Submitted by David Crockett, Oct 5, 2007 15:48

To the extent that the bullpen performance (rather than mere overuse) was the issue I'd like to hear more about what should have been done instead. I have heard from many corners that Randolph's bullpen management is bad. Okay, but apart from Wagner (pre-dead arm) and the durable Heilman nobody pitched particularly well. When the average start only gets you to the 6th inning, you're going to have to rely on some bad pitchers. So it seems like Randolph gets criticized for his lack of skill at shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

Although I think Marchman is a fine writer the columns in his Mets post-mortem has left me somewhat confused. He rightly concludes that the bullpen wasn't especially overworked. They were just awful, historically awful. Okay, but then I'm left unsure about precisely what he's attributing to Randolph beyond the standard "he's the captain of the sinking ship" rhetoric. It seems like Marchman is saying more than that. I'm just not clear what it is.

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