The State Of Mets Rotational Pitchers

The State Of Mets Rotational Pitchers

Rather than kvetch and bitch about what’s going on with the pitching, I’d much rather take a closer look at the situation, and quite possibly look for a solution.

First of all, here’s what’s there now:

Johan Santana – 2-1, 0.46, 0.81 – obviously, there is no problem here, and here might be hint for solutions to follow (whatever did happen to Guerra, Humber, and Mulvey?).

John Maine – 0-2, 7.47, 1.60 – we had our first glimpse that Maine may not be fully back from his surgery in spring training. It’s too early to tell, but when most of your rotation is standing out negatively, it’s hard to wait everyone out.

Mike Pelfrey – 1-0, 8.10, 1.90 - this is the guy that scares me the most, because so much is counted on him. It seems to me that his one pitch, fastball, approach to all his tight situations, is catching up to him. Obviously, everyone is sitting on it and it just may be that Mike’s secondary stuff wasn’t ready for the Bigs.

Oliver Perez – 1-1, 7.60, 1.73 (have you been noticing these WHIPs?) – a lot of people think I wanted Ollie signed because I was the guy that got the info first on him being signed. Actually, I wanted Derek Lower ten times more than OP, and couldn’t believe the Mets didn’t pull the trigger for one of the better starters that were available at the time. The good news: you know what you get with Ollie. The bad news: what you get is unconsistency.

Livan Hernandez – 1-1, 7.31, 1.63 – nothing speaks more to the failure of developing pitchers from the draft 3-4 years ago, or the lack of being able to sign top FA pitchers in the past few years (Santana was a trade), than this guy. He didn’t even get once around the league.

Now, what’s in the system?

Nelson Figueroa – 0-1, 4.50, 1.17 – pitched respectfully the one outing used… 2-2, 3.00 in Buffalo so far this season… pitched 16 games for the Mets last season, 4.57 era… okay, not the best numbers in the world, but a lot better than what’s being churned out right now.. and… errr…. What? Oh…err… never mind about Nelson. Seems the Mets DFA’d him after saving the team’s arse when Pelfrey came up lame.

Freddy Garcia - AAA: 0-1, 4.50 – this is one outing… I spent a fair amount of time watching Garcia warm up in ST and pitch in games there… I’ll give him this: nice curve and change-up. Other than that, nothing left. Sadly, this guy should never have been signed and he’s filling a slot in Buffalo that could be used by some young pitcher that would like to pitch for the worst team in the International League.

Casey Fossum – AAA: 0-0, 0.82 – 2 starts – Fossum was called up to replace Figueroa. Yes, he has had two nice AAA starts this season, but Fossum is a relief pitcher. It would be a long shot to expect him to be ready as a major league rotation pitcher, and a miracle if it worked out.

Bobby Parnell - 0-0, 2.25, 8 relief appearances – Parnell has been a starter his entire career until being added to the pen this season. He’s done well in the Mets pen, but the Mets may consider stretching him out for the next couple of weeks to send the signs to the current starters that they need to pick up the pace.

Jonathan Niese – AAA: 0-2, 8.76 – everybody fell in love with ‘Jon-boy’ in ST, but right now he’s having his own problems in Buffalo. Having trouble keeping the ball down.

Dillon Gee – AAA: 0-2, 4.80 – simply, not ready.

Fernando Nieve – AAA: 0-0, 6.00 – another nice reclamation project, if you got the money to throw around, but in no way is this a solution to the Mets 2009 woes.

And that’s it.

It’s nice for Jerry Manuel to tell the press that, okay, one more time around the rotation, and if thing don’t get better, they’ll be some changes made. Well, it helps if there’s someone out in the system that can handle the job.

Right now, any change would simply be an experiment during a regular season.

Moving on, what about who’s still out there unsigned:

Pedro Martinez – the good news: he knows how to get to the stadium. And what’s another 5mil for the Wilpons? The question now, after releasing both him and his son, and leaving his nephew in extended camp, would Pedro come back? The official word is the Mets don’t want him.

Armondo Benitez – was available, but just signed a deal with the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League (just kidding about this one…)

Paul Byrd – yes, that Paul Byrd. He;s 41 years old and would cost the Mets a draft pick to sign him.

Ben Sheets – not a current option… he is still weeks away from a throwing program, no less a rehab stint

Jon Lieber – his agent says he has officially retired

Lastly, who is in the last year of his current contract, with a team going nowhere (can you determine who is going nowhere with, what 12 games played?), that the Mets might be able to put together a Santana-type deal before the All-Star break?

Here’s the most current list I can find:

Brandon Backe (32)Danys Baez (32)Miguel Batista (39)Josh Beckett (30) - $12MM club option with a $2MM buyoutErik Bedard (31)Kris Benson (34)Daniel Cabrera (29)Chris Capuano (31)Bartolo Colon (37)Jose Contreras (38)Doug Davis (34)Justin Duchscherer (32)Adam Eaton (32)Shawn Estes (37)Josh Fogg (33)Freddy Garcia (34)Jon Garland (30) - $10MM mutual option with $2.5MM or $1MM buyoutTom Glavine (44)Mike Hampton (37)Rich Harden (28)Mark Hendrickson (36)Tim Hudson (34) - $12MM mutual option with a $1MM buyoutJason Jennings (31)Jason Johnson (36)Randy Johnson (46)John Lackey (31)Cliff Lee (31) - $8MM club option with a $1MM buyoutBraden Looper (35) - optionRodrigo Lopez (34)Jason Marquis (31)Kevin Millwood (35) - Rangers can decline $12MM salary for '10 unless he reaches 180 innings in '09Brian Moehler (38) - mutual optionBrett Myers (29)Vicente Padilla (32) - $12MM club option with a $1.75MM buyoutChan Ho Park (37)John Parrish (32)Carl Pavano (34)Brad Penny (32)Odalis Perez (33)Andy Pettitte (38)Joel Pineiro (31)Sidney Ponson (33)Mark Prior (28)Horacio Ramirez (30)Jason Schmidt (37)John Smoltz (43)Tim Wakefield (43) - perpetual $4MM club optionJarrod Washburn (35)Brandon Webb (31) - $8.5MM club option with a $500K+ buyoutTodd Wellemeyer (31)Kip Wells (33)Randy Wolf (33)

Other than guys who have team options, and others on teams that would never trade to the Mets midstream, feel free to find someone here I can’t seem to find.

Which gets us to one option that is doable.

SP Jake Peavey.

He’s a starter.

He’s successful.

He’s 28 years old.

He pays for a bad team in need of prospects.

And, his current 5.13 ERA fits right in with the current rotation.

Summation:

1. Not many options here.

2. Give Maine and Pelfrey the time needed to work things out. Whether we like it or not, they are part of the 2009 rotation

3. So is Perez. Omar signed him, and like Luis Castillo, he is a Met for years to come. Live with it.

4. Release Hernandez

5. Send Parnell back to AA for a stretching out. Get him ready to step in sometime in May, if needed.

6. Give Fossum Parnell’s duties in the pen.

7. Call up Roy Merritt to fill the pen slot. He’s ready.

8. Put together a Santana deal for Peavey. 4 prospects.

a. One from Column A: Niese, Eddie Kunz, or Gee

b. One from Column B: Antonini or Dylan Owen

c. One from Column C: Scott Shaw, Edgar Ramirez, Angel Calero, or Eric Niesen

d. One from Column D: Nick Evans or Josh Thole

But, that’s just me…

Mack