The way the Mets began 1998, it looked like they would be playing a long season. They ended it much shorter than they hoped. In-between, they made some key acquisitions – including perhaps the biggest acquisition in their history (the jury remains out on Juan Soto, long-term) –won 88 games, the same as in 1997 – and fell a single game short of what would have been a three-way tie for what was then the only wild card spot. The first key acquisitio
