As the long Hot Stove season winds down and the winter transforms into spring, the Mets are seemingly finished with their off season makeover.
The Mets first priority was to overhaul a bullpen that was overworked, ineffective, and had become the object of most Mets fans ire.
Gone are Aaron Heilman and his lefthanded counterpart Scott Schoeneweis, and in a surprising move, young Joe Smith was banished as well. Heilman definitely needed a change of scenery, and I had such high hopes for side-armer Joe Smith, but that pales in comparison to the addition of J.J. Putz and what he will mean to our bullpen in 2009.
Schoeneweis, on the other hand, is a little different. It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t kept and used solely as our weapon against left handed hitters. In that regard, he was one of the best in the league. Now the Mets will be paying him $1.6 million dollars to be a lefty specialist for another team. It’s a role he was born for, and one that the Mets ever really considered during his tenure with us.
Let bygones, be bygones.
This wonderful transformation that was architected by Omar Minaya, has made the Mets’ bullpen the best in the division if not the entire league. Almost.
With Francisco Rodriguez and Putz handling all of the end game responsibilities, the Mets have shortened the game to seven innings.
Duaner Sanchez, Sean Green, Pedro Feliciano and possibly Brian Stokes will each find key roles in the back of the bullpen.
It leaves the Mets with just Feliciano as the lone lefthander. Could the Mets get by with just one lefthander in the bullpen?
Probably, but if you already went this far in revamping last seasons heartbreaking pen into a hope inspiring bullpen that oozes with potential, why take any chances?
Why not finish the job?
There are several interesting options still available in this sagging free agent market. and two of them could be ideal fits for the Mets; Tyler Johnson and Ron Villone, however I believe Johnson might be a better fit for the Mets.
Johnson is young and still improving, and though he may not have the resume of Ron Villone, he makes up for it with promising upside. Tyler had shoulder surgery in 2007 and missed the 2008 season. He was due for arbitration and the Cardinals non-tendered him thus making him a free agent.
In 2007, left handers hit just .224 against the 27-year old southpaw, but he also held right handers to an even stingier .211.
Today, Johnson says he feels great and he was glad he decided to have the surgery. A few months ago he said the following to reporters.
“I want to get back into game-mode situations, and be ready to have a good year next year. I am having a year-round season this year. I’m going to do stuff all year long and I’m really going to get ready for the season. I’m going to have a great year. This is the first surgery I’ve ever had, and I was pretty terrified about it. But the outcome really makes me feel a lot better.”
If we signed Johnson, he would be able to take over as the Mets setup man after J.J. Putz moves on. The Mets are not going to pay their setup man in excess of $10 million dollars, so having a guy like Johnson around makes sense for more than one reason. He would come cheap, and wouldn’t cost the Mets a draft pick like some of the other options would.
Johnson is a former longtime top ten prospect for the Cardinals, with a very live arm. He could be a great high risk/high reward type player, except that it wouldn’t be that much of a risk.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
I like Tyler when he was with the Cardinals. They had high hopes for him. I cant believe they released him.
The Mets should sign Andy Sisco. He’s a minor league free agent, and put up great numbers with KC in 2005 and 2006. I read on MLBTR that he’s having a Friday workout session…Omar should definitely be showing interest.
I’m sure the cardinals didn’t want to do it.
When you are on the Major League DL, it counts as service time, and Johnson would have probably gotten a raise to about $1.5 million for relievers in first year of arby.
They decided they’d release him with the hopes of resigning him, but now interest in him is growing.
We do not need another lefty. Mets acquired 22 players this offseason. Of those 22 players 15 where pitchers, of the 15, 5 of them are lefties.
Casey Fossum – Fossum throws three different overhand curveballs. The first curveball is a tight-rotating 1–7 curveball that has a velocity in the low to mid 70s, but a pitch that Fossum struggles to throw effectively over the plate for strikes and at times remains too flat. The second curveball is also a 1–7 pitch, has a moderate break while clocking in between 65–70 MPH, and can effectively throw for strikes. The third curveball is a 12–6 curveball with an enormous break, making it nearly unhittable. While the pitch has been a very effective pitch for him to use, often landing for strikes or causing popouts, he regulates the pitch as a change-of-pace pitch to prevent batters from becoming used to it. Fossum dubbed this pitch the “Fossum flip”, and it is essentially a form of the eephus pitch.[3] He also has a decent fastball in the 88–92 mph range and a changeup that while effective, does not drop as well as most other pitchers. Fossum is also a good fielder and has an above-average pickoff move.
Tom Matin – Can retire left-handed and right-handed hitters equally well. Throws hard and gets outs with runners in scoring position. A steady lefty specialist.
Jon Switzer – A big lefty with a low-90s fastball, slider and change-up, all thrown with good command. He’s especially tough against left-handed hitters.
Could start, but a solid lefty specialist for now.
Valerio De Los Santos – He throws an above-average fastball with considerable movement. He fares better against lefties in situational appearances and has shown promising control in that role.
Heriberto Ruelas – Extremely tough on lefties
I was willing to somewhat buy your post Christian until I read this:
“Tom Matin – Can retire left-handed and right-handed hitters equally well. Throws hard and gets outs with runners in scoring position. A steady lefty specialist.”
I trust you’ve been watching the Mets since at least 2001, so you’d know that Tom Martin is a God awful pitcher. Simply terrible. He stunk then, and being an aging reliever, I doubt he’s gotten much better since then. I mean, whatever, bring whoever you want to spring training, but a lefty specialist that lefties hit .275 lifetime off of just isn’t good.
Valerio De Los Santos doesn’t show, “promise,” he’s 36 years old. Ruelas has never pitched in pro ball. Fossum sucks, and provides nothing more than minor league depth. Switzer may benefit from a change in scenary, but it’s hardly rational to expect that from him. Omar should be bringing as many lefties to camp as possible, the more options the better.
Milo, those are their scouting reports I didn’t write those.
Valerio De Los Santos has held lefties to a .226 average.
None the less we have 5 candidates for loogy role, which is an highly overrated role anyway. Its pointless to spend any time and effort looking for another, its just a waste.
tyler johnson sounds like a good option, but the mariners have signed him already.
to christian: what are you kidding me??? your saying you’d rather go all season with pedro feliciano as the only leftie in our bullpen??? and casey fosum?? that guy sucks…omg and i cannot believe you said “its just a waste”…wow…nothing is ever a waste when it comes to improving the team. the mets definately need another reliable left hander in the bullpen, feliciano cant carry all the load.
Is anyone else watching the Winter League game on the MLB channel right now? Bill Pulsipher looks pretty impressive. I wonder if he’d be interested in an MLB comeback, much less one with the Mets.
metsfan13 – What part of we have 5 lefties vying for that lefty role do you not understand? A specialist role is a waste of a roster spot, its a useless role. The role is a waste because it doesn’t significantly improve a team. A reliever should be able to get lefties and righties effectively or he should not be in the majors.
christian: what part of all those lefties suck do you not understand. i agree that a reliever should be able to get both righties and lefties out, but unfortunately that doesnt happen most of the time…if the team can improve with another lefty, then why not??? imagine this situation:
6th inning: mets 8 phillies 6, phils are batting, bases loaded 2 out, ryan howard up at the plate and a pitching change is made for the mets, howard is batting 310 against righites and slugging .680, but only .196 against lefties and slugging .375, you catn use feliciano because he was either already used in that game or way too much in the previous games, who do you go to??? duaner sanchez, brian stokes, sean green, putz in the 6th inning??? i dont think so, i would wanna go to that leftie reliver to make sure he gets ryan howard out, instead of that righite relievr who has a better chance of serving a pitch that will give the phils the lead with one swing of the bat. think about it, and then tell me if its over rated???
metsfan13 – maybe you should check their numbers vs lefties first before you say they suck.
Milo – Pulsipher always seems good when he is pitching against lower tier players. He was great to watch a few years ago when he was on the Ducks. He actually looked like he was supposed to in the majors!!!
CAPSLOCK = DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
MY PREFERENCE FOR CROSSOVER LEFTY IS RARELY MENTIONED, DENNYS REYES(AGE 32). I BELIEVE HE’D BE A GREAT COMPLIMENT TO CURRENT PEN AS WELL AS A LH WHO’S EFFECTIVE Vs RH. CAN ANYONE ESPLAIN HIS ABSENCE FROM CONVERSATION/CONSIDERATION?