Nationals Sign Right-Hander Chris Young To Minor League Deal

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• Mike Lloyd February 21, 2013 at 5:44 pm

  He’ll Go 11-4 for them. Just the way things go for us. Lol…
  • Hitman February 21, 2013 at 5:54 pm

    Followed by stuff like….

    “Why didn’t the Mets resign Young? They made a big mistake”
  • Metstheory22 February 21, 2013 at 5:54 pm

    Yeah, he might, but he won’t go 4-11 for us. Thank you Nationals.
• CThomp519 February 21, 2013 at 6:35 pm

  They can have him…

  He filled a hole for the Mets, but they now have a solid starting five and plenty of depth in Vegas.
  • Bayonne Mets Fan February 21, 2013 at 7:23 pm

    The starting 5 has the potential to be good. Calling the Mets pitching staff SOLID now? You’re setting yourself up for a fall. Also you HOPE there is plenty of depth in Vegas so easy now Chester. What’s that saying about counting chickens before they hatch or something like that?

    It didn’t matter to me about Young either way.. I warmed up to him when he was here and he turned out to be a solid guy, did will for the Mets but it seemed like more and more he was not able to get out of the 6th inning, even moreso than before.

    Anyway, good luck to him.
    • Matt Mosher February 21, 2013 at 7:51 pm

      How is the Mets rotation not solid? What color is the sky in your world anyway?
      • Bayonne Mets Fan February 21, 2013 at 8:26 pm

        True blue.

        Word to the wise if you’re a Mets fan. Especially if you’re a Mets Fan. No wait, specifically if you’re a Mets fan. If one thing recent history should have taught you is never, NEVER count your chickens before they hatch. It’s not be negative, it’s being realistic. Hey, Santana may turn it around, Harvey may wind up winning rookie of the year, Gee may turn out to be Greg Maddux-lite after all and Jon Niese may be the next John Tudor…….and you may be right.

        But what has recent Mets history taught you? I guess nothing, lol.
        • tlagee February 21, 2013 at 9:39 pm

          Amen Brother Bayonne
          • Joey D. February 21, 2013 at 11:06 pm

            Hi Bayonne and tl,

            That is the problem facing Zack Wheeler – too many are expecting too much of him and that is an unfair burden to be placed on the youngster’s shoulders. Of course, this has more to do with Sandy than it is the prospect.

            That is why I am afraid he is not going to be judged on his merits but instead is going to be caught in the middle of the heated Sandy Alderson argument over what the GM has been doing to the club – rebuilding it for the future or not spending any money on it so his bosses can retain ownership. He is going to be the pawn in the middle of that debate for there are only so many Met fans who take the middle ground and believe he was trying to do both.

            It won’t change my feelings about the methodology that brought him here but I am sure as hell not going to try and run a kid out of town for something he had no control over. If he proves just to be an average pitcher and nothing more, fans shouldn’t find themselves being less critical on him the way they do Gee, Niese and Parnell because he was obtained by Sandy. At the same time, others should not come down on him if he doesn’t meet the hype spun by the Mets for the same reason.

            Let’s all just appreciate him for what he becomes and wait to see how it plays out.

            One thing is that his control gets the better of him with batters becoming more patient after going through the lineup the first time. He doesn’t surrender many hits but they are often sandwiched between walks and he must overcome that to survive in the majors. David Groveman in his blog I think gives a good, objective report on Wheeler’s progression:

            “What They Said – ‘Wheeler, who came to the Mets from the Giants in the Carlos Beltran trade in 2011, can run his heavy fastball into the mid-90s consistently. His main breaking ball is a curve that has improved to the point of being another potentially plus pitch. Wheeler’s changeup has continued to develop well and gives him another option. He’s struggled with command in the past, though his walk rate plummeted in the second half of 2011 and continued to fall in 2012. A fingernail problem he had in 2010 seems to be a thing of the past and Wheeler was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo on August 4.’

            “What I Thought – I wish I could have been more than cautiously optimistic about Wheeler. I never doubted his ability but I worried that we’d see a relapse into the control problems he displayed with the Giants. I was worried that the Giants were willing to trade Zack for a Beltran rental for a reason and that we’d be watching a kid with major talent struggle in his first season at AA.

            “What We Got – Zack didn’t take AA by storm as some fans might like to think. He certainly earned his promotion to AAA months before he received it and then followed it up with a strong debut in Bufalo. Wheeler proved that while he may not be a finished product, the product is well on its way to reaching the general public. While Wheeler has showed that he was ready for the promotion to AA and eventually AAA what he has not been, is flawless. He DID display a 3.3 BB/9 in AA and a 4.4 in AAA, he DID see his K/9 drop an entire point and he DID hit a strangely high number of batters… THANKFULLY, he also averaged nearly 6.00 innings per start (5.96), lower his H/9 and entire point and energize the fan base.”

            My point is, those who are rooting so extra hard for him to succeed to prove a point about Sandy might be doing Zack a disservice more than those of us who were upset not with obtaining him but how we went about doing it. If he doesn’t turn into a superstar because of the Sandy debate he should not, in turn be considered as either better than he is or a failure.
            • hotstreak February 22, 2013 at 12:04 am

              Hi Joey D.

              In summary:

              “Golly Gee: Do not expect Wheeler to be an Ace right away”
            • DrDooby February 22, 2013 at 5:45 am

              If Wheeler can´t handle that sort of pressure, he´ll have a tough time handling the pressure of facing Joey Votto or Matt Holliday, I suppose.
              Thing is, elite pitching prospects generate a lot of hype. Whether they are in New York or somewhere else. Matt Moore, Stephen Strasburg, Shelby Miller, Dylan Bundy, Trevor Bauer, Julio Teheran or Madison Bumgarner have all received their share of ueber-hype over the past few years. Some have done well, others have struggled (though mostly due to a regression of stuff like in Teheran´s case or in Bauer´s case due to an apparent lack of coachability).
              Wheeler easily is the most highly touted Mets pitching prospect since Paul Wilson in 1996. Now, Wilson´s arm got abused even before he reached the majors – and he ultimately paid for it with various surgeries that ended up totally derailing a once promising career. The biggest risk with any high-ceiling young pitcher is a sudden decline of stuff due to injury. And of course, nobody knows how a pitcher can handle adversity at the major league level until it happens.

              The Mets can realistically expect that at least one of Matt Harvey or Zack Wheeler develops into a front of the rotation SP. It doesn´t have to be a dominating “super-ace” # 1 starter like Justin Verlander, Stephen Strasburg or Clayton Kershaw. If that happens, great. But realistically a SP like a Matt Cain, a Mat Latos or an Adam Wainwright, i.e. a very good pitcher you can expect to win with pretty much every start. And if both happen to become that sort of pitcher, you have the makings of a long term championship team, especially if you essentially get them for almost free for the first few years into their careers.

              Sometimes, the end result is Paul Wilson & Jason Isringhausen and you end up with pretty much nothing – well the Mets did end up with Bubba Trammell and Greg McMichael, gulp. However, sometimes the end result is Matt Cain & Tim Lincecum and you end up with a couple of WS titles in spite of a rather shaky offense. And sometimes, the results happen to be somewhere in between.

              Oh, and finally, I couldn´t care less whether a Mets player was initially brought in by Omar Minaya, Sandy Alderson or – heck. Jim Duquette or Steve Phillips. All I care about is a sound process and a sound plan. One may debate about the soundness of the current plan – but we´ll find out about it over the next 18 months…
              • TJ February 22, 2013 at 10:52 am

                Spring training is always a time of high hopes and less than realistic expectations. I am glad the Mets have Zack Wheeler, and glad that they didn’t trade him. However, we shall see. He possesses some attributes that can’t be taught, and that elite pitchers have. However, he doesn’t yet possess some others, and even if he demonstrates acquiring the others, we won’t know for sure until he does it in the show, and then does it consistently. Harvey is in a similar position, even though he had an impressive start in the bigs last year. There is nothing more exciting than young controllable prospects with high ends, and nothing more disappointing than when things don’t pan out as expected.

                Anyway, regarding Chris Young, I think the Mets were able to do better than him (as of now), and while I wish him the best, so long as he is on an NL East rival I will be rooting against him. I don’t see him making the Nats, if he does OK in ST he may need to find another home.
              • Joey D. February 22, 2013 at 12:15 pm

                Hi DrD.,

                It’s not the usual hype that Harvey, Stausberg and other hot prospects have to face, it’s the added pressure of being put under such a microscope due to such controversial a trade and trying to live up to justifying it was worth getting rid of the team’s top hitter when many thought the team had a legit shot at the wild card, accusing the front office of throwing in the towel as part of the cost-cutting measures we’ve seen prior and since. We know many established players could not deal with the pressure of just playing in New York alone, let alone coming into such a frying pan that Zack will have to contend with. He’s young and that just might make him overdo things and not pitch his game. If Zack can deal with that, then facing Votto and Holliday will work itself out.
• Joey D. February 21, 2013 at 7:32 pm

  Washington is taking out an insurance policy should Geo be suspended for 50 days or Dan Harren doesn’t work out. The best, young pitching staff in the league, they are fortunate to have great depth but the loss of either or both of those two would suddenly create a hole in their starting rotation. While there is the possibility that Ryan Tatusko could be ready to step in, he has only been a spot starter in the minors and we must remember the Nats did thin out their pitching prospects when trading away Tom Milone and Brad Peacock. Though they still have highly regarded young arms and re-aquired A.J. Cole, those are a few seasons away.

  However, baring injury and/or suspension, there is little chance for Chris to earn a spot on that great (forgive the poor pun) young pitching staff backed by one of the best defenses in the league as well. But it seems acquiring Young makes more sense for them than it did for us since he is just that insurance policy whereas with us, he was slated for the starting rotation when first acquired.
• Mr North Jersey February 21, 2013 at 10:33 pm

  Off Topic: I just got through looking at the Mets 2013 Photo Day shots that I use sometimes for any particular graphic and they have to be overall in my opinion the worst batch of photos taken over the last 4 years. There is at least finally one of d’Arnaud wearing a Mets Home white uniform.
• hotstreak February 21, 2013 at 10:39 pm

  golly gee it is only February:

  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/sports/baseball/mets-dillon-gee-ready-to-compete-again-after-recovery-from-injury.html?hpw&_r=0
  • Mr North Jersey February 21, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    Nice read thanks for the link. Let me in turn share this link.
    http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2013/02/mets_ike_davis.html
    • hotstreak February 21, 2013 at 11:38 pm

      Thanks Mr North Jersey:

      Great read about Ike. Ike and Gee are both home grown and IMO under rated.
  • Joey D. February 21, 2013 at 11:34 pm

    Hi Hotstreak,

    Only February and you can wait to see Dillion Gee test out his throwing arm, right? Golly “Gee”.
    • Joey D. February 21, 2013 at 11:36 pm

      Hi Hotstreak,

      wanted to add after Golly “Gee” that I’ve been thinking about it all winter and was hoping he’d get to Tradition Field even earlier so we could perhaps see something.
      • hotstreak February 21, 2013 at 11:53 pm

        Hi Joey D.

        There is a difference according to the Urban Dictionary between:

        Golly Gee: Amazing, a special accomplishment:
        and
        Gee Golly: Oh my God or really to this degree, or do we have to

        I think you meant to say “Gee Golly” we have to wait this long to find out that he is OK

        Have a good trip to PSL and remember thumbs up “Golly Gee” and thumbs down “Gee Golly”
• Joey D. February 22, 2013 at 12:40 am

  Hi Hotstreak,

  Forget that urban dictionary stuff and live by the words of that great philosopher, Mr. Theodore Cleaver: “Golly, Gee, Wally!”

  Geez, Louise, we might get hit with a big noreaster again this weekend,
  • hotstreak February 22, 2013 at 12:50 am

    Leave it to Wally Backman to get the fans to say “Golly Gee” we are Champs.
• DrDooby February 22, 2013 at 1:02 am

  Very good signing by the Nats who have had themselves a very strong off- season.
  As a team looking to contend for a WS title, you need a solid veteran backup SP if something goes wrong with you front five. And Young certainly is a solid 5th starter when healthy.

  As for the Mets, it wouldn’t have made any sense to keep him. If something happens to one of the 5 SP, it’s Wheeler,Mejia and McHugh who all should get an extended look before you turn to any veteran….
• Alex68 February 22, 2013 at 7:23 am

  Good bye….