5
2011
Thumbs Up Or Thumbs Down: Mike Pelfrey
An article by 
What is Mike Pelfrey? Is Mike the guy who won 15 games for us in 2010? Is he the guy who we saw being anointed as our “ace” for 2011, only to end the season as essentially our number 5 starter? Is he somewhere in between both of the prior questions? It is quite simply one of the biggest questions the Mets front office has to answer this off season.
2011 was not the season we expected from Pelfrey. Since the day he was tabbed as the opening day starter it was a disaster. Collins came in and did what anybody else would have done in naming Mike Pelfrey the “ace” in Johan’s absence. He had the greatest potential of anyone on the staff and was coming off an outstanding season in 2010. I myself had visions of a 17 win season for Big Pelf coming into this year. Yeah you read that right. As bad as he pitched this season, it still isn’t the worst season of his career. His 5 ERA and 1.51 WHIP of 2009 get that award. However, while it wasn’t his worst season to date it kind of was in a way. At age 27 he is supposed to be getting better, and to have a season like this off a season like the one he had in 2010 is just alarming to me. Has he learned nothing in his 6 seasons in the bigs? Is this really what we drafted 9th overall in 2005? A guy who is a sub-500 pitcher, never had a WHIP below 1.36, is a sinker ball pitcher without a sinker, and a guy who licks his hands more than he gets outs???
Who’s Breathing Down His Neck? The short answer to this question is a lot of people. Our 1st round pick Matt Harvey has front of the rotation stuff and dominated at both single-A and Double-A this season. According to Alderson, there is a chance Harvey could force his way up by the end of next season. Jeurys Familia also had a great season, and experience wise has more time in the Minors then Harvey and should also be making his debut in 2012.
Pelfrey’s Contract Situation. According to Cots Baseball Contracts it appears that Pelfrey has two years of arbitration left until he becomes a free agent. He made a shade under $4 Million this past season and that will most definitly go up over $5 Million for next season. Oh yeah and did I forget to mention that his agent is Scott Boras?
Potential Outside Replacements: C. J. Wilson is the class of this years free agent crop. He really is the only guy who could be a top of rotation type starter that the Mets covet, but with the pitching needs of teams like the Yankees he will mostly likely be out of our range. Other intriuging options include Edwin Jackson, Mark Buehrle, Hiroki Kuroda, and Roy Oswalt if his option of $16 Million is not picked up by Philadelphia.
My Thoughts: As bad a Pelfrey was this season, he still has potential. If you are going to replace him it needs to be with a guy who has the potential he does, and it also needs to be someone who will give you 200 innings. Looking at the free agent class there are a few of these guys available and we have some young guys who are up and coming. I am really tired of seeing the bad Mike Pelfrey, but I definitely don’t mind seeing the good MIke Pelfrey. The problem is we never know from year to year which Pelf we’re getting.
So Keeping Big Pelf, THUMBS UP OR THUMBS DOWN?
About the Author: Dan Valis
I am a staff writer for Mets Merized Online. I am a Mets team analyst with a focus on the minor league system, as well as the major league club. I am a lifelong New Yorker who was born and raised to be a Mets fan. The ups and downs of being a Mets fan is what makes following this team so much fun, but at times so frustrating. You can follow me on Twitter @BgAppleMetsTalk.
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Dan, here’s hoping that this is the last column of its type. No offense to you, but we’ve been venting about Pelf since mid-summer. The consensus is that he’s worn out his welcome.
The guy sucks completely, and I would take practically any warm body to replace him in the rotation. He will never be a fifteen game winner again, and I doubt you will ever see his ERA under 4.5. So what’s the dispute?
Let him lick his way on to another rotation. Maybe Houston would enjoy a bum like he is.
Sorry, Big Pelf, I’d rather you never appear in a real game as Met ever again.
October 5, 2011 at 12:04 pm
lmao!!! russeeeeeeeelllll!!! should i even say anything after what you just said!?!? lol, thumbs DOWN!!!! good bye big P-OS…
I can’t bring myself to give Pelfrey a thumbs up but I really think it would be a mistake to drop him for nothing. Especially when his replacement would be no more of a sure thing than he is and would probably be on the DL once or twice which would cause us to have to consider rushing Familia before HE’s really ready.
I was very surprised to see that Pelfrey has two years of team control left. I thought it was only one and that 2012 would be his walk year. Regardless he gives you 32 starts and 6 innings per on average. He’s durable and the chance does exist that he could get better. I’m certainly not counting on that but it’s not outside of the realm of possibilities. His arb figure would most likely be about 4.5. Slightly more than Capuano earned including his incentives. Basically they were the same pitcher albeit getting there in different ways. Not good but not bad for a 4th or 5th starter and I would just live with him, hope he raises his value and then get off him in a trade if he does. If he doesn’t he can always be cut but at least he won’t contribute to bullpen burnout by not getting out of the 4th or 5th inning.
The potential upside to replacing him at the same salary is as small as the the possibility of him getting good but the benefit of him getting good is so much higher than the chance of getting a guy in here at 4.5 that would be so much better than Pelfrey.
I’d keep him, he could always be DFA’d under the worse case scenario and under the best case could bring back something useful.
well, just based on performance, you have to say no. So, unless you somehow still see potential to finally put it all together, the only reason to keep him is because you frankly have nothing better to replace him with!
and most of the FA options are probably not any better, or come with serious injury risk. so combine that with the high-end Sp prospects being at least a year away from regualar ML duty, and you get 1 more year of the big licker.
get rid of him, he doesn’t belong in N.Y. THUMBS DOWN TO BIG PUSS, I MEAN BIG PELF.
Thumbs down and my outside help is Ching M. Wang
Thumbs Down but truth is he could be a thumbs up with the right Pitching coach, Warthen ain’t it and he’s going to be his coach again!
Thumbs down and thumb a ride back to the midwest.
It is time to send Pelfrey packing. He just does not have the mental makeup to pitch in New York.
Playing in New York is not so easy. Look at how many good players have come here and struggled be it for a year or more, moved on to another city and saw their performance level return. Between the abundance of media people who love to make waves and a fan base that is hungry for results, the pressures to live up to big contracts is enormous. Look at how many solid players have struggled!
Maybe our methods of determining the value of free agents and players we are looking at in trades should include psychiatric evaluations too!