Things Don't Always Work Out The Way You Plan Them

On the morning of August 1, 1989, I was at Camp Westmont and when we lined up for the morning flag raising, the head of the boy's side of camp told us that the Mets had acquired Frank Viola from the Minnesota Twins.
The Mets had given up five players (Rick Aguilera, Kevin Tapani, David West, Jack Savage and Tim Drummond). Read the original New York Times article from 8/1/89.
Back then there was no such thing about as the internet so finding out early in the morning about a trade that had happened just before midnight was a pretty good turnaround.
The Mets fans in camp were ecstatic that the Mets had dumped prospects and never-will-bes on the Twins for a certified ace to add to our already impressive staff.
Surely such an acquisition guaranteed the Mets would win another NL pennant and probably even another World Series.
But as so often happens, the best laid plans often times go awry.
Viola went 5-5 down the stretch in 1989 and went 20-12 and was a Cy Young Award candidate in 1990, but in both seasons the Mets fell short.
Hopefully that is not the case with the Mets most recent acquisition of a former Twins ace.