11
2010
The Time For Short-Sightedness Must Come To An End
An article by 
According to Adam Rubin, of the Daily News, Jerry Manuel does in fact intend to use Jenrry Mejia in short relief appearances. First, Mr. Rubin’s quote, than my outrage.
Look for Manuel to get his way with Jenrry Mejia, at least as far as working the 20-year-old righthander as a reliever from this point forward in camp. If Mejia does end up with Double-A Binghamton, it’s likely he won’t be ready to enter the rotation immediately there, since he won’t be stretched out. My expectation is that from this point forward in camp, Mejia will work as a reliever rather than get three-, four- or five-inning work.
As Joba Chamberlain got torched in yesterday’s game between the Yankees and Tigers, I can’t help but see the similarities in his evolution to what the Mets are proposing to do with pitching phenom Jenrry Mejia.
Chamberlain gave up six runs on five hits and three walks over 2 1/3 innings on Wednesday. The situation for Chamberlain rapidly deteriorates, and what was once their can’t miss ace of the future, may now be a longshot for the rotation or even the bullpen.
This unfortunate turn of events is the price the Yankees will have to pay for jeopardizing the long term future of a cant-miss top of the rotation starter, just so they could have a solid option in the bullpen for a few months. It was a doomed short term strategy that bore some fruit for three months at the expense what could have been a sensational career as a Yankee ace.
Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it…
If the Mets truly believe all that hype that they have been dishing out on Jenrry Mejia, and still proceed in a like manner, it would be akin to or even worse than the trade that sent Scott Kazmir to the Rays for Victor Zambrano.
There are plenty of good rants today on why the Mets shouldn’t proceed on the course that they have seemingly embarked upon.
No good will come out of this situation, unless a few months of right-handed relief is worth more to you than a top of the rotation starter in 2011 and beyond.
Let the kid go to AA or AAA and hone his craft so that we can reap the rewards of our patience for the next decade.
The time for short-sightedness must come to an end.
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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Agreed wholeheartedly. Very few pitchers become succesfull with such treatment. Let him fail as a starter before converting him into a releif pitcher!
Joe, Excellent read.
The only question I have is why is this organization even allowing this? Is it because they truly believe that Mejia will never be able to develop his secondary pitches enough to be a front end starter? They can’t just come out and say that, they would be losing a huge potential trade chip.
I think you’re onto something. You need two, or preferably three, pitches that are thrown with command to be big league starter who can go for 5-7 innings. As you wrote, maybe Mejia will never be able to develop his secondary pitches enough to be a front end starter.
Hmmm. Visions of Joe Black on the old Dodgers come to mind. As happened to Black who had a great fastball, trying to get Jenrry to throw curves, hooks or drops, may bring disaster or injury if it is tried repetitively!
Amen! Nuff said. I know that Jerry is trying to win at major league level, his job depends on it, but not allowing Mejia to be ready for his season in minors so he can win some spring training games? Doesn’t make sense. If he, Mejia, is a BP guy down the road, then ok but he is a possible good starter for Mets this year and in majors next year so why does Jerry continue down this road?
You really think Joba was ruined by his stint in the pen? He’s been stretched out for a long time, his issues are his own. Maybe he’s just not a great starter?
So David Price is already ruined? What about Adam Wainwright’s success? Ever hear of a guy named Derek Lowe? I can go on and on… If the guy’s ready to throw in the bigs and help the team now, let him have his shot. He can always be stretched out later.
completely agree with DK. Joba’s problems are Joba’s problems – not the yankee’s fault. the reality for him is that he hasn’t yet proven an ability to be successful at the major league level against a full lineup more than once. granted, a rhythm is nice to have as a starter and maybe Joba still needs a chance to have one, but to say his bullpen work ruined him is a joke.
if joba was gonna be the next john smoltz, why can’t he make the change from reliever to starter then? the kid’s still a kid. plain a simple.
if mejia pitches in the majors as a reliever and succeeds, great. if we want to train him to be a starter and work on things like new pitches and preparing for full lineups like a starter, then keep him down. he’s so young and new that he’ll be learning things everyday for the next 2 years so I imagine it will all be productive for his development.
That’s what was said about Bobby Parnell, obviously the Bobby Parnell road to Mets staff ace hasn’t been a recipe for success. Now we want to do the same thing with Mejia? Just because he has a great fastball but not one that tops 100 mph like Parnell’s did? It makes no sense. Do you have a Mets example of a case like this that actually worked in the past decade?
Parnell was never going to be a front line starter, who are you kidding? Do I have Mets examples of RP –> front-line SP from the past decade? Who cares if they are Mets examples or not; you yourself used a Yankees example. How many Mets farmhands transitioned to the bigs as front-line SP over the last decade, period? John Maine for half a season. The end. The last legit successful homegrown Mets front-line starter was Doc Gooden. Bobby Jones was good for a couple of years, but he certainly wasn’t front-line. Sad, isn’t it? But nothing to do with bringing kids up as RP. Because there are many successful examples of that around baseball, with teams who have actually had aces in the farm.
(Sidebar: You know who was the most-successful Mets home-grown arm of the last decade and a half? No, not Scott Kazmir: Jason Isringhausen. And he didn’t become great until he became a closer in Oakland. What does that tell you? You never know either way.)
I already mentioned Izzy before you replied in another reply. Glad you agree.
It’s easy to say that about Parnell now and next year at this time you’ll say the same about Mejia when he is overtaken by the next Mets flavor of the month.
You’ll never know until you give him a shot. I don’t think he’ll be a front-line starter; doesn’t mean he won’t be a good, useful arm.
you’re right. i didn’t realize you said “farmhand”
either way, i think you and I both agree that if mejia pitches in the majors now as a reliever, it doesn’t kill his chances to become a front-line starter…
Santana was used alot in the bullpen when he first came up. The marjority of his first four seasons he was used as RP. That didn’t hurt him at all.
Kelvim Escobar was brought up as a RP. That didn’t stop him from being a successful SP.
Adam Wainwright was the closer for the Cards and he is a very good SP.
The Braves used Smoltz as the closer for a few years and after that he still was a good SP.
Justin Duchscherer was a RP his whole carrer b4 2008 and that year he had a 2.54 ERA as a SP.
Brett Meyers was the closer for the Phillies in 2007. The next year he was a SP and he big reason why the won the world series.
There has been so many times where a team converts a SP into a RP and most of time it has worked out and when they go back to being a SP they trun out fine.
There is nothing wrong with starting the season with Mejjjia in the pen.
I forgot to say that Pedro Martinez started as a RP.
All the players you mentioned succeeded at AA and AAA before they became major leaguers. Mejia hit a brick wall in AA.
Santana didn’t have success in the minors. In 1999 the year b4 he made the the majors he was 8-8 4.66 ERA in single A. His career minor league totals were 20-20 4.79 ERA. He actually was pretty bad lol. And in his first year in the majors he was around the same age as Mejjia.
are you saying that the mets are particularly bad at converting relievers to starters? that actually is an interesting point to consider…
the only met reliever that became a starter that comes to mind is looper – he converted to a starting pitcher fairly successfully. but obviously, the mets weren’t the ones who converted him.
on the flipside, former met starter Pedro Martinez broke into the majors pitching out of the bullpen mostly as a 20 year old (did you know he has 3 saves?). he obviously transitioned back to starting quite successfully… i know I would certainly LOVE it if mejia followed pedro’s career trajectory
My only point is that rushing a 20 year old starting pitcher who couldnt succeed in AA is a bad idea that is further compounded by transforming him into a reliever because none of the 10 relievers that were signed in the offseason seem like a better option. (that’s a heck of a long sentence.)
generally, I agree with the principle of patience. it’s a fair position to take.
but i’ve been watching mejia’s outings this spring – and the only performances this spring i’ve been more impressed by are maybe halladay’s and arolds chapman’s (now there’s someone i regret the mets didnt go after! have you seen his stuff? he is already sharp!)
i don’t know what happened between AA and this spring, but mejia’s stuff, especially his moving fastball will get ANY hitter out TODAY. he looks that good. I completely understand why Manuel is lobbying for a major-league spot for him. I won’t say it’s a bad idea to give him time on the farm if he should expand his repertoire, but man, he is nasty and major league ready right now.
Looper wasn’t a Mets prospect, he had 5+ season of the bigs before the Mets got a hold of him.
Joe D, Your absolutely correct! There isn’t an example of where this has worked! The Mets aren’t “winning it all” this year. You need to be competitive & do the best you can this year, but don’t mortgage the future! let the kid develop! Parnell looked good for a while, but then the hitters adjusted to him. For him to progress, he needs to constantly make adjustments to hitters for him to make it
“stretched out” is one of those new-age terms. Just pitch, dammit. There’s nothing wrong with a guy coming up for a cup of coffee and pitching a few innings. If it works out then maybe later they can start him and work it out from there.
I don’t know his makeup, never heard him speak or don’t know how mature he is so with that being said, I have no problem with him coming up.
I agree with you about the term stretched out, but as for Mejia, I see it as a desperate act by two people trying to save their jobs.
How can someone who was so bad in AA suddenly be transformed into the bridge to K-Rod? This on top of a dozen relievers they signed or invited to spring already. Is not one of them worthy enough or good enough to handle the task?
I think we’ve seen enough of these phenom rush jobs going back to generation X. Not one of them really panned out, although Izzy did eventually become a solid closer for a while after the Mets gave up on him.
I feel we went through all of this with Bobby Parnell who was going to be our #2 or #3 starter in 2010. It’s 2010 and Parnell isn’t even in the equation. He might not even make the 25 now.
and let’s not make unnecessary references to the kazmir trade please.
and speaking of kazmir, who knows if we should have used him in the bullpen instead – it might have been better for his career in the long run and prevented our management to do stupid things like trade him away. Lord knows we grew pretty tired of braden looper back then…
and speaking of braden looper…
The problem is, Jerry knows his job is on the line. He knows that he needs to win with this team this year, and he feels Mejia in the bullpen helps him do that. Jerry isn’t thinking of the future right now. Someone needs to take charge and tell Jerry that Mejia cannot be used in the bullpen.
I do not like this. If he develops into a front of the rotation starter, it would be better for us than if he were another arm in the pen. If he fails as a starter, then you put him in the bullpen.
While I do believe he should be a full-time starter in AA and AAA, I wouldn’t mind if he pitched relief with September callups.
Pure and simple, this stinks. It is not as if the Mets rotation is so great, stable and positioned for the future that we can afford to kiss away the development of a potential ace starter. This is ridiculous. What happened to all the BP people that were signed in the off season, Igarashi, et al?
I say let the kid pitch out of the Queens bullpen. We aren’t hurting his arm or threatening his career as a starter. Where did that theory come from? Joba? That just isn’t true. This kid is 20 years old. If The Mets needs a guy to come out in the 7th or 8th inning and throw competative fire and get some outs, then why not Mejia? I don’t get it. There is way too much emphasis on babying these guys. When doc came up at 19 he was owning big leaguers. Yet you’d never see the mets do that nowadays. Speaking about his emotional makeup is a different story I suppose; but physically speaking, if he’s needed this season then throw him in the dam fire. This isn’t day care. This is about winning games. There is nowhere set in stone that Mejia is the next blue and orange 20 game winner. He has a great cutter. Lets use the dam thing!