17
2010
Mets Should Pass On Ray’s Andy Sonnanstine
An article by 
Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported yesterday that Tampa Bay Rays RHP Andy Sonnanstine could be on the trading block.
There will probably be plenty of trade rumors surrounding Rays right-hander Andy Sonnanstine over the final few weeks of spring training. But no one has made a formal inquiry yet, one major league source said Monday afternoon. Among the teams that could use another starter: the Diamondbacks, Mariners, Mets, Twins, Dodgers and Nationals.
Tampa Bay's Andy Sonnanstine
I’m not so sure that Sonnanstine is even worth our while at this point. I look at him and I look at Mike Pelfrey or John Maine and wonder if there is any real difference, or if Sonnanstine is even an improvement.
With Jenrry Mejia waiting in the wings, Jon Niese ready for his opportunity, and good spring performances from Nelson Figueroa and Hisanori Takahashi, I really don’t see where he would fit in.
Then of course there’s the question of what we would have to give up to acquire him.
Mike Silva of NY Baseball Digest posted an interesting article speculating a possible Chris Carter swap for Sonnanstine. However, despite Sonnanstine’s non impressive performance in the Majors thus far, I strongly doubt that the Rays would simply trade him for a career minor league corner outfielder with a bad defensive reputation.
Sonnanstine won nine games last season and posted a 6.77 ERA in 99 innings pitched with a 1.67 WHIP. Hardly the kind of numbers that jump out at you, but at 27 years old he still has time to improve.
The Mets passed on guys like Joel Pineiro, Randy Wolf and Jason Marquis this offseason citing that they felt those pitchers were not better than what the Mets already had in the house.
Sonnanstine seems like an even worse option than any of the pitchers the Mets passed on, so why would you want to give up multiple prospects to get Sonnanstine when you could have gotten better pitchers without having to give anything up?
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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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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“I’m not so sure that Sonnanstine is even worth our while at this point. I look at him and I look at Mike Pelfrey or John Maine and wonder if there is any real difference, or if Sonnanstine is even an improvement.”
You sound like Omar.
The more arms in the organization, the better.
It may take Brad Holt and possibly another arm to get him. If more arms are better why give up two arms for one arm that hasn’t accomplished anything noteworthy in the majors?
“More arms” are better, provided they are of reasonable quality. I agree…I would not give up multiple players to get Sonnanstine.
Holt sounds like Parnell to me. Good fastball with spotty command, and no secondary pitches of note. Future reliever.
Your assessment of Holt is spot on. He has a great fastball, but nothing special in the way of secondary pitches. The problem with the Mets is they rush guys like Parnell and Pelfrey before they get a chance to improve their secondary offerings. So they have to do it on the fly and in the majors which isn’t really the best way to go about it.
Parnell and Pelfrey are both college guys, which means they were already 22 or 23 when drafted, and should be more polished than an 18 year old.
Pelfrey had a very good curve in college, which Rick Peterson promptly scrapped per his weird ketchup analogy. Pelfrey now throws a slider, which he can’t throw consistently for strikes. So he is now basically a two-pitch guy (four seamer and two seamer fastball), who shows the slider just for a change, but never gets guys to chase it, nor can he throw it for a strike. I think he can eat 200 innings, but he’s going to give up 220+ hits again, and is going to put a lot of runners on base.
Parnell has good velocity on his FB, but its straight as an arrow and he has no breaking pitch. He’ll probably have a good year every now and then, like Derrick Turnbow used to. But its hard to get excited about him.
I’ve only seen Mejia pitch a couple of times on TV now, but he throws hard, and his fastball has GREAT movement. He’ll generate a lot of swings and misses. Haven’t seen his breaking stuff yet.
I understand that Holt’s fastball has some movement, whereas Parnell’s is a clothesline, and useless in the pros. No to Sonnanstine, by the way.
And Mejia is not waiting in the wings.
Does anybody really believe that Mejia is NOT going to break camp as the 8th inning guy at this point?
You seem to be speaking in absolutes. Do you have insight to the Mets plan that has not yet been reported?
Other than the words out of Jerry Manuel’s mouth, and the way that Mejia has been used in Spring Training thus far?
Forget what Manuel says, and listen to what Minaya said because only he makes the personnel moves. Minaya said Mejia will start th season in the Minors along with F-Mart, Thole and Ike Davis.
“listen to what Minaya said because only he makes the personnel moves.”
Joe – I’m not targeting only your statements, but…
did you really just type this?
Are you trying to say jerry manuel has taken on the general manager duties and will decide who gets cut and who doesn’t? Everytime Manuel has made an outlandish statement, Minaya has been front and center the very next day debunking what Manuel has claimed as was talked about extensively by Keith hernandez and Gary Cohen in the last spring broadcast.
We all know that Omar does not have the final say on personnel decisions; Jeff Wilpon does. The Mets decision-making hierarchy has been broken down and criticized extensively this offseason in many places. This is not news.
If Mejia pitching in the 8th inning gives the Mets a better chance to win games than Parnell pitching in the 8th, and with Manuel’s and his jobs on the lines…you know Minaya is going to go with the kid. This is about generating excitement in the fanbase and trying to keep your job. They’ll sacrifice the kid’s future development for this.
To bastardize an old phrase, Quit while you’re not behind too much!.
Baseball and linguistics are learned over a lifetime. Don’t listen to Jerry Manuel, but listen to Omar when there are not a lot of the Wilpon’s depleted greenbacks involved. That’s the formula.
Typical Mets insnanity. I love how Chris carter is a “career minor leaguer” he is 26 years old and has done nothing but crush in the minors. There happened to be two guys named Kevin Youklis and Big Sloppy blocking him in Boston. This is sheer nonsens.
Chris carter would instantly become the mets 3rd best hitter. PERIOD!
The thought of trading him for a AAAA pitcher when the mets have plenty of AAAA pitchers is insane….sory i meant typical Mets.
If Carter is as good as you say, why did the Mets bring in Mike Jacobs, Gary Matthews?
Third best hitter??? Okay so lets say Wright and Beltran are #1 and #2. You’re saying Carter who has done SQUAT in the Majors is better than Jason bay, Jose reyes, Jeff Francoeur and Angel Pagan??? Are you on crack?
I loooked at his minor league numbers nad he has a .979 FP in the outfield and .978 at first base??
Wake up, there’s no DH in the NL!
I’d appreciate making your points without resorting to insults.
I also think Chris Carter would probably outproduce Jacobs, Tatis, or Daniel Murphy if given full-time at-bats at 1B.
I feel like I have been possessed by the GM Ghost of Steve Phillips and will trade Jenry Meija for Andy Sonastine, if and only if it will take Warthen 10 mintues to fix what is wrong with Sonastine.
“The Mets passed on guys like Joel Pineiro, Randy Wolf and Jason Marquis this offseason citing that they felt those pitchers were not better than what the Mets already had in the house.”
The Mets passed on those guys because they didn’t want to spend the $. Period. Nobody believed they wouldn’t be upgrades. That said, I also wouldn’t give up much for Sonnanstine…
FYI, Marquis gave up 8 earned runs on 8 hits, 4 walks over 3.1 innings vs. the Astros.
Hist previous week performance against the Mets was 5 earned runs on 3 hits, 3 walks over 2.1 innings.
I know its preseason, but not looking to sharp for Marquis, maybe Mets knew something none of us saw.
Yeah because as all met fans know, Omar Minaya is blessed with the gift of prophecy and ESP. That’s why he gave Alex Cora 2mil, Perez 36mil and Castillo 24mil. We are so very blessed to have Omar in our midst. Luckily thanks to him we wont have to worry about getting saddled with Carlos Lee or Roy Halladay.
I wasn’t implying that Omar deserves credit for dodging this at all.
In fact, I was one who wanted the Mets to sign Marquis.
On another note, when did the Mets ever have a realistic shot in hell of acquiring Roy Halladay?
If we can get sonnanstine then by all means go get him, the more arms the better, he can be our #5 and easily move up to be our #2 depending on the season he got.. he’s a strike thrower, that’s what we need
Mets Should Pass On Ray’s Andy O’Sonnanstine! Agreed!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all who are Irish and all who are just for today!!!