The Curse of Juan Samuel

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In 1985, the New York Mets called Lenny Dykstra up from the minors to fill in for an injured Mookie Wilson.  Immediately, he became a fan favorite and an offensive sparkplug for a 98-win team that just missed making the playoffs in an all-time classic pennant race with the Cardinals.  The next season, Dykstra took over as the everyday leadoff hitter and helped propel the franchise to its second World Series title, highlighted by a stunning walk-off home run in Game 3 of the NLCS that still stands as one of the greatest moments in the team's history.

Dykstra's' Finest Moment

However, Dykstra's tenure with the Mets wouldn't last for very long.  In June of 1989, Dykstra was traded to the Phillies for the fading slugger Juan Samuel, in a transaction motivated primarily by Dykstra's well-earned reputation for off-the-field lunacy.  I was 11 years old at the time and remember being devastated but defended Samuel throughout his lone half-season with the Mets, clinging to hope that their new acquisition would prove worthwhile.  My faith was rewarded by a staggeringly bad 3 homer, .228 batting average, .599 OPS performance. Dykstra, however, went on to star for the Phillies, making 3 all-star teams and finishing second for the NL MVP in 1993 during his 7+ seasons with the team.

The Dykstra-Samuel trade marked the beginning of the end for the dynamic Mets squads of the 80s, as longtime stalwarts like Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry would soon follow Lenny out the door.  It also managed to anger the baseball gods.  As penance for their folly, the Mets have failed to develop a single minor league outfield prospect that has lived up to expectations in the 21 years since Dykstra was moved.

With September callups like Lucas Duda and, assuming he recovers from his latest injury, Fernando Martinez looking to stake a claim to a big league job for 2011 and beyond, they'll have to overcome more than just the challenge of adjusting to major league pitching and the weight of major market expectations.  They will also have to conquer the franchise's ignominious fate, a complete inability to develop an outfielder that I call The Curse of Juan Samuel.

There have been plenty of players that were described as the Next Big Thing, 5-tool wunderkinds who were set to take New York City by storm.  Alex Ochoa made his debut in late 1995 promising power, speed and a monster outfield arm.  The power and speed never materialized however, as his short stint with the team ended with just 7 homers and 8 steals contributed to the Mets' ledger.  Jay Payton first arrived in 1998 with even greater hype, but his five seasons with the Mets were marred by injury and mediocre performance.  On the plus side, Payton was entertaining, given his short fuse and propensity for on-field violence. 

Payton's minor league contemporary Terrence Long made it to the bigs with the Mets but never registered a hit with the team, striking out in 2 of his 3 at bats in Queens before being shipped to Oakland.  Long made his only lasting contribution to baseball lore with the A's by helping to build the legend of Ichiro.



Alex Escobar was touted as a mixture of power, speed, average and defense but arrived with the Mets as undersized and lost at the plate.  Just as soon as he arrived he was gone, moved as part of the deal for Roberto Alomar, which is basically disaster compounded by disaster.  Another undersized would be slugger, Lastings Milledge, was compared to Gary Sheffield as a prospect.  The comparison proved true, not in regards to bat speed but in relation to their mutual ability to anger teammates, management, the media and fans.  Like Escobar, Milledge was shipped out of town for a package that went from bad to worse to worst.  He was traded for the futile Brian Schneider and Ryan Church, who was then moved for Jeff Francoeur.  Time will tell if Joaquin Arias is just the next link in this particular chain of disappointment.

The most recent addition to this list of five-tool washouts did manage to make a significant contribution to the organization, though not with his play.  Touted as a Carlos Beltran clone, Carlos Gomez was the centerpiece in the 2008 trade that brought Johan Santana to New York, good for the Mets but bad for the Twins, who have already set Gomez adrift.

Two other former Mets farmhands deserve special mention, as they did manage to break The Curse of Juan Samuel and have productive major league careers, just not in a Mets uniform.  Jeromy Burnitz came up in 1993 as a highly regarded slugger but quickly and permanently took up residence in Dallas Green's doghouse before moving on to have five consecutive huge years for the Brewers.  To add insult to injury, Burnitz returned to the Mets in 2002 and 2003 but could not regain his Milwaukee form.  To add one final insult, Burnitz' 2004 season with the Rockies was among his finest, mashing 37 HRs and 110 RBI.

With Jeff Francoeur gone, Carlos Beltran a shell of his pre-injury self, Jason Bay (another outfielder that briefly did time in the Mets system) a free agent disappointment, Angel Pagan no sure thing to repeat his spectacular 2010 campaign and the team too strapped for cash to bring in players from outside the organization, it's incumbent for the next group of outfielders to defy recent history and come from within, finally breaking a long and terrible curse.

Preston Wilson made a big splash in spring training during 1998, but only had a cup of coffee with the team, traded as part of the package that put Mike Piazza in a Mets uniform.  While there's not a Mets fan in the world that would take the deal back if given the chance, Wilson proved to be the organization's best outfield prospect since Dykstra with two 20/20 and one 30/30 seasons.