What Went Wrong: The Bullpen

This is the conclusion of the lackluster trilogy of posts that explain what went wrong with the Mets. My first two episodes are here and here.

Now I finally address the bullpen. I couldn't accurately label the bullpen's failure as either predictable or unpredictable, so I created a third category. Bullpens are, by nature, the most mercurial units in all of sports. The Met pen was dreadful in August and September (in part because of Billy Wagner's injury). Though to be fair, I certainly wouldn't have been floored if Jerry Manuel would have cobbled together an effective pen down the stretch. That being said, Minaya probably should have added a reliable arm by the waiver deadline.

I won't even criticize Omar for passing on Huston Street or Brian Fuentes. I'll trust his word that their respective organizations asked far too much in return for their services. But you don't have to make the splashy acquistion to upgrade. What would the chronically underrated David Weathers have cost the Mets in terms of talent? Probably not too much. He is 39 years old and plays for a team that won't realistically compete until 2010. Weathers would have been a clear improvement over Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman. Unlike Weathers, I wasn't hearing Ron Mahay's name in trade rumors this year. However he is to the Royals, what Weathers is to the Reds. He's another aging "win now" player on a "wait 'til next year" team. I'm sure Dayton Moore wouldn't have hung up the phone if Omar called about him.

Omar should have done more to address this area of need. But nobody could have reasonably expected the Mets bullpen to be so inept.