WHEN you are a passionate fan — and which fan isn’t? — it is easy to believe that no team has problems except yours. In 2009, that has become easiest of all for Mets fans.
On most days, Mets fans have waited to learn which seemingly irreplaceable star is headed to the disabled list so that the Quadruple-A reunion party can continue in the Citi Field home clubhouse.
But Hardball is here to remove the blinders. Message to my parochial friends who root for the Mets: As difficult as this is to believe, problems are like outfielders, every team has them.
Sure with Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes on the disabled list, David Wright appears unsupported in the lineup. But that is regularly true for St. Louis (Albert Pujols), Florida (Hanley Ramirez) and Cincinnati (Joey Votto).
Was Oliver Perez an atrocious free-agent sign? You bet. But the Giants (Edgar Renteria), Reds (Willy Taveras) and Cubs (Milton Bradley) are playing the free-agent regret game, too.
Ignoring the Dodgers, who appear to have a stranglehold on the NL West, eight NL teams began yesterday either in a playoff position or within four games of a playoff spot, including the Mets. Before too long, the Braves or Astros might inch closer toward a postseason berth. For now, though, let’s take a look at the Mets’ main rivals for a playoff berth.
And why don’t we do this public service for Mets fans: Instead of concentrating on why these teams will play meaningful games in October, we will do a misery index, pointing out that the Mets are not the lone club with suffocating issues:
PHILLIES
How does the most powerful NL team playing in the most homer-friendly NL park have the second-worst home record in the NL ahead of just woeful Washington? Well, it probably begins with a rotation that has the NL’s worst ERA and has yielded the most homers in the majors.
An AL executive: “They need a starter and they will get it.”
Officials from other teams say no organization is blanketing the sport with scouts right now the way the Phillies are, looking for a starter. Nevertheless, those officials also say they Phillies are protecting the top of their system, notably pitchers Kyle Drabek and Jason Knapp and outfielder Dominic Brown.
“They are a now team and I think they would trade one of those guys for a difference-maker such as Cliff Lee and no one else.”
Is Brad Lidge over his knee problems? Can Jimmy Rollins really be the worst player in the NL?
CARDINALS
Pujols had a 1.140 OPS. The next best for St. Louis was .767. The struggles of Ryan Ludwick
and Rick Ankiel have been particularly troublesome. This team does not hit lefties well and is not blessed with much speed (unbelievably Pujols also leads in steals with nine, three more than anyone else).
That is why last night the Cardinals finally relented after saying they would not give up someone off their major league roster to obtain Mark DeRosa from Cleveland. St. Louis did trade reliever Chris Perez to land the versatile DeRosa.
ROCKIES
Are they good or are they streaky?
An NL scout: “I don’t believe in a team that depends this much on Jason Marquis.”
Taylor Buchholz is out for the year and Manny Corpas is on the DL with elbow inflammation with surgery a possibility. So they need to improve their setup situation to Huston Street, who always is a physical question mark, too.
Good news: They no longer are road patsies (21-20). Bad news: They no longer are home dominant (17-15).
REDS
An NL official: “The Reds stink. I know they are near a playoff spot, but that is about the mediocrity of the league, not about the Reds.”
Their daily lineup often includes three terrible options: Taveras, Alex Gonzalez and Ramon Hernandez. And their best offensive player, Votto, has to be looked at as more fragile after having to spend time on the DL with anxiety issues. Plus, the injury to Edinson Volquez robs rotation depth, which is what the Reds would have used to try to find a bat.
MARLINS
Closer Matt Lindstrom (sprained elbow) is out until at least early August. Key setup man Kiko Calero is also on the DL, and the bullpen already was a major weakness, having thrown the most innings in the majors. Ramirez and Dan Uggla might be both the most powerful offensive middle infield in baseball and the worst defensively. It is just not a good defensive club, having — for example — allowed 15 more steals than any other team. Emilio Bonafacio, who started on fire, has become an offensive drag at third.
CUBS
An AL executive: “It is not even close how much more talent they have than anyone else in the division.”
But they also have a ton of pathologies, including that jinx thing involving a century-plus without a championship. Are there three more volatile people together on one team in any sport than Lou Piniella, Milton Bradley and Carlos Zambrano? (After a dugout explosion by Bradley on Friday, Piniella confronted the outfielder, then told him to leave the stadium.)
Bradley has not brought the lefty diversity craved by such a righty-dominant lineup, and the Cubs’ best hitter, Aramis Ramirez, has been out with a dislocated shoulder since May 8 and has acknowledged he will play with significant pain when he does return. Geovany Soto was enduring a sophomore malaise even before disclosures that he failed a test for marijuana usage at the WBC.
And they are seeking a closer because of how uncomfortable Kevin Gregg and Carlos Marmol make them. Jose Valverde anybody?
BREWERS
The offense strikes out too much and was tied for the fewest steals in the majors. J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall, in particular, are having very poor years. But the problem is the rotation beyond young ace Yovani Gallardo. Manny Parra, after being perhaps the NL’s worst starter, is back in the minors trying to get right and David Bush is on the DL.
Milwaukee gave up a ton to get
CC Sabathia last year and does not want to touch the best of its system again. Doesn’t Wisconsin native Jarrod Washburn from Seattle to Milwaukee make sense considering new Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik was a top Brewer executive from 1999-2008 and knows that system so well?
GIANTS
They are on pace for 635 runs. No team has made the playoffs with fewer than 650 since the 1988 Dodgers. They are searching for a hitter, and besides Madison Baumgartner and Buster Posey, they apparently would talk about their other prospects, including Double-A starter Tim Alderson and High-A lefty Clayton Tanner.
No contender should have a cleanup hitter with three walks in 266 plate appearances. Meet Bengie Molina.