NL East: 5th
Au revoir, les Expos!
What went well?:
Not a whole lot, if truth be told. They got off to a slow start, and never really found their rhythm.
Without Vladimir Guerrero, a whole bunch of players had to step up and share the offensive load. Brad Wilkerson certainly did his part, batting .255 with 32 HR and 67 RBIs whilst splitting time between first base and the outfield. He struck out 152 times, but drew 106 walks for an OBP of .374, very healthy for a lead-off hitter.
Tony Batista is never going to win a batting title, especially with his unusual stance, but despite a .241 average he hit 32 HR with 110 RBIs, and only struck out 78 times in 606 at-bats. However, he won't be back next year - read on for more on that!
There were encouraging results from highly-rated outfielder Terrmel Sledge, who batted .269 with 15 HR and 62 RBIs in 133 games. Juan Rivera (.307, 12 HR, 49 RBIs) contributed from all over the outfield. Catcher Brian Schneider (.257, 12 HR, 49 RBIs) is one of the better-kept secrets in the game.
Livan Hernandez was a horse, once again piling up the innings (255 with 9 complete games and 2 shut-outs) but only having a 11-15 record with a 3.60 ERA to show for it.
In the bullpen, rookie Chad Cordero (7-3, 2.94 ERA) has definite closer potential, collecting 14 saves in 69 games. Luis Ayala (6-12, 2.69 ERA) pitched a lot better than his won-lost record indicates.
What didn't go well?:
On the pitching front, only four of the 22 pitchers used had winning records. Zach Day (5-10, 3.93 ERA) pitched fairly well until injury, as did Tomo Ohka (3-7, 3.40 ERA) until his arm was broken by a line drive. Tony Armas Jr. (2-4, 4.88 ERA) was still working his way back from arm surgery.
Jose Vidro (.294, 14 HR, 60 RBIs) was on the way to another nice year until injury. Orlando Cabrera (.246, 4 HR, 31 RBIs) didn't really come to life offensively until he was traded to Boston. Carl Everett (.252, 2 HR, 14 RBIs) only played in 39 games bfore being dealt back to the White Sox. Nick Johnson (.251, 7 HR, 33 RBIs) battled back problems. The rest of the outfield just didn't produce offensively.
What about next year?:
Now that the team has been moved to Washington, there are hopes that once this team is settled, it will have a better chance to compete. I still think that choosing Washington is a mistake, as baseball has failed there not once but twice in the past. In Montreal, no-one really cared about the Expos, save those 3,000 or so die-hard fans who saw their team taken away from them. I fear we may see the same thing happen in Washington, as most of the "local" people only there because of politics/business etc. and therefore will not feel attached to the "local" team in any way.
At least the team still has Frank Robinson as manager, and new GM Jim Bowden will certainly try and wheel and deal his way into making this a better team. The deal to bring on Jose Guillen from the Angels was the type of offensive boost that was needed. Whether signing Cristian Guzman for four years or picking up Vonny Castiila rather than trying harder to keep Batista remains to be seen.
As a true baseball fan, I really feel badly about what has happened to the Expos and their loyal fans. I tip my hat to the players, Frank Robinson and Omar Minaya (one of the brightest GM talents in the game - the Mets are lucky to have him) for the way they've dealt with all this. Let's now hope an owner who has real ambitions for this team can be found.