Will Mets' Manager Willie Randolph's odd attractions and notions about some players cost his team the NL East?
The Braves are in this pennant race-there’s no denying it. After acquiring 1B Mark Teixeira, Octavio Dotel, and Royce Ring (mostly all for younger prospects/players), the Braves are sending a message to the NL East: “We’re back to start a new streak”. But who can blame them? The Mets are playing slightly over their heads with a battered offense, and the Phillies’ weak rotation will most likely keep them out of the hunt deep into September. The Braves, led on the mound by aces Tim Hudson and John Smoltz, have fortunately lost two in a row while the Mets are on a three game winning streak, bringing the Mets lead to 5.5 games.
The Mets, the reigning NL East champions, stayed relatively put at the trade deadline. They swapped two low level prospects for aging 2B Luis Castillo, who brings the Mets solid defense, veteran leadership, and a solid OBA. However, his power is so bad (.342 SLG), and his speed so deteriorated, that he is a marginal upgrade over Ruben Gotay. Gotay, who was batting close to .350 and slugging at .500, has now been regulated to the bench. With the Braves right behind them, the Mets definitely have to put their best lineup on the field everyday.
One of the biggest obstacles that stands in the Mets way, however, could be their own manager, Willie Randolph. Throughout the season, we have seen Willie favor veterans and older players over more talented rookies and “new” guys. Whether it was Jose Valentin and his limited range and lack of power, or Paul Lo Duca 81 OPS+, Randolph found a way to sit sluggers and put these veterans in the lineup. But with Valentin and Lo Duca both hurting, Gotay and Castro have had room to shine (except for latter, whom we already mentioned lose his job to Castillo).
When Lo Duca comes back, Randolph may pencil his name in for most games down the stretch. He’ll ignore Castro’s breakout season and 141 OPS+. He’ll forget about the fact that Castro has 1.8 times as many homers as Lo Duca in a little over a third of his games. Randolph will let Lo Duca make outs consistently and keep Castro at the way end of the bench (because you always need an emergency catcher in case anything happens to Lo Duca…right?).
But maybe the most egregious of all of Willie’s moves has been his loyalty to Mets RF Shawn Green. Playing in a power position of the defensive spectrum, Green has struggled mightily, posting just a .317 OBA and just a .417 SLG. He’s doing even worse than last season, and is also losing in the homer count to Castro despite nearly times as many at-bats. With the playing of Green, Willie has also decided to bench Lastings Milledge (until Carlos Beltran got hurt). Milledge, who has shined since his return both defensively and offensively (112 OPS+), has even sat recently for Marlon Anderson. Anderon is not only a poor defensive centerfielder, but is posting a lowly .310 OBA for the Mets thus far. His role is much more suited for the bench. For years, the Mets have been waiting for an offensive explosion like this from Milledge, and as they see it happening, they also have to see Lastings benched for second baseman trying their best to play centerfield (all because of a righty-lefty matchup). On Friday afternoon, not only was Milledge sat for Anderson, but he also didn’t start in left. The player who did, none other than David Newhan, who is batting .213/.294/.279 this season, promptly batted second (with Gotay hitting eighth).
As the season goes on, and injured players (Lo Duca, Valentin, Martinez) begin to return, it will be interesting to see who gets sent to the bench. When the Mets have to push someone from the rotation when Pedro comes back, no one will be surprised to see Lawrence/Pelfrey/Sosa gone. But who has pitched better so far this season: Sosa or Glavine? The point is that it makes no difference: intangibles like leadership and crazy round numbers like 300 will come first. Even if it means coming in second place.
Pat Andriola is a regular contributor to Gotham Baseball Magazine and also works as a statistician for the Long Island Mustangs of the ACBL. He will be a freshman at Tufts University this fall. You can contact him at
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