Roberto Alomar made his debut on the Hall of Fame ballot this year*. He was the best second baseman of the 90′s, won two World Series in Toronto, and was part of some very good Baltimore teams that just couldn’t get past the Yankees. He hit, hit for power, stole bases, had a great arm and was a wizard with the glove. But he was almost done by the time he got to the Mets: a 34-year old second baseman who couldn’t catch up to a fastball, couldn’t field his position, and seemed to hate playing here. It looked to me like he never wanted to be here and I never quite understood why**. Both his dad and older brother played and coached for the Mets and seemingly didn’t hate their time here (as far as I know). His act wore thin quickly: Robbie was an unproductive grump and the Mets soon dumped him for prospects (one of which was Royce Ring).
*Along with Kevin Appier, David Segui, Robin Ventura, Fernando Vina, and Todd Zeile. There’s a murderer’s row of ex-Mets for you. And I could’ve included El Gato Grande on the list, but that’s stretching it a bit.
**Bob Klapisch sheds some light on Alomar’s attitude in a recent interview. It’s worth the read (I don’t want to just copy Klapisch’s words here) but let’s just say that Robbie’s explanation sadly makes perfect sense. It’s no excuse, but at least I understand now.
Robbie certainly didn’t play like a Hall of Famer, posting an 89 OPS+ in his only full season (2002). However, I remembered it as being so much worse. It was below average, but it wasn’t horrible as I’d remembered. I began to wonder whether I might have overestimated how poorly Robbie played. So I set out to take another look at Robbie’s Mets career, comparing it to all the other second basemen that have played for the team.
As a point of reference, here are Alomar’s key stats from 2002: 655/590 PA/AB, 73 runs, 24 doubles, 4 triples, 11 home runs, 53 RBI, 16/4 SB/CS, .266/.331/.376/.708 BA/OBP/SLG/OPS, 89 OPS+. I used Baseball Reference’s suggested (yet seemingly arbitrary) number of 502 plate appearances as a cut-off (I know there’s a reason they chose this number but admit I don’t know what it is). Sorted by OPS+ (which I feel is a more representative statistic when comparing different eras), we get the following results:
Rk Player OPS+ PA Year Age
1 Edgardo Alfonzo 147 650 2000 26
2 Edgardo Alfonzo 125 726 1999 25
3 Ron Hunt 118 521 1964 23
4 Gregg Jefferies 111 659 1990 22
5 Jeff Kent 110 514 1995 27
6 Ron Hunt 110 600 1963 22
7 Gregg Jefferies 106 559 1989 21
8 Jeff Kent 104 544 1993 25
9 Ron Hunt 102 543 1966 25
10 Gregg Jefferies 101 539 1991 23
11 Felix Millan 100 587 1976 32
12 Luis Castillo 98 580 2009 33
13 Felix Millan 92 743 1975 31
14 Felix Millan 92 699 1973 29
15 Charlie Neal 92 579 1962 31
16 Edgardo Alfonzo 90 519 2001 27
17 Roberto Alomar 89 655 2002 34
18 Wally Backman 87 574 1985 25
19 Felix Millan 78 585 1974 30
20 Carlos Baerga 76 551 1998 29
21 Doug Flynn 62 572 1978 27
22 Doug Flynn 61 580 1979 28
Alomar ranks 17th, which seems realistic (to his credit, however, Robbie is the oldest second baseman on this list). But let’s face it; we’re not looking at a very deep group here. When Carlos Baerga’s 76 OPS+ makes your top 20, you don’t have a tradition of excellence at the position.
However, the Mets do have a history of using platoons at the position, most notably from 1986-88 (arguably the most successful years in franchise history). Let’s lower our plate appearance threshold to 300 to account for part-time players and see what we get:
Rk Player OPS+ PA Year Age
1 Tim Teufel 153 350 1987 28
2 Edgardo Alfonzo 147 650 2000 26
3 Edgardo Alfonzo 125 726 1999 25
4 Ron Hunt 118 521 1964 23
5 Wally Backman 117 347 1988 28
6 Wally Backman 115 312 1982 22
7 Keith Miller 114 304 1991 28
8 Wally Backman 113 440 1986 26
9 Jeff Kent 111 452 1994 26
10 Gregg Jefferies 111 659 1990 22
11 Jeff Kent 110 514 1995 27
12 Ron Hunt 110 600 1963 22
13 Jose Valentin 109 432 2006 36
14 Gregg Jefferies 106 559 1989 21
15 Jeff Kent 104 544 1993 25
16 Ken Boswell 103 405 1969 23
17 Ron Hunt 102 543 1966 25
18 Gregg Jefferies 101 539 1991 23
19 Ken Boswell 101 436 1971 25
20 Felix Millan 100 587 1976 32
21 Jose Vizcaino 99 402 1996 28
22 Wally Backman 99 499 1984 24
23 Luis Castillo 98 580 2009 33
24 Willie Randolph 93 336 1992 37
25 Tim Teufel 93 309 1988 29
26 Tim Teufel 93 318 1986 27
27 Ken Boswell 93 306 1968 22
28 Felix Millan 92 743 1975 31
29 Felix Millan 92 699 1973 29
30 Charlie Neal 92 579 1962 31
31 Edgardo Alfonzo 90 519 2001 27
32 Roberto Alomar 89 655 2002 34
33 Jerry Buchek 89 444 1967 25
34 Carlos Baerga 87 498 1997 28
35 Wally Backman 87 574 1985 25
36 Roberto Alomar 84 302 2003 35
37 Damion Easley 82 347 2008 38
38 Ken Boswell 82 402 1970 24
39 Bob Bailor 79 404 1982 30
40 Felix Millan 78 585 1974 30
41 Luis Castillo 77 359 2008 32
42 Carlos Baerga 76 551 1998 29
43 Edgardo Alfonzo 75 407 1996 22
44 Chuck Hiller 74 303 1965 30
45 Brian Giles 70 445 1983 23
46 Doug Flynn 70 474 1980 29
47 Ken Boswell 70 400 1972 26
48 Felix Millan 68 340 1977 33
49 Miguel Cairo 64 367 2005 31
50 Wally Backman 62 335 1987 27
51 Doug Flynn 62 572 1978 27
52 Bobby Klaus 62 337 1965 27
53 Doug Flynn 61 580 1979 28
54 Tim Foli 59 312 1971 20
55 Doug Flynn 54 343 1981 30
Tim Teufel only had 279 plate appearances in 1986 and so doesn’t qualify, but he had a 93 OPS+. From ’86 to ’88, the Mets’ second base platoon OPS+ was 113/93, 62/153, and 117/93. Add them up, divide by two and you get 103, 108, and 105. Not awesome, but certainly capable (I know you shouldn’t just combine OPS+ this way, but I’ve already wandered too far off topic).
Adjusting the threshold to include platoons reveals that Alomar’s 2002 season ranks 32nd out of 55. The adjustment also captures Robbie’s second season on the Mets. In 2003, he appeared in 73 games (302 PA) and put up an 84 OPS+, good for 36th on our list. Better than some*, worse than most**, and not as awful as I thought.
* Certainly better than Doug Flynn. Holy crap! How do you amass 572 plate appearances with a 62 OPS+? And then get 580/61 the very next year? That should be illegal. I’d like to think he had naked pictures of somebody in the front office, but this was the same group that traded Tom Seaver, so I think it’s safe to chalk it up to total incompetence.
**Again, it’s worth noting that there were only two second basemen older than Alomar on our list: 36 year-old Jose Valentin (109 OPS+) in 2006 and 37 year-old Willie Randolph (93 OPS+) in 1992. Two thoughts: I didn’t truly appreciate how well Valentin played that year until now, and it’s always a bit disorienting to see Randolph’s name pop-up in discussions about Mets players these days. His time as manager overshadows his Mets playing career so much that it gets a lost a bit.
I’m not trying to sugarcoat anything here; Alomar was bad, and he was a major factor in the Mets under-performance in 2002-03. But I’d argue that it was inevitable, that there was no way he could live up to the expectations created by the trade that brought him here. He may have had a 150 OPS+ for Cleveland in 2001, but it was a career high and he was 33. It wasn’t really smart to expect him to continue producing at that level for much longer, never mind trading several young players to acquire him. Throw in his reputation as a “clubhouse lawyer” and Cleveland’s eagerness to send him packing and you have to wonder how so many red flags could be ignored*. Which brings me to a larger point: Steve Phillips was a horrible General Manager.
*Yet another example of why the Wilpons were so foolish to retain Phillips at Bobby Valentine’s expense. Valentine had his flaws to be sure, but there’s no way he makes that trade. This is a great example of the single worst part of being a sports fan: the utter hopelessness of knowing that your franchise’s ownership is incompetent. Valentine is a free agent as I write this yet the Wilpons would never consider rehiring him. Forget Omar Minaya’s silly contract extension: if the GM position was open today, the Wilpons’ stubbornness would preclude Valentine from getting anything more than a courtesy interview, if that. It’s almost like the fans have to root for the players to win IN SPITE OF management/ownership.
Phillips traded his flagship prospect at the time (Alex Escobar, who never panned out but would be roughly equal in terms of hype to Fernando Martinez in 2008), Jerrod Riggan (a solid reliever) and Matt Lawton (a decent LF who struggled in NY but had an OPS+ of 99, 104, and 114 in three seasons for the Indians) and threw in Billy Traber as a player to be named later (nothing to write home about, but still bouncing around the majors today), and another prospect for a past-his-prime second baseman who all but admitted he didn’t want to leave Cleveland. Alomar may have become a symbol of the Mets’ malaise, but that was a horrible trade. While Alomar’s performance on the field did little to enamor him to the Shea faithful, that ire should have been focused on Steve Phillips for failing to properly asses Alomar’s value and squandering valuable assets to acquire him. It’s no coincidence that Alomar was Phillips’ last major acquisition, and rightfully so.
While I still don’t care for Alomar, I have a better understanding of why he performed the way he did. Considering how much of a cluster-fuck that trade was, his below average performance was less egregious than it originally seemed. The lesson that I’ve learned here? While a player may be responsible for his individual failures, never place all of the blame on that player’s shoulders when management is completely incompetent.
I have a feeling that’s a lesson we all might have to apply again this season, don’t you?
