With an overflow of pitching projected in the 2015 season, Sandy Alderson will have some tough choices to make. The toughest of all could be which pitchers to keep and which pitchers to trade away. At the center of that debate are Jon Niese and Dillon Gee. The starters for the last two Mets opening days are suddenly expendable and could bring back a considerable return if they are dealt. The question is, which one should Alderson trade?
Niese finished the season strong, going 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA in September. That strong month capped off an excellent year for the six-year veteran. He completed 2014 at 9-11 with a 3.40 ERA and 138 strikeouts. Consistency is what Niese is all about these days. His 6.62 K/9 in 2014 was almost identical to 2013 when he struck out 6.61 per nine. His ERA has also been extremely stable. Over the last three years he’s gone from 3.40 (2012) to 3.71 (2013) and then back to 3.40 (2014). Niese is a model of consistency and could be an asset to any major league roster.
Gee didn’t finish the season nearly as strong as he started it. While he had a September ERA of 4.88, he pitched to a 2.38 and 2.25 ERA in April and May respectively. Like Niese, Gee has become an extremely consistent pitcher. Over the last three years he’s gone from 4.10 (2012) to 3.62 (2013) and finished this season at 4.00. His K/9 were slightly below his career average at 6.16 (career average is 6.53) but it was a relatively good season for Gee as he looks forward to his fifth major league season in 2015.
Trying to find differences between these two can be difficult. Niese will turn 29 in October while Gee turns 29 in April. Niese has two more seasons of major league service and was able to sign a contract extension in 2012. He made $5,000,000 in 2014 to Gee’s $3,625,000. Next season Gee could enter arbitration for the first time (he avoided it in 2014) while Niese gets a raise up to $7,000,000. Niese is under team control through the 2018 season when he could earn as much as $11 million. Gee will reach free agency in 2017.
“I want to be here,” Gee told Newsday’s Marc Carig after his second to last start in 2014. “I think this team’s going to be good. If you get pushed out, you get pushed out. But I think I’ve proven that I can pitch in the big leagues.”
While Niese and Gee seem like obvious moves, many look at Bartolo Colon as the expendable piece. The issue is that at 41, teams are less likely to give up pieces that can help the Mets win now in exchange for him. Colon’s contract isn’t all that high and ends after 2015, but it seems unlikely that he’ll garner more interest than Gee and Niese who are over a decade younger and right in their prime. The question is, who would you trade? Tell us below!
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