4
2009
Should The Mets Sign Joel Piñeiro As A Free Agent?
An article by 
I’ll make this short and (hopefully) sweet, so please don’t shoot the blogger. As you may already know, I am an optimist. However, as much as I’d like to see the Mets have a miraculous finish to the 2009 season, every time they lose to second division teams like Arizona, the chances of them playing baseball deep into October at Citi Field seem to be as remote as Mo Vaughn being spotted eating a salad. Therefore, I am temporarily turning my thoughts over to next season. Please hear me out as I present to you my insane thought of the day. When the Mets get together to discuss potential additions to their pitching staff for next season, I wouldn’t have a problem with Omar Minaya (or whoever the GM is in 2010) if he signed soon-to-be free agent Joel Piñeiro in the offseason.
Again, I ask you to please keep your tomatoes and other foreign objects to yourselves while I attempt to explain why making Joel Piñeiro a Met isn’t as bad an idea as you might think.
We’ve seen what happens when starting pitchers walk tons of hitters and register high pitch counts. It stretches out the bullpen and forces the manager to bring in guys like Pat Misch and Tim Redding into pressure situations that they would normally not come into the game for. If a pitcher can go deep into games, the bullpen can be used sparingly and in the proper situations. Joel Piñeiro is a control pitcher who eats up innings.
Piñeiro has made 20 starts this season and has only walked 15 batters. That’s less than one walk per start! He has also pitched 136.1 innings in those 20 starts, or an average of nearly seven innings per start. By comparison, Mike Pelfrey has made one more start than Piñeiro and has pitched 15 fewer innings. Ace Johan Santana has also made one more start than Piñeiro and has only pitched two-thirds of an inning more. Please remember that Piñeiro pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals, whose manager is known for going to his bullpen quite often.
Pitchers who keep the ball in the ballpark also keep their teams in ballgames. Again, Joel Piñeiro fits that description to a tee. So far this season, the sinkerball pitcher has only given up three home runs. Of the Mets’ top four starters (Santana, Pelfrey, Hernandez, Perez), all of them have given up at least eight home runs. Ollie is the one who has given up the fewest (8) and he missed two months of the season.
Joel Piñeiro does not walk hitters and does not give up the long ball. He also keeps his pitch count low to allow him to pitch deeper into games, protecting the bullpen from being overused. Because he has a 9-9 record in 2009, he is overlooked when it comes to potential free agent acquisitions. However, his 2.84 ERA and 1.07 WHIP this season cannot be overlooked. He is still relatively young (he’ll turn 31 in September) and can be signed for less money than it took to retain Oliver Perez’s services, as Piñeiro is finishing up a 2-year, $12.5 million contract.
Of course, die-hard Met fans know the damage he’s done to the Mets over the past few seasons. He pitched eight shutout innings to defeat the Mets in a makeup game during the last week of the 2007 season. This season he has defeated the Mets twice, giving up two runs in eight innings of work on April 22, followed by a two-hit shutout on June 23. By the way, Piñeiro will be facing the Mets again tonight when the Cardinals come to Citi Field.
To quote noted philosopher Forrest Gump, “that’s all I have to say about that.” I’ve got my Mets poncho on now, so feel free to hurl those tomatoes at me if you don’t think Piñeiro should be signed by the Mets. But before you throw that first pitch, take a look at the list of potential free-agent pitchers. When you do, you’ll see it’s a very weak class with few aces available. I’ve already made my choice. Joel Piñeiro in 2010!
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationals | 26 | 18 | .591 | - |
| Braves | 26 | 20 | .565 | 1.0 |
| Mets | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Marlins | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 23 | 23 | .500 | 4.0 |
Last updated: 05/25/2012
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Write Your Own Mets Post
First, a well-written and well-analyzed article. I’m a Piñeiro fan, believe it or not, mostly though because of his stellar starts against the Mets. Tim Britton at MLB.com described Piñeiro’s two most recent starts in Flushing, but Joel has been a solid Met-killer for years. His 2007 start is unforgettable =/
Anyway, I’d LOVE to have Joel on the team. As you said, an inning-eater who won’t walk players (unlike Ollie) is a solid option for this team. But I fear adding an inning-eater isn’t the BEST solution — Look at the individual strike outs for the 2009 Mets. Granted, injuries have plagued this team like scarlet fever, but the 2009 New York Mets have ONE player in the top FIFTY in strike outs (Johan is tied for #8, sharing the place with Wandy Rodriguez).
Unfortunately for the Mets, it’s looking like the Free Agent market is dominant with these type of pitchers — using the same Top 50 K Leaders as before, most of them aren’t free agents, and the ones that are will most likely be resigned. I think a Ricky Nolasco would be the type of player the Mets need, a mid-to-back end starter (for a high-market club) that will average about 1 K/IP.
Excellent writing and thinking, Ed. What’s to be upset about. I hate it when this guy faces us, so, yeah, let’s bring him over from the dark side!
yes i agree this type of pitcher would help the mets but, we’ve seen many cardinals starters leave and not have the same success for another team.
I’d like to think this time will be different.
Also why do the mets have a sinker ball pitcher who’s pitches don’t sink?
I agree completely. The Mets should go out and get Pineiro.
Sign Piniero! He’d be an excellent #2 starter and mentor for Mike Pelfrey. Think about it!
I had no idea he’ll be a free agent. Why is no one else talking about this? For some reason the only starter that’s being mentioned is Jared Weaver this offseason.
jered Weaver>>>>>> pinero. Pinero wont solve the mets problems. We need someone like Cain, Cliff Lee or Felix hernandez behind Santana…
A rotation of
Santana
Pinero
Pelfrey
Maine
Perez
Is still pretty terrible.
Is Maine still in the picture? Wat’s the plan to strengthen his shoulder without destroying it for good?
Jared Weaver isnt a free agent after this year!
why is this your insane idea of the day? after seeing what Piniero can do against the Mets, its seems like a good idea to sign him. i’d rather have John Lackey though, who is a free agent this year!
I agree with signing Piniero. He’d come cheaper than other FA pitchers.
whoa! Pineiro is 9-9 with a 2.84 ERA! i’d defitantly take him! but, jason marquis, jarrod washburn, john lackey and rich harden are also free agents after this year. i like Harden, even though his ERA is around 4.50 this year. i bet we could get Pineiro and Harden.
hes a great middle of the rotation guys who really learned how to get the ground ball. hes not a big strike out guy, but hes really learned how to change his approach and is a double play machine and he completely owns us
I’m hoping for a 1-0 Mets victory tonight. That way the Mets can win and Piñeiro can showcase himself in case the powers-that-be are watching.
I found this on a St. Louis website regarding the chances of Piñeiro being re-signed by the Cardinals and what it might take.
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/round-two/round-two/2009/08/jurys-out-on-cards-ability-to-re-sign-pineiro/
None of the reporters seem to know what Piñeiro is leaning towards.
Mets need a number two pitcher, Lackey comes to mind. Maine has got to go. I think a Rotation of Santana, Lackey, Perez, Pelfrey and Niese is sufficient next year especially with Mejia and Holt as depth. But Pinero would also be a good signing if you can steal Duncan from the Cardinals.