodgers hands to get rid of him. Turk Wendell, Middle Relief, age 31Tm ERA G GS W L S INN H HR BB K AVG Projection NYN 4.17 40 0 3 3 0 54 49 5 31 47 .243 Prorated NYN 4.17 53 0 4 4 0 72 65 7 41 62 .243 Actual NYN 2.93 66 0 5 1 4 77 62 4 33 58 .221 He got off to a slow start in 1998. At the end of May, he was 3-0, but with a 6.89 ERA. Over his next 37 games, he would allow only 5 more runs. Never the most consistent pitcher, Wendell has now pitched four full seasons in the majors and posted ERAs of 4.92, 2.84, 4.36 and 2.93. Smart money will probably not be on Turk to repeat his success next year. OutlookIt's been a hectic off-season for GM Steve Phillips, with free-agent signings, trades, and scandals. The most important move was re-signing Mike Piazza, but he also managed to keep Leiter and Cook, while adding free agents Robin Ventura and Rickey Henderson. Ventura should help both the offense and defense, with Alfonzo shifting over to displace Baerga at second. Henderson will replace Phillips in left. At present, it looks as if either Cedeno or Bonilla will occupy the remaining outfield spot, which probably means another year with below average production from the outfield. Replacing Mel Rojas with Armando Benitez should be a big help to the bullpen, but it's not clear that a starting rotation of Leiter, Reed, Jones, Yoshii and Nomo will be strong enough to contend in 1999, and the Mets are likely to make some changes in this area prior to the start of the season.
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