This is going to be the first of several editions of my ideas on what the Mets should do this off season. (Silver lining for my day yesterday: I won my fantasy league and $300) I'm going to do this series in parts. Let's all not try to overreact to the defeat yesterday and move on. Part 1: the Starting Rotation.
So for next season we have 3/5ths of the rotation already under contract: Johan Santana, John Maine, and Mike Pelfrey. All 3 of these guys have ace potential. Santan however is the only known commodity (should win Cy Young this year but probably won't). Pelfrey pitched many innings over his career high so people worry about an injury risk for next year/ bad year due to wear down. I don't think this should be much of a problem though. Maine has the potential to be an good number 2 guy and hopefully he rebounds quickly from his offseason surgery to remove the bone spurs from his elbow. Now that leaves 2 spots open with possibly the best 1 -3 punch in baseball if all stay healthy and live up to expectations.
Free Agent pithcers: Oliver Perez, Ben Sheets, CC Sabathia, Pedro Martinez, Randy Wolf, Kyle Loshe, Derek Lowe, AJ Burnett (possibly), Freddy Garcia, Paul Byrd, Jon Garland, Carl Pavano, Brad Penny (possibly), and Mark Prior just to name a few.
I am a huge fan of both Sheets and Perez as far as top of the line starters go. Sheets is one of the best pitchers in the league when healthy but he can't stay healthy. Perez is one of the best pitchers in the league when in the zone, however he often loses his head and his control goes along with it. I would be happy with signing either of these guys but the prices may be too high. I would be happy with signing one of them and Pedro. I know he sucked this year but this was the first real year he pitched without his "stuff". He was never able to find a groove and he is one of the smartest pitchers in the game. He is a clubhouse leader and a fun guy. He won't cost draft picks because he is not Type A or B free agent. He can come back as a number 5 starter and he could end up pitching like a number 3. Look at Mike Mussina. Great year this year after he was supposedly done and he is not nearly as good of a clubhouse guy as Pedro. If we decide to go for cheaper options than Perez or Sheets, I would definitely love to get Lowe. I say sign a combo of Sheet/Perez and Pedro or Lowe and Pedro. I also really like Paul Byrd but wouldn't sign him over Pedro. Freddy Garcia also wouldn't be a bad signing. I do not think Niese is ready to start in the Majors yet.
As for minor league depth. Bring back Claudio Vargas, Tony Armas, Nelson Figueroa (love him), and Brandon Knight. Knight and Figueroa could both be good long men. Also sign Mark Prior to a minor league deal. I love low risk/high reward moves like that. I was all for signing Colon this offseason to a minor league deal and if he'd go for why not again this year.
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5 comments:
speaking of mussina, he is a free agent, the mets could technically sign him.
what about niese
i can't believe you wouldn't put sabbathia in that free agent conversation. might not be realistic, but he's the best pitcher of the lot. plus, he eats up innings so that would help instead of going with the shaky ass bullpen. and loshe was resigned today.
Mussina is either a Yankee or retired plus I hate him. I'm pretty sure he's on my hate list to the right. Niese is not ready. CC is great without a doubt but he's going to cost more years and more $ that should be going to bullpen help(Especially with the Yankees in the mix for him and the fact that he wants to pitch on the West Cost for an NL team).
Innings pitched is also a minor factor to worry about with CC.
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