28
2012
Would John Lannan Be A Solid Fit For The Mets?
An article by 
On Tuesday, Nationals beat writer William Ladson, tweeted that he expects the Nats to non-tender lefthanded starting pitcher John Lannan on Friday. Ladson also added that he believed Lannan would be a solid fit for the Mets.
I took a quick glance at Lannan’s career numbers and the first thing that came to mind was, “I’ve seen these numbers before”. I was looking at a lefthanded version of Mike Pelfrey.
Lannan, a New York native, has posted career marks of a 4.01 ERA and a 1.424 WHIP in 134 major league starts, while Pelfrey counters with a 4.36 ERA and 1.458 in 149 starts. Pelfrey had the benefit of pitching in a much friendlier pitcher’s park. Lannan also has a career 7.0 WAR compared to 5.4 for Pelfrey, despite a half season less playing time.
There has been talk of non-tendering Pelfrey on Friday, but bringing him back on a one year deal for much less money than he the $5.6 million he earned in 2012. As you know, he’s trying to comeback from Tommy John surgery which he had performed last May.
Given Lannan is a lefthander, is healthy, and has posted slightly better numbers in his career than Pelfrey, maybe Ladson is right, maybe we should take a closer look at Lannan and consider if he would be a better fit at this time than Mike Pelfrey would.
There’s no room for Lannan in Washington’s rotation. When they traded for Gio Gonzalez and signed Edwin Jackson his fate had been sealed. But the 28-year old has shown flashes of brilliance before and usually southpaws take a little longer to mature than righthanders do. He took his demotion to Triple-A pretty last season pretty hard and has a chip on his shoulder. The timing could be right for this low risk, high reward player.
He could be a solid addition for the Mets and someone we could use to give the team some depth in case of injury to one of our starters down the road.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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Actually if they trade Dickey it wouldn’t be a bad move at all, even considering with Gee and Johan injury questions it would be a good pickup.
You beat me to it. I was thinking the same thing.
That.
Is “that” the new This^^^
Well barring an actual trade of Dickey can you really say WE have any room for him in our rotation?
Santana
Dickey
Niese
Harvey
Gee
Wheeler
Maybe if we return to the 6 man rotation we used late last year I can see going for starting pitching and I certainly don’t mind having more depth because next year Santana is out of the picture one way or another.
And I will say I’m not totally opposed to using a 6 man rotation to start the season off as it would help guys like Santana, Gee and Niese to keep rested so that maybe they could have a strong second half.
I would still pitch Dickey every 5 But if we limit Johan’s starts and he does well there is still a very slight possibility we could get something for him at the deadline which is about the time when Wheeler should be ready.
So I have no real opposition to giving this guy a look but we have a pretty full rotation as is and while I will never complain about having too much pitching the focus REALLY needs to be about the PEN more than the rotation.
I think the plan for Wheeler is similar to Harvey so I wouldn’t count him yet and with Johan and Gee question marks I think a guy like Lannan could be very valuable.
To even consider bringing back Pelfrey is a ridiculous idea. I have no idea what the obsession is with him. He got paid some serious dough for being one of the bottom 25% pitchers in baseball. He has been nothing but problems from the word go be it mental or mechanical. Now you have to add physical problems to that mix. No way should we consider bringing him back. He sucked before the TJS, and now we want him post TJS?
Maniac, What do this FO is known for and answer your question.. It’s not about wanting pelfrey, it’s about the FO wanting HIM if he comes cheap which he might.. Do you think SA is looking to improve the team? more like fill roster spots with whoever comes cheaper hence the trade he made for that POS from Oakland..
I was asking about Lannan during the season, especially when we lost Gee. I also wonder if he could work as a long man out of the bullpen.
Plus, he’s a local boy and those make nice stories.
Lefthanded Lannan makes more sense than Pelfrey, especially if by chance we have to trade Niese for a bat.
5 positions,5 men. No way the Mets with their limited payroll start the season with 6 ML starters as much sense as it makes. And in fairnes to them they still don’t have one ML outfielder who isn’t a platoon guy, a ML catcher or a back up SS who can field the position.
Pitching – Pitching – Pitching!! If this is real, and he could be had, I say go for it!
Of course this would be a good acquisition but of course it’s not gonna happen. Why? 2 words – Sandy Alderson
He could assume the role that Chris Crapuano had with us a Long reliever/Emergency starter…
Makes sense good fit, I’d do it..BUT like Bayonne above me said I dunno if Sandy pulls that off
If we could get him to be the long man and spot starter ala Oliver it would be a huge pickup.
I would love it if the Mets got Lannan, only because he’s a fellow Siena alumnus.
I’d LOVE to see John Lannan as a Met, and let me tell you why.
I think it would be in the Mets best interest to convert Lannan into a middle reliever. I took a look at his baseball-reference page, and one name stood out to me among the similar pitchers: Rick Honeycutt. Sandy Alderson would be very familiar with that name because when Honeycutt went to Oakland, he was converted from being a crap starter to a key reliever and it paid dividends during the A’s run in the late 80s. I see the same happening with Lannan. With the bullpen in disarray as usual, this pickup is what I believe to be one of those under the radar, “diamond in the rough” pickups.
I’d be down with that, but you have to convince Lannan. Someone might guarantee him a spot in their starting 5.
I believe Lannan would just be happy being on the Mets more than anything else. Didn’t Lannan grow up a huge Mets fan? I recall Burkhardt interviewing Lannan’s family years ago at Shea and they talked about how Lannan and his family used to frequent Shea in the Pepsi section so convincing Lannan wouldn’t be the hard part. Just guaranteeing him a spot on the 25 man roster would be imperative. You may remember how he was very unhappy how the Nats demoted him to AAA when he lost his rotation spot to Detwiler at the end of ST last season. Even then, the Mets had interest in him before backing off because the $5 million he was owed was too much for them.
I dont think this guy makes much sense for Sandy now. Sandy simply doesn’t have any meaningful $$$ to spend on any 6SP be it this guy or Pelfrey or Young. This guy made 5MM last year and he’s not going take that big of a pay cut. He also probably wants to be assured of a SP rotation spot wherever he signs. Jeremy Hefner is the Mets 6 SP and long man out of the pen on the cheap with of course Wheeler on tap for midseason and also Mejia and Gorski developing at AAA too.
There is a little more flexibility now. Plus Lannan has had more big league success than Heffner and is a lefty. It really can’t be stressed enough how few lefties we have that are ready to go.
Joe, I find it funny how you say that Lannan was a “left handed Mike Pelfrey” because when I saw those career numbers, those career numbers of Lannan’s looked almost eerily similar to someone else we acquired this month 27 years ago. Ironically, he was the same age as Lannan (28). Does the name BOB OJEDA ring a bell?
Ojeda’s career numbers with BOS (6 seasons):
4.21 ERA, 1.418 WHIP, 9.2 H/9, 0.8 HR/9, 3.6 BB/9, 5.3 K/9
Lannan’s career numbers (6 seasons):
4.01 ERA, 1.424 WHIP, 9.4 H/9, 0.9 HR/9, 3.4 BB/9, 4.7 K/9