Mets Offseason Retrospective: The stars brought in between 1991 and 1992 weren't nearly enough

The 77-84 New York Mets team from the 1991 season had a new look. Many of the club’s stars from the 1980s had already left. Rick Cerone and Mackey Sasser shared catching duties. Dave Magadan was their light-hitting first baseman. The starting pitching staff had some name recognition but many of them were aging fast even if their birth certificates disagreed.

Having lost Darryl Strawberry in the previous winter, the team began the turnover to what they were hoping could become a new successful era of Mets baseball. During the winter of 1991-1992, they successfully added star power.

As they would soon learn, you win games on the field and nowhere else.

The Mets offseason of 1991-1992 didn’t turn out as planned

It was a weird time for Mets baseball in the early 1990s. The 1980s were the glory days for the franchise with everything coming together for them in 1986. Even before and after the championship season, the team was competitive.

A big reason for this was because so many trades and free agent additions they made in the decade seemed to work exactly as planned or better. Those teams were built with smart transactions around some of the best prospects in franchise history, Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry at the forefront.

The 1991 Mets season ended with a second-half collapse. Manager Bud Harrelson got the ax before game 162 and only seven games left to play. Jeff Torborg would get his shot to manage the team in 1992. With a roster that already included some of the franchise’s best starting pitchers of all-time, maybe they could make the most of the year with their big offseason additions.

Or maybe this would turn into a winter of all flash and no sizzle.