Tom Goodwin + Jose Macias = Fun

Ran across Tom Goodwin's Baseball-Reference page today while doing some writing - don't ask - and it lead to a detour. I clicked on the 2004 Cubs link and become bewildered with their bench. Give credit where credit is due, this team won 89 games and was in the playoff race until A) the Cardinals exploded, and B) they lost seven of their last ten games.

The bench though, wow, the bench. I want to give Dusty Baker credit for maneuvering around such a weak reserve crop, but I'm pretty sure he's ultimately responsible for most of these players even being on the team. Not many teams could give Ramon Martinez 298 plate appearances, Jose Macias 204 plate appearances, Tom Goodwin and Paul Bako over 100, and Rey Ordonez and  Neifi Perez over 100 combined and still find themselves winning.

Those six combined accounted for 14.4% of the Cubs total plate appearances. Using park-adjusted wRAA, they combine for -39 runs, with only Perez contributing to the offense end in a positive manner - yeah, I don't know how that happens either. They didn't quite earn those runs back defensively either, with -3.4 runs combined. About -4.2 wins.  They missed out on the wild card by three games.