Hello my friends welcome back once more! One week ago, the New York Yankees were the toast of the town cruising through the Canyon of Heroes flaunting the Commissioner’s Trophy. Well those days are over, and the talk around the baseball universe is concerned with one thing and one thing only. That thing is one of the most exciting times for a baseball fan, hot stove season! As the weeks have passed, I’ve run down the possibilities at every position for the 2010 Mets squadron. Only one faction remains to be covered, and it’s arguably the most vital of them all. As everyone knows, the key to the World Series is pitching, pitching, pitching, in particular the starters! If you can’t garner quality starts from your rotation, you’re not likely to go far. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time to wrap up the Mets 2010 preview, let’s cap it off with the ever-essential starting rotation.
Using professional wrestling terminology, aside from the rookies, there are 3 classifications of starting pitchers. The main eventers are the aces, more or less the best pitcher a team’s got. If a main eventer steps on the mound, there should be little to no doubt in a fan’s mind that their team is going to win the ballgame. Next you’ve got the midcarders, guys who achieve moderate success, but are rarely ever considered "top dogs." Midcarders usually represent the #2 and #3 starters, and occasionally the #4. Finally there are the jobbers. The jobbers are nothing more than back of the rotation guys, who in a nutshell are just there for the sake of pitching every 5th day, while the team doesn’t have a ton faith in winning when it’s their turn to start. The way I see it, the Mets 2010 starting rotation returnees feature one of each class. Johan Santana will go into 2010 as our main eventer. The ace has had 2 solid seasons in New York posting up a combined 29-16 mark in Flushing, a record that would be higher if not for the bullpen blowing leads and a punchless Mets offense. The midcard returnee should be John Maine. He throws hard, has great stuff, and aside from a 7 run flop against Florida, tossed 15 innings of 2 run ball upon returning from the DL, providing Metland with hope he’s 100%. If healthy – a big if – John has the stuff to be a solid rotation contributor. The jobber of the bunch – possibly the most expensive in the entire major league – is the 36 million dollar man Oliver Perez. Sadly facts are facts. We’re stuck with Perez, its doubtful any team would be crazy enough to want to acquire a jobber with 24 million owed to him between this season and the next. It’s a business, and this investment thus far hasn’t given us anything to write home about. As for Mike Pelfrey…what can I say? He, unlike Perez, is not inked to a lucrative multi-million dollar deal, and can be optioned. I personally don’t want to see him on the big club this April after his abysmal 2009 campaign, but the team hasn’t shown any indications that Pelf will get sent down to work out his kinks in AAA, so I’m assuming he’ll be back. It really is a shame though if they don’t option him. The Mets will be heading into ’10 the same way they entered ’09, with multiple lackluster starters in the rotation. If it was up to me, Pelfrey would be apartment hunting in Buffalo.
But whatever happens, there will be at least 1 opening, possibly 2 in the Mets starting rotation. One rumor floating around is that the Mets will inquire about Toronto’s main eventer, the incredible Roy Halladay. A lot of these rumors sadly are often followed with the writer calling this scenario a long shot. But hey, who knows? The Mets were considered a longshot to acquire Santana as opposed to the Yankees and Red Sox chances 2 winters ago. Who’s to say the Mets won’t shock the world again? Now granted, I’m no scout, and am completely unable to predict which Mets prospects are worth trading and which ones should be held onto. All I’m saying is if the possibility is there, the Mets should take this chance, and ink Halladay to a multiyear deal afterward. The Mets would surely steal the offseason headlines, bring more credibility to the club’s namesake, make them an interesting New York team to watch, and give themselves arguably the best 1-2 rotation punch in baseball. If Roy Halladay, one of baseball’s best starters is obtainable, the Mets really should look into it.
However, if a Halladay trade simply is not possible the Mets can always turn towards free agency to patch their holes. If it’s a main eventer the Mets want to sign, Angels ace John Lackey is relatively the only one on the free agent market. If the Mets ink Lackey, I wouldn’t protest an iota. However, this signing may be unlikely due to the whole "Free Agent Type" business. I strongly believe the Mets are reporting to spring training this year with a Type A leftfielder whether it be Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. Since the Mets finished in the bottom half of the league record wise, they are allowed to sign one Type A player without surrendering their 1st round draft pick. However, for every other Type A that is signed, the team must forfeit its next draft pick after the first round. The Mets appear disinclined to do this, so I really think a John Lackey signing is unfortunately highly unlikely for the Mets. They may just wind up filling their rotational holes with a couple of midcarders. Let’s see who’s out there.
Jon Garland seems like one of those guys who’s always connected to the Mets via the rumor mill. He didn’t do too much with the losing Arizona Diamondbacks, but once he was dealt to the playoff chasing Dodgers, Garland fared better, posting a 2.72 ERA in 6 starts with Los Angeles. Jason Marquis won 15 games for Colorado, and has admitted through the press he’d love to play for the Mets. Pretty comparable to Garland, both men chime in with a 4.40+ ERA in each of their 10 season careers. Brad Penny went 4-1 in San Francisco with a 2.59 ERA in 6 starts after getting cut following a rough go in Boston. He appeared to be recovered from the injury that sidelined him ’08, and looks to be a National League thriving pitcher when you compare his 2009 splits. Joel Pineiro is a guy who for years now has been killing the Mets with his ground ball mastery. Though he had a nice 2009 season for the Cardinals, he struggled pretty heavily prior to his arrival in St. Louis. One has to wonder if his success can be duplicated without the god of all pitching coaches Dave Duncan working with him on a day in day out basis. And the final midcarder the Mets should be keeping an eye on is Randy Wolf, who has gone 17-9 the last season and a half with the Astros and the Dodgers, while keeping his ERA in the mid 3′s.
As far as international super prospect Aroldis Chapman goes, I’d advise the Mets to say thanks but no thanks. There really is zero telling how Chapman will pitch in the majors. He may have a great arm, but has never established himself anywhere facing solid major league hitters like the ones in the US or in Japan. It’s not like Daisuke Matsuzaka was 3 winters ago, Chapman is just too risky for my taste. There are other names on the free agent list who have achieved major league success in the past such as Brett Myers, John Smoltz, Ben Sheets, and Rich Harden to name a few. However, I just don’t think this clique is trustworthy enough health wise in my opinion to give them a major league starting gig guaranteed, something I’m sure all of these guys will want assured. And as for Vincente Padilla………..no way.
What do you guys think about how the Mets should approach this area? Should the Mets gamble away prospects/draft picks in order to snag a main eventer to complement Johan Santana? Or, should the Mets preserve their young blood and ink a couple of midcarders? Is it imperative the Mets snag a main eventer in order to take down the NL Champion Phillies, or will a couple of the midcarders listed above be sufficient? Let me know what you’re thinking guys; I really am looking to get more opinions on this topic since it’s such a tough call. Please kindly comment below, and as always my dear Met fans, thank you so much for reading!
Post a Comment