Concerned over injuries to Bob Ojeda and Dwight Gooden, the Mets cast a lustful eye westward to Seattle and Mark Langston, the Mariners lefty ace. There were several scenarios, but the most-mentioned had the Mets sending Howard Johnson, David West and Sid Fernandez in return for Langston, who had won 46 games for some poor Mariners squads in the past three seasons.
…
All was going well until the Mariners’ President Chuck Armstrong stepped in and overrode his GM Woody Woodward on the deal. The Mets where right: Ojeda’s career was essentially over and Gooden did get hurt during the 1989 season. With their ace on the shelf, the Mets instead moved West, Kevin Tapani and Rick Aguilera to the Twins for Frankie Viola. That deal did solidify a World Series winner, but it was for Minnesota!
One Reply to “Spilled Milk: Mark Langston and Two Throw-Ins”
Comments are closed.
I think the Mets were better off with Viola than they would’ve been with Langston. They managed to keep their 30 HR / 30 SB 3B (some would add another 30 for Errors as well!) and solid #3 guy in El Sid. Obviously Aguilera made quite a name for himself with the Twins as a dominant closer for several years, but the Mets still had Randy Myers (then flipped him for John Franco) so that wasn’t a huge lose. Nor were West or Tapani.
The point was to bolster the rotation for a WS run which Viola helped to do in ’90 with a 20 win season. Not his fault they didn’t make the playoffs. I’m not sure Langston would’ve been as good as Frankie V, especially what the Mets would’ve given up to get him.