Mets/White Sox Quiz: 1983 Free Agent Compensation Draft

[Gwreck]

Hat tip to Tim Britton who reminded me of this in his weekly notes about the upcoming series against the White Sox.

As we all know, in the Free Agent Compensation Draft after the 1983 season, the Mets protected 26 players, none of whom were named Tom Seaver.  But do you know who they were?

Easy/medium: 13 players who were on the 1983 Mets: 4 starting pitchers (Darling, Terrell, Leary, Swan) 2 relief pitchers (Orosco, Sisk) 1 catcher (Junior Ortiz), 4 infielders (Gardenhire, Brooks, Oquendo, Hernandez); 2 outfielders (Strawberry, Wilson).

Hard: 9 players who had not yet played for the Mets in the majors (but would later).  All stats below are from 1983.

• Dwight Gooden.  A first-round pick in 1982.  Had a 2.50 ERA and 300 strikeouts in 191 innings at Lynchburg (A) at age 18.
• Sid Fernandez.  21 year old acquired via trade that offseason who had a 2.82 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 153 innings at AA in the prior organization.
• Wes Gardner. A 22 year old reliever who had a 1.85 ERA and 15 saves in 62.2 innings at Lynchburg.  Skipped AA, pitched 40 games in Tidewater in 1984 and debuted with the Mets in July 1984.
• Kevin Mitchell.  18 year old with 42 extra-base hits, 85 RBI, and .834 OPS in Jackson (AA).  Went on to play in 3 NLCSes and accumulated 29.2 career MLB WAR.
• Lenny Dykstra.  20 year old with 46 extra-base hits, 81 RBI, and .975 OPS in Lynchburg.  Went on to play in 3 NLCSes and accumulated 42.4 career MLB WAR.
• John Gibbons.  A first-round pick in 1980.  Has a career .501 winning percentage as an MLB manager.
• Terry Blocker.  A first-round pick in 1981.  At age 23 had a .307 AVG/.758 OPS and 42 steals between Jackson and Tidewater combined.  Traded after 1987 season to Atlanta.  According to Davey Johnson's book Bats, Frank Cashen told Johnson that Seaver could be re-acquired from the White Sox in 1985 for Blocker; Johnson was against the idea since it would clog up a rotation spot in 1986.
• Herm Winningham.  A first-round pick in the January 1981 supplemental draft.  An outfielder, at age 21, had .329 AVG/.406 OBP and 23 steals between Jackson and Tidewater combined.  Traded after a cup of coffee with the Mets for an established player (Gary Carter) who would put up 11.4 WAR for the Mets.
• Stan Jefferson.  A first-round pick in 1983, had a .844 OPS in Little Falls (short-season A) at age 20.  An outfielder, was traded after a cup of coffee with the Mets for an established player who would put up 15.8 WAR with the Mets.

Very hard/impossible: 4 players who would never reach the majors with the Mets:

• Floyd Youmanns.  2nd round pick in 1982.  At age 19, had 23 starts in Columbia (A).  Put up 3.7 WAR as a starting pitcher in 1986 (his best year in the majors) but also lead the NL in walks that season.  Also traded to Montreal in the Carter deal.
• Dave Cochrane. 4th round pick in 1983.  At age 20, had 25 homers and 102 RBI and a .837 OPS at Lynchburg.  Traded to the White Sox in July 1985.
• Eddie Williams.  A first round pick (#4 overall) in 1983.  Had a .795 OPS in Little Falls (short-season A) at age 18.  Traded to Reds at the deadline in 1984.  Played 395 MLB games in a career that lasted until 1998 (fourth-longest among the 26 protected players).
• Kevin Brown.  A first-round pick in the January 1983 supplemental draft.  19-year old left-hand pitcher who never made the major leagues.  Was traded away by the Mets in one of the other trades referenced above. 

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'll start with one of the easiest ones: Darryl Strawberry

[Gwreck]

Yes.  Neglecting Seaver was problematic but Cashen did remember to protect the 1983 Rookie of the Year.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I think I remember that Ron Gardenhire was one of them. 

[stevejrogers]

No doubt the future Good Doctor of Strikeouts

[Edgy MD]

Jess C. Orosco.

[Gwreck]

All correct so far.  Editing top post to add answers.

[Edgy MD]

U.B. Brooks.

[Gwreck]

Yes to Ulysses Brian (“Hubie”) Brooks. 

[ashie62]

Mike Fitzgerald 

[Gwreck]

No to Fitzgerald.  Good guess, though.  .852 OPS at Tidewater in 1983 before getting called up in September for 8 games.

[stevejrogers]

Terry Blocker for the guy traded to the Braves

[Gwreck]

Blocker is a great pull.  He was called up twice in 1985, played 18 games, mostly as a pinch runner/pinch hitter.  His third-ever start was game 2 of a doubleheader against St. Louis.  Playing center, rightfielder Danny Heep runs into him leading to an inside-the-park grand slam for the Cardinals and a bruised tendon for Blocker.  He never plays for the Mets again and doesn’t return to the majors until 1988.

[Edgy MD]

William Hayward Wilson is your second MLB outfielder.

[stevejrogers]

3 NLCS performer?  For some reason Herm Winningham (ring with ‘90 Reds) is coming to mind

[Edgy MD]

Junior "Don't Call Me Papi" Ortiz.

[stevejrogers]

Another piece of the Carter trade, Floyd Youmans

[Gwreck]

Yes to Mookie, yes to Ortiz, and yes to both Winningham and Youmans who went to Montreal for Carter.  

Winningham did play in the 1990 postseason for the Reds, but the 2 guys we’re looking for here did it 3 times each. 

[seawolf17]

Backman?

[Edgy MD]

Secret Weapon José Oquendo

[Benjamin Grimm]

Kevin Mitchell?

[Edgy MD]

Keith Hernandez had to be protected in order for the Mets to retain future rights to his broadcast skills.

[seawolf17]

Dykstra?

[Edgy MD]

I've been grabbing low-hanging fruit, so I'm going to go for a big one at the top of the tree — Eddie F. Williams, sent to Cincy in the Bruce Berenyi deal and cursed to never be a Met.

[stevejrogers]

1 hour ago, Edgy MD said:

Keith Hernandez had to be protected in order for the Mets to retain future rights to his broadcast skills.

Speaking of which, Ronnie must have been acquired by then.  Though Darling44 debuts in ‘84

[Edgy MD]

28 minutes ago, stevejrogers said:

Speaking of which, Ronnie must have been acquired by then.  Though Darling44 debuts in ‘84

Are you submitting Darling as an answer?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Ron Darling debuted late in the 1983 season.

[Edgy MD]

10 minutes ago, Benjamin Grimm said:

Ron Darling debuted late in the 1983 season.

Shhh .... I'm trying to steal this answer.

[Gwreck]

Yes to Darling, Hernandez, and Oquendo, who all played on the Mets in ‘83.

Yes to Mitchell and Dykstra, the two most successful hitters from the prospects.

Yes to Eddie Williams.  In addition to being a first round pick for the Mets, he was the first overall selection in the 1985 Rule 5 draft and debuted with Cleveland in 1986.  395 MLB games between 1986 and 1998 (with some time in Japan as well).

No to Backman.  After spending ‘82 entirely in the majors, Wally was back in Tidewater for most of ‘83; he only had 45 PAs in the majors that year.

[Edgy MD]

Power-hitting Walt Terrell.