It’s Clearly Willie Randolph’s Fault That Marlon Anderson Hits Like Lisa Simpson (Pt. II)

Willie Randolph has fallen victim to yet another case of the people who actually run baseball teams (and those who cover and follow them) not paying attention. Entering the season, the Mets were the talk of the town, boasting a freshly acquired ace in Johann Santana and a supposedly healthy Pedro Martinez on top of a solid nucleus of David Wright, Jose Reyes, John Maine, Carlos Beltran and Billy Wagner. Unfortunately for the Mets and their fans (but fortunately for the always-hungry-for-controversy New York media machine), the buck pretty much stops there. At first base, a position where teams generally stick guys whose value derives solely from their bats, the Mets have gotten a .721 OPS from the combination of the ghost of Carlos Delgado and a bunch of guys that never existed in the first place. The average National League first baseman has posted an .833 OPS entering Saturday’s games. The Mets are also below average offensively at catcher, second base, and left field. Left field! The position that Manny Ramirez plays because the Red Sox have another guy who is so bad at fielding that the team’s only option is to stick him someplace where he can do the least damage.

As much as their fans hate to think about it, the Mets are almost identical to their N.L. East rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. Both are overrated, top-heavy teams who would have almost no chance of competing in the AL East or Central. At the moment, David Wright and Chase Utley pretty much cancel each other out, although Wright is a few years younger and hence, has more long-term value. Ditto for Jose Reyes and the slightly senior Jimmy Rollins. In the outfield, the Mets have Carlos Beltran to the Phillies’ Pat Burrell, where Beltran’s defense and baserunning more than compensate for Burrell’s slightly superior bat. As far as pitching goes, Santana is unquestionably the best pitcher in baseball, while Cole Hamels is five years younger and waiting in the wings to claim the that title for himself. Both teams also feature dominant closers in Billy Wagner (4.5:1 K:BB) and Brad Lidge (0.90 ERA). John Maine and Brett Myers are both generally above-average #2 starters.

Beyond that, the Mets have nothing else to offer. Ditto for the Phillies, save for Ryan Howard (aka Carlos Delgado, circa 1998). As mentioned earlier, the Mets have hilarious sent Marlon Anderson to the plate 81 times this season, and he has rewarded them with a .511 OPS. Similarly, the Phillies have enjoyed 71 plate appearances worth of So Taguchi, to the tune of a .564 OPS and no home runs. As I mentioned on Wednesday, managers have very little to do with the performance of any baseball team. Just as it is not Willie Randolph who is responsible for the Mets’ lackluster showing in 2008, it is not Johns Gibbons and McLaren’s fault that Vernon Wells and Ichiro suck shit. I’m going to end this before I go on a tangent about Ichiro, however, who I feel is more or less the ‘Hotel California’ of baseball players. But that’s a story for another day (probably tomorrow; God I hate Ichiro).