31
2012
Pelfrey Was Told By Collins His Job Was In Danger
An article by Hojo's Mojo
According to David Lennon of Newsday, Terry Collins starter Mike Pelfrey into his office on the morning of March 19th and delivered a not-so-subtle message that his his place on this team was in danger.
“This front office isn’t like the one you’ve had in years past. This kind of stuff isn’t good. They want answers.”
This happened the day after Pelfrey allowed eight runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Astros. Pelfrey told Lennon,
“It was my understanding that I didn’t have to compete for a job, that this was the time to work on stuff, my cutter, my circle changeup. Then when Terry talked to me, I was like, I better get some people out.”
It was right around that time that the 28-year-old Pelfrey had become a topic among the club’s decision-makers, who were kicking around the idea of releasing him before Opening Day to free up roughly $4 million, the non-guaranteed portion of his one-year, $5.7-million contract, writes Lennon.
“Their job is to put the best team on the field that they can, and I know that I haven’t performed maybe as well as I should have or could have,” Pelfrey said. “Obviously, they were worried. I think Sandy’s really smart, the people in the front office are really smart, and it’s their job to explore every option, to look at everything.”
Original Post 3/30
Andy Martino of the Daily News, reported that the Mets have recently discussed releasing Mike Pelfrey before Opening Day.
In a recent meeting that included the Mets’ executives and coaches, members of the front office suggested releasing Mike Pelfrey before Opening Day, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. None of the uniformed staff was in favor of the idea, and it was downplayed.
Pelfrey strengthened his case for the team to keep him after a good performance yesterday, but as one of our readers pointed out, FL Met Fan Rich, who was at the game:
Lets not all get crazy on “BIG PELF”! I was at that game. I bet I could have come out of the crowd, taken 8 warm up pitches and shut down that broken down Astro team also. Does it even count as a win if you beat the Astros?
Pelfrey now has an ERA of 8.59 this Spring and was satisfied with his performance:
“The command was by far the best it has been all spring training. I did a good job of keeping the ball down.”
Martino’s article does a good job of characterizing how the Mets players and coaches like Mike Pelfrey and want him to stay, but it’s the decision makers upstairs that feel uneasy about keeping Pelfrey especially at his price tag of $5.7 million dollars.
Sounds like quite the predicament.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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I’m not surprised this idea was on the table.
Pelfrey staved off the wolves with last nights performance. If would had gotten bombed again last night by the Astros it would be a different story. Is it that they would only owe him $100 thousand if they cut him now before spring training, and then if they cut him during the season they owe him everything? Or is it retroactive pay they would owe him depending on how deep into the season he goes?
Once they cut him after season starts the Mets are on the hook for all of it. The fact they had this little out clause window before opening day was part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
are you sure about the 100K? That is the amount I have seen for guys signed to MiL deals, if you want to send them down I thought?
Pelf got this contract through arbitration, and I thought in that case they owed him a % (1/6th?) that would be way more than 100K.
100k is for guys with major league time on minor league deals (Batista)
I think Pelfrey would get..1/4th? it’s some percentage, you’re right.
Of course, it’s Spring Training, it doesn’t mean anything, and if they didn’t want Pelfrey they just wouldn’t have gone to arbitration. It’s not like he’s hurt or Harvey has struck out every batter he’s faced. And starting pitching IS the area the Mets need depth, so they’re not going to release someone to save a couple of bucks.
better odds they could trade him mid-season if the circumstances were right. that at least gets something in return.
If he was only making 3 Mil I wonder if the guys upstairs would still consider it!
don’t see them rushing to cut any of their 7+Era FA acquisitions so readily…
If they’re really thinking of releasing Pelfrey does that indicate that there isn’t much of a market for his services or is it that trade talk is including the Mets forking up a big hunk of his 2012 salary?
But if the report is accurate, it seems the battle lines to keep Pelfrey are drawn between those who see performance as judged from the field and those who rely to one extent to another on statistical analysis (as DePodesta likes to profess he learned from Sandy). Actually it surprises me, I would have thought it would have been a mixed bag instead.
I think it’s just another inherited under performing asset that there is no viable alternative for that wouldn’t severely strain the pen or is likely to be unable to make 30 starts.
No statistical analysis needed to see that Pelf doesn’t strike many out, get GB’s or strand enough runners. That’s been evident since he got up here.
Oh, Any Martino is reliable now?
No names, no dates, nothing solid. For all we know, this was just a brain storming session and it was Ricco or someone who just threw it out there as a “what if”.
But, hey, Martino has a good solid history with the Mets and the fans.
cut pelf save the 4 million. give some other bum a chance
The talk is one year too late.
Nah, it’s longer than that. More like 2-3 years. Hopefully, they’re not just teasing us.
if they were gonna cut him, they should’ve done it during the offseason before spring training. by keepin him around to work on pitches and not competing for a job (as Pelf says the situation was) the Mets would be complete jerks if they release him now. They would’ve wasted Pelf’s, and their own, time by even giving him hope that he’d be a Met, and not giving him a chance to show another team that he still can be a major league starter. Mets brass, you f’kd this one up by paying him 5.7 mil in the winter, now own up and give him his first 10 starts to show he wants more….starts and money.
I agree that spring training is the time to work on your stuff. Untighten your butts and calm down.
Big pelf will have a good year
As I said, Sandy wanted ti avoid arbitration and re-sign Mike to a negotiated contract based on the conclusions he came to using advanced statistics and computer analysis. The results from that data indicated Pelfrey had a good year in every season ending in an even number.:)
Disagree completely Joey,
There are no advanced statistics that show Pelfrey about to make any kind of a climb up the MLB food chain. In fact it’s pretty much the opposite. All statistics show he’s been essentially the same exact pitcher year after year, semi decent year through bad one.
He’s better than any alternatives and likely to at least avoid burning the pen down and being healthy at least leaves open the door to surprising everyone.
Although that would be a shock.
T,
I was only joking about the odd-even year thing. He did have better (not great, but better) seasons in even number years, however. And let’s face it – this being another even numbered year, that’s about the only thing we can go on.
I know you were Joey and so was I, I just didn’t do a very good job of communicating it.
T,
All the calculations are in Mike’s favor. Besides it being the year 2012, it’s also the year 5772 in the Jewish Calendar and the year 4710 in the Chinese one.
Joe\
Release him? The Mets couldn’t find ONE team willing to make some kind of deal? The Mets would just get nothing for him? I don’t buy it. Pelfrey sucks but he’s no Ollie Perez. At 28, another team would grab his struggling ass in a heartbeat. There’s gotta be some psychologist/pitching coach who can help him enough to be half-decent.
Can’t Rick Peterson fix him?