69 - 85, .448 pct.
4th in Cum Posey Division, 22 games behind.
Overall
With low expectations come limited success, or some such.
Ottawa has some interesting pieces, a ton of raw talent, and very little to show for it all. Future success hinges on the development of that talent–Ken Griffey, Jr, Álex Rodríguez, and Randy Johnson, I’m looking at you.
As is often the case with teams that struggle, there were some decent high spots on offense but a bit of a mess on the mound.
What Went Right
Not a lot.
Larry Walker, Tim Raines, and Gary Carter each established themselves as legitimate WBL players, although each of them are just outside the upper tier at their position in the league (Walker only through seemingly being injury prone).
Carlos Beltrán did enough to put himself on the roster next year, and Rusty Staub hit well for Ottawa after being acquired in trade.
Old Hoss Radbourn and, before getting injured, Roy Halladay both look like front of rotation arms for Ottawa. Ryan Dempster stepped into the absence created by Tom Henke‘s injury quite well. Some other starters–Bob Moose, Bob Brown, and Clayton Richard especially–flashed some potential in limited innings, going 14-6 over a combined 30 starts.
The Mounties are an incredibly young organization: in one sense, merely surviving went right if 7 of your starters are 23 or under.
ALL STARS
SS Freddy Parent
What Went Wrong
Roberto Alomar faded and neither Álex Rodríguez nor Ken Griffey, Jr. did anything to live up to their massive potential. Across the board, it seemed like the best players could do was meh offensively.
Most of the pitching was horrible, and when not poor, greatly inconsistent (with Randy Johnson being the best example). Jim Clancy–whose 0.0 WAR was an accurate representation of his quality–was the only pitcher other than Radbourn and Halladay with over 100 IP.
Overall, there was just an absence of quality for the Mounties.
Trade Evaluations
March
None
June
IF Steve Garvey, OF Spud Johnson, 1B Carlos Delgado to Los Angeles for OF Rusty Staub, P Dave Bennett, OF Carlos Beltrán, C Jim Stephens & P Sean O'Sullivan
Seems fine–Delgado’s loss this year hurt, but Staub (a franchise player) and Beltrán offer a lot of future value.
IF Freddy Parent to Chicago for IF Sibby Sisti, OF Bob Watson, and IF Rickie Weeks
Parent was Ottawa’s only all star, so the drop in quality hurt. But it does clear the way for Á-Rod (which may or may not be a good thing if his performance doesn’t pick up), and Watson looks promising.
RP Gary Lavelle & P Jamie Moyer to Black Yankees for IF Dick Bartell, OF Sam Thompson & 4th Round Pick {Mark Eichhorn}
Seems fine, maybe a little light if neither Bartell nor Thompson see WBL time.
July
P Steve Howe, OF George Van Haltren, 5th Round Pick & 6th Round Pick to New York Gothams for P Jeremy Affeldt, P Bob Moose, OF George Burns, IF Art Devlin & 3rd Round Pick
All reasonable, as both Moose and Burns have some promise.
Looking Forward
SP
Radbourn and Halladay should be solid for years to come, and there is great excitement over the potential of Randy Johnson. Beyond that, it’s a lot of question marks.
RP
If Henke can bounce back from injury, he and Dempster should be solid here, and there are some decent arms behind them.
C
Carter should have this locked up for quite a while.
1B
Long term, a mixture of John Olerud and John Mayberry should handle this, but there are no great immediate options, unless Staub and Bob Watson can handle it.
2B
Even with his late season fade, this should be Roberto Alomar‘s position, especially as Raines shifts permanently to the outfield.
3B
An area of need, as neither Anthony Rendon nor Larry Parrish impressed.
SS
It’s assumed that Rodríguez will hold this down.
LF
Raines should play here more and more.
CF
This gets more interesting, as either Betrán or Griffey, Jr. could be here long term, with the other moving to a corner OF position.
RF
Walker as long as he’s healthy, with others, including Staub, filling in.
The Rookie Draft
Rounds 1-4
There are some tempting choices out there, but Max Scherzer being a franchise selection who looks almost ready for the majors makes him the choice. The 2nd round was a much harder selection, but the Mounties eventually settled on Al Orth, partially because he should be able to help out at the major league level somewhat immediately.
1B is a bit unsettled for the franchise, so Elbie Fletcher made sense in the 3rd round. Fletcher is a ways away from helping at the WBL level, but he could be in the mix eventually. In the last part of that round, they took another arm: 22 year old Dan Haren.
In the 4th round, the Mounties took 2B Jimmy Dykes with their final franchise exemption and rubber armed reliever Mark Eichhorn with their other pick that round.
Rounds 5-8
Ottawa needs quality across the board, but being limited to franchise selections may make that challenging. They start in the 7th round with OF Warren Cromartie and follow that in the 8th with SP Dupee Shaw.
Rounds 9-12
IF Joey Cora; OF Leon Roberts; P Billy Koch; and P Chuck Taylor.
