Beato Clinches Spot in Bullpen, Are Evans And Izzy Out?

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• Pete March 27, 2011 at 11:53 am

  Put Izzy on the DL, but who would you keep out of Boyer, Acosta, and Evans? The two you don’t find a spot for, are as good as gone. It is a very tough call.
  • Brandon Butler March 27, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    I think that the Mets want to keep Izzy. I really do. He definitely showed the Mets he has gas left in the tank. Its now just a matter of getting him back on track. Honestly, i think he should either go on the DL for alittle bit, or go to extended spring training in PSL.
• Pete March 27, 2011 at 11:58 am

  One more thought, if they DL Beltran, they could keep Evans.
  • The Glider March 28, 2011 at 12:23 am

    Why not just send Murphy down and keep Evans? Besides, Evans can be the right-handed bat to (very) occasionally spell Ike against tough lefties. Harris can be the LH bat off the bench. Hu’s going to back-up 2B.
    • t agee March 28, 2011 at 12:32 am

      I agree.
• Dennis Ribant March 27, 2011 at 12:22 pm

  How long you going to DL him for Pete? The whole year? Pretty sad if Evans is lost on waivers to protect a career backup mediocrity like Harris. Harris/Hairston isn’t one of them enough? New GM, new words, same old rotten decisions.
  • t agee March 27, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    Not sure how you came to that conclusion. Pagan has to have someone capable of playing CF behind him. Harris and Hairston both can. That is unquestionably better than GMJ and Harris can play 2B if need be as well. Murphy is a better backup corner infielder than Tatis/Hessman/Jacobs/Cattalonotto and Hu (or Hernandez) are better than Cora.

    Like it or not, whatever bench options that were available have to both versatile and at least capable of doing something. GMJ, Jacobs, Cora and Cattalonotto weren’t capable of doing anything. Carter was so skewed to one side of the game that he couldn’t be utilized because of how bad his other half is.

    Even if Paulino can’t play for some reason at least you can say it was a well conceived idea simply for the fact that he provides a strength in exactly the area of the other catchers weakest point. That’s the whole idea of bench production. Being able to give a guy a day off and actually get better.

    This FO may not have been able to put together the greatest bench of all time in one off season but at least they won’t have to waive everyone at the end of the year that they didn’t DFA mid season.

    I’m also pretty sure that we won’t have 14 “hitters” on the team who got OB less often than TWO of our starting pitchers in year ONE of this FO like we did in year SIX of the previous one.
• Bayonne Mets Fan March 27, 2011 at 12:24 pm

  I have to admit that if Beltran is health enough to play most of the time the Mets do have the potential to have an outstanding bench
• Matt March 27, 2011 at 4:37 pm

  Izzy just pitched another hitless inning today…this spring hitters are batting .091 against him. Izzy appears to be healthy and no reason he should not be on the opening day roster.
• Hitman March 27, 2011 at 4:42 pm

  Smart money says that they should give Izzy an extended ST as a precautionary measure. When he’s ready to go, bring him up and send down Parnell to AAA Buffalo for a while. I saw on “30 clubs in 30 days” that he was tinkering on a new pitch so it would be imperative if he could work on that pitch in Buffalo and perhaps become a sharper & more reliable setup man in the future. As far as I’m concerned with Boyer, let him be. Although he has looked good in ST, it would be a safe bet to see if he could maintain being as good as he is now in Buffalo. His track record makes me a bit skeptical.

  I read on Metsblog that the Mets are seeking another left handed reliever since Mike O’Connor was sent to minor league camp, so the way I see it, the Mets should package Evans, Acosta, and an OF prospect to the San Diego Padres for Joe Thatcher. Thatcher has been one of the best left-handed relievers the last few years in the National League so the Mets would have a huge boost in their pen by acquiring him.
  • t agee March 27, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    Sounds like a pretty good idea to me Hitman on both accounts (depending on which OF prospect)

    If some of the next couple of days moves are slanted more toward maintaining depth than what the best final product might be I’m not concerned as some of the Bullpen depth (and Young and Capuano too) could be used to acquire younger, healthier and better players for later with the better choices coming up at that time, so we bring up better guys and we have some some better guys for later too. Izzy, even at 40, could very well bring something better than Billy Taylor if he has a good couple of months and so could the rest of them.
• papi March 27, 2011 at 11:50 pm

  This is ridiculous. are the mets thinking about winning now or the future? why would they lose acosta to keep izzy around? manny acosta is going to pitch 10-15 more years, izzy is not. manny acosta showed he can be lights out last year. izzy did not. so what if izzy stays healthy and has a good season? (although i doubt he will be healthy all season). izzy is not in the future for the mets. and they arent going to win now so why keep him over someone who has the potential to be a good reliver this year and BEYOND. izzy will most likely retire afterthe season anyways.
  • t agee March 28, 2011 at 12:29 am

    I agree Papi. If Acosta could be retained I could see trying to re establish Izzy and getting something for him at the deadline but to lose an arm like Acosta for 1/2 a year or so of Izzy just doesn’t make any sense to me.
  • JerryG15 March 28, 2011 at 7:31 am

    What is even crazier is when people read the blogs here, on a Mets FAN site, not an official press release from the team and take this as gospel and slam the team for decisions that haven’t even really been made yet.

    Now THAT is crazy………..
• sarge March 28, 2011 at 1:25 am

  I kind of agree on Acosta but there were times last year and one or two times when Acosta and his “heater” came into game and just took Mets out of it with his lack of control.
  He is a really good option for BP if he can command the strike zone, the fact that Izzy is really getting a really good opportunity to make team is either a move to have Mets fans think about the failed K generation, I don’t know.
  Who knows how much is left in Izzys arm, he didn’t pitch last year and if we lose Acosta when Izzy gets hurt again it will be painful.

  Evans has shown that he can hit and the fact that Beltran has to play RF leaves Mets with having to keep Hairston, Major League contract and Harris with op out option. The need for ersatility still astounds me that a GM looking to build for the future won’t allow at least one hitter, Evans, produced by minors to go to another team where I feel he will be given at bats that Mets over the last year have given to older, ready for ER vets and favorite players that did nothing for team.

  Where is the power coming from this bench? We have a bunch of singles hitters, a double machine in Murph but who do you send up when you need a long ball, final at bat type player?

  I have to agree that even with this bench, last years participants make the bench look like AS.

  If Mets do get another lefty then who goes?

  I feel that Parnell needs to be part of BP cause he has swing and miss stuff that would come in handy but I can’t understand the GM’s way.
  I know money is tight and you want to bring in “cheap” solutions especially for OF but maybe Evans can be packaged with another pitcher and OF prospect for something, pitching, BP lefty that we need but we can’t just allow Evans to be put on waivers, lost and get nothing for him, I think.
• t agee March 28, 2011 at 9:14 am

  It is a shame that Evans never got a shot with the Mets. He’s not well rounded but he has hit LHP, can play corner OF and 1B be part of a platoon and part of the bench at the same time. Murphy/Evans at 1B last year was never contemplated. Murphy/Sullivan in LF when the season went south in ’09 instead of keeping Sheffield around. He just was never in the plans. One of Catalonotto and Tatis could have been Evans last year but not having been drafted by the FO, being one dimensional, he just was never looked upon as a starter or depth.

  I wouldn’t truly be shocked if he did pass through waivers.
  • JerryG15 March 28, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    I wouldn’t say he never got a chance, sure we would have liked to have seen him instead of some, but he did have a real awful slump in the minors too so that may have held him back too.