Pedro Feliciano
Collusion has been a very real thing in baseball history. That was no more apparent than when Andre Dawson signed a blank contract with the Chicago Cubs because no one would offer him a contract.
Ultimately, the Hall of Famer Bud Selig collusion efforts led to MLB paying $102.5 million to the player’s union. We’ve subsequently seen evidence of collusion, but the matter has not been subsequently taken to arbitration.
That brings us to the right now with Aaron Judge’s free agency.
As reported by The Athletic, MLB is requesting records between the New York Mets and New York Yankees regarding Judge. Specifically, they want communications between Steve Cohen and Hal Steinbrenner.
This goes back to a report saying how both teams “enjoy a mutually respectful relationship, and do not expect to upend that with a high-profile bidding war.” If you’ve been around New York baseball since free agency began, you knew this was going to be the case.
Typically speaking, the Mets and Yankees don’t pursue each other’s free agent players. That goes double for the higher profile players. Really, when you think about it, the Mets and Yankees never get into a bidding war over a player.
That’s not to say players don’t switch teams. We know Curtis Granderson signed with the Mets after four years in the Bronx. Pedro Feliciano signed with the Yankees after his second stint with the Mets.
What was notable about both players is their tenures with their previous team ended. To put it another way, the franchise was not pursuing their own player in free agency.
That may also explain the respective franchises historical obsession with their respective high profile players towards the end of their careers.
We’ve seen the Yankees sign players like Carlos Beltrán, Dwight Gooden, and Darryl Strawberry. The Mets made trades made trades to obtain El Duque and Robinson Canó in addition to signing players like Willie Randolph.
This just doesn’t happen when these players initially hit free agency and their team wants to keep that player. Certainly, a large part of that was the Wilpons unwillingness (followed by their inability) to spend.
As we look to this offseason, both Judge and Jacob deGrom are free agents. These are franchise defining players. They are future Hall of Famers whose numbers will be retired by their respective teams.
They also solve problems for both teams. It’s just going to come at exorbitant salaries. Even with the money both teams have, they likely will not be able to sign both.
That’s part of the reason there is a détente between these franchises.
These two teams could be running up the cost on the respective players. Eventually, one is going to be signed by someone. That doesn’t mean the other will get signed.
Let’s assume for the sake of argument, the Mets sign Judge. Let’s also assume, this puts them out of the deGrom market.
We’ve heard rumors deGrom is looking for money similar to Max Scherzer. Let’s say the Mets were in that neighborhood before signing Judge and breaking off negotiations.
It’s entirely possible the Yankees were never going to that point. That leaves them out on deGrom, and we’ve already heard other teams balking at what deGrom wants. In the end, this means deGrom eventually signs for less than what he would’ve had this détente not existed.
The simple fact is this détente is necessary for the franchises and players. It’s not driving down player salaries. It’s keeping them all high. It’s allowing Judge and deGrom get the highest possible contract they could receive.
Both the Mets and Yankees now they have an uneasy relationship. They’re rivals who share a city, but they need one another. They’re allies when it comes to revenue sharing and the CBT, and they both know they both do better financially when both teams are thriving.
So, the Mets and Yankees have this unwritten détente which has served New York baseball well for 30+ years. We will now soon find out if this unwritten détente is also unspoken.
If you were not around to watch New York Mets baseball in the early 1990s, you missed out on Jeff Innis. You missed out on the career of one of the best middle relievers in Mets history.
Really, the side-winding submariner Innis was the epitome of a middle reliever. He was so much so, he set records of which many are unaware.
In 1992, he was the Mets rankings for most relief appearances in a season. His mark of 76 appearances would set the Mets record for appearances in a season. The previous mark was when Innis made 69 appearances in 1991.
Keep in mind, many of Innis appearances lasted more than an inning. For example, 31 of his 76 appearances in 1992 were over an inning. That’s just the type of reliever he was. He took the ball as often as needed and gave the team all he could give and likely much more.
During that time, Innis set the Major League record for appearances with recording a win or save. That streak of 60 appearances ended when he got the Opening Day win in 1992.
He wouldn’t set another record for appearances in 1993. Instead, he’d settle for what was then third all-time with 67. After that 1993 season, Innis’ Major League career was over.
Innis walked off the field a winner. He pitched the final two innings of the last game of the season to wrap up the Mets 7-1 win over the expansion Florida Marlins.
He would spend his entire seven year career with the Mets. In his career, he was 10-20 with a 3.05 ERA, five saves, and a 1.272 WHIP. Impressively, he had a 120 ERA+.
After Innis left the Mets, everything changed.
We’d see a World Series be canceled due to a strike. There was the ensuing steroid era and all the other little and big scandals along the way.
Mostly, relievers were used differently and much more frequently. Now, we even see relievers starting games. From there, Innis began to fade from memory.
In 1999, Turk Wendell and Armando Benitez topped his appearances record. Benitez would tie his mark in 2000 with Wendell surpassing him again. We’d eventually see other Mets surpass Innis with the late Pedro Feliciano now being the Mets reliever with the top three single season appearance records.
Sadly, like Feliciano, Innis has passed away young. The Mets have lost two sidewinding and durable relievers who had made an indelible mark on Mets history.
Indeed, Innis is still in the Mets record books. He’s ninth all-time for relief appearances and 13th all-time for games finished.
More than that, there’s the memories from the fans. For me, in addition to seeing him nearly everyday for that three year stretch, my dad taught me to keep score at Shea Stadium in Mets Magazine with Innis on the cover.
Innis made an indelible mark on Mets history. More importantly, he resonated with Mets fans. While he’s gone, he will never be forgotten.
Eduardo Perez announced the shocking and sad news that former Mets reliever Pedro Feliciano died in his sleep. While the cause of death was not known, we do know on the eve of what proved to be his final MLB season, Feliciano was diagnosed with a non-life threatening heart condition causing an irregular heartbeat.
We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Pedro Feliciano. ?https://t.co/Y1DARwiMbc
— New York Mets (@Mets) November 8, 2021
The irony is with the New York Mets you never had to question Feliciano’s heart. The man was always at the ready, and it would eventually lead to him being dubbed by Gary Cohen as Perpetual Pedro. Time and again, Feliciano took the ball, and he would deliver.
With the passing of Feliciano, the Mets have lost the greatest LOOGY in team history. He may go down as one of if not the best ever. Consider that in a two year span he made more appearances than any left-handed reliever had made in MLB history. In fact, he was the only MLB reliever in history to put up three straight seasons with 85+ appearances.
The reason this happened was because Feliciano was both great and durable (just don’t tell that to the New York Yankees). He was almost always great. Case-in-point, in his first ever postseason appearance, he relieved John Maine in the fifth inning of the first game of the 2006 NLDS to strike out should be Hall of Famer Kenny Lofton to escape a jam and help the Mets win the game.
Overall, he had a 1.93 ERA that postseason getting the Mets out of a number of difficult spots. Feliciano would actually be the winner of the series closing Game 3 of that NLDS. That would make him the very last Mets pitcher to win a clinching game in the Shea Stadium era of the franchise.
He is a figure who should have a much higher stature in franchise history than he already has. In fact, only John Franco has appeared in more games as a reliever. Feliciano’s .212 batting average against and .263 wOBA against left-handed batters are the best in franchise history, both by significant margins.
When we lost Feliciano, we truly lost a great Met. In many ways, he was the quintessential Met. This was a player overlooked by everyone else, and he went out there and gave it his all. He was truly great at what he did even if the fame he should have received was fleeting. While there were other stops, at least in terms of the Major Leagues, Feliciano was only a Met.
May God bless Feliciano and his family. While that certainly includes the millions of Mets fans now in mourning, that especially applies to the wife and children who lost a great pitcher and better man.