I’ve posted time and again about the quality of the Mets bench because I believe it’s one of the worst constructed in baseball. With a month gone by, I just thought I’d provide an update.

The Mets bench consists of Fernando Tatis, Alex Cora, Frank Catalanotto, Gary Matthews, Jr. and Henry Blanco. Here’s how they rank:

Average

1. Blanco- .227
2. Tatis- .212
3. Cora- .162
4. Catalanotto- .143
5. Matthews- .139

OPS

1. Tatis- .621
2. Blanco-.614
3. Cora-.505
4. Matthews- .438
5. Catalanotto- .372

wOBA

1. Tatis- .274
2. Blanco- .265
3. Cora- .240
4. Matthews-.208
5. Catalanotto- .172

There are some inconsistencies here to be sure, but even so, the Mets bench is batting .175. The Mets starting pitching staff is batting .150. The pitching staff is a couple of base hits away from making Omar Minaya look more foolish than he did on Adam Rubin Day (July 27th, 2009).

Ok, maybe not. But as incompetent? Probably.

The  Mets biggest problem last year, besides poor pitching, was a lack of quality depth. Rather than acquire versatile young players with upside, the Mets sought to remedy this problem by acquiring name players with diminishing skills, an atrocious approach that has haunted the Mets throughout their recent history.

What’s interesting is that these guys were all good at one point- 2006. Even the departed Mike Jacobs, who I’m sure we’ll see again, had one of his best career seasons in 2006, and like nearly everyone else the Mets acquired (Blanco, Matthews, GMJ) subsequently declined.

Sort of like the Mets, who seem to be assembling a support group, not a baseball team.