4/6/10

Jenrry Mejia

From MetsBlog, talking about Josh Beckett's contract extension: "…it’s pretty clear, if you want an ace, or a ‘legit No. 2,’ a team must either trade top prospects to bring him in, or develop him on their own…"

At a time when Jenrry Mejia should be donning a Binghamton Mets jersey and preparing for his Opening Day assignment against Akron on Thursday, he is instead in the back of Jerry Manuel's bullpen having his development stunted.

Relievers are made, not born. It's an old-school way of thinking, but I truly believe that every pitcher should be given an opportunity to fail as a starter before being converted into a reliever. By pre-emptively putting Mejia in the bullpen based on 15 Spring Training innings, the Mets are crippling his potential to develop secondary pitches and to blossom into a top-flight starter.

3 comments:

Mack Ade said...

Jack, I truly believe that Jenrry Mejia will not be a Met by the time the season ends.

I believe he, and 2B/SS Ruben Tejada, are being showcased for a package deal in May, to a team clearing payroll.

The Mets can not crawl out of this non-playoff position without quality starters and there simply are not enough in Queens.

Moreover, you know I know bunches about the farm... there is no one there ready to help this season. Maybe even 2011.

Mack

Anonymous said...

Mack...
you obviously dont know jack if you think there arm no arms that could help this team in 2011.

Niesen, Holt, Mejia (If Around), Maybe even a guy like Scott Shaw, Tobi Stoner and Dillon Gee could add quality starts

Jack Flynn said...

Anonymous, I'll defer to Mack's knowledge of the minor league system over yours.

Niesen and Holt are in Double-A and not nearly polished enough to be ready before 2012. Shaw is several years away as well. Stoner and Gee will be lucky if they see the back of a major league bullpen in the next two years - probably because that's as far as their ceilings will allow them to go.

Mejia is two years away as well, but he may be good enough to start 2012 with a guaranteed rotation spot and a chance at stardom. The reliever experiment is only delaying his arrival as a starter and may be stunting his future growth.