Odds and Sods

(AP Photo/Kelly Willens)

Now is the winter of their discontent, as the New York Mets were defeated 8-1 on Sunday eliminating them from post-season play. A win would have tied the Mets with the Phillies for 1st place in the division and tied them for the Wild Card, giving them two chances to get into the post-season. However, Tom Glavine allowed 7 runs in the first inning, and the team never recovered.

The Mets endured one of the worst collapse in baseball history, watching a 7 game lead over the Phillies disappear in the last 17 games of the season. No team had ever had a 7 game lead with 17 games to go and not won the division.

They lost 12 out of their last 17 games, committing 21 errors and sporting an awful 5.96 ERA over that stretch. They also lost six out of their last seven at home.

Many expected the Mets to easily make the post-season. Their lineup was easily the best in the National League, with multiple superstars like Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Jose Reyes. Their starting pitching was a bit suspect, but the solid bullpen from last season as well as the return of Pedro Martinez and the potential of acquiring another arm was expected to alleviate that issue.

The worst part was that they believed their own hype. It was pure unadulterated arrogance to not realize that they were a fundamentally flawed team and that the lack of starting pitching would come back to bite them.

A rotation of Pedro, El Duque, and Glavine would have struck fear into opposing batters, eight years ago. Instead, there was Pedro coming off a torn rotator cuff and a shell of his former self, El Duque whose listed age is 41, and Glavine who was just hanging around to try to get to 300 and pitched with the passion of a mental patient doing the thorazine shuffle.

Yes, their numbers ended up being ok. But is there anyone in that rotation whom you would confidence in pitching in a Game 7? Or say, a must win game to get your team into the playoffs? Wasn’t this also the flaw last season.

Willie Randolph will obviously be the initial target for blame. The manager did not exactly inspire the troops over the stretch run. But should Omar Minaya really get a free pass here?

Minaya has a sterling repuation as a brilliant GM, but for what exactly? Yes, he did a fairly good job keeping the Expos from becoming the Rupert Mundys and keeping the egg out of Selig’s face for what was a travesty. He is a nice guy and willing to wheel and deal, earning him the respect of other GMs. He is a great ambassador for the Dominican community. But how good of a job has he done with the Mets?

His major signings were Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran. Beltran, despite the awful 2005, has settled in with the Mets. No one quivers on fear at night about the thought of facng Beltran, but he puts up numbers.

The Pedro signing, however, was another matter. He had a great first year going 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA. However, injuries plagued him in 2006, and he managed a mere five starts this year. Unless you subscribe to the ESPN argument that the Pedro signing was essential because it encouraged other Latin free agents to come to New York (because it is so hard to entice players to come to New York and play for a club that can spend more than just about anyone), it’s hard to argue that this was a shrewd piece of business.

Everyone with half a brain knew that the Mets needed a starter. Yet Minaya did NOTHING.

Has he been Jim Duquette Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano bad? No, but he hasn’t exactly done well enough that he should be speaking from a position of authority as though his job is safe.