The Mets have several obvious problems that need to be addressed. They are weak defensively, have a horrendous bench and have a hole in their lineup at the hot corner. However, their pitching seems to be problematic as well depending on the angle you look at it.
In general, having a surplus of pitching nowadays is considered a good problem. The Mets have five young guns and three veterans that can all justifiably compete for a rotation shot at this point. Considering their are four locked spots right now (Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon), that leaves one remaining spot. The contenders for that spot are Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and Steven Matz, the left-handed prospect waiting at the slot machines in Vegas.
The Metropolitans realistically have two pitchers to clear out of the rotation. One of those pitchers, Dillon Gee, has been unwillingly moved to the bullpen where he will probably lose whatever trade-value he might have left.
The other, Jon Niese, will remain in the rotation as the 5th starter. However, the Mets are stlil in a position where they need to call up Steven Matz if they want to remain competitive while reinforcing that point to their fan-base. Matz has nothing left to prove in Vegas and has more-or-less dominated that Pacific Coast League this year.
This leads me to believe that Dillon Gee might have punched his ticket to stay in New York a bit longer than his lefty counterpart. The choice to move Dillon Gee to the bullpen has several implications. First, the Mets believe that Jon Niese is a stronger starting pitcher then he is, especially being a lefty. He has a team friendly contract and although he has struggled this year, remains an intriguing trade chip for a playoff contender.
Dillon Gee is far less valuable. He isn’t a lefty and doesn’t throw very hard. He has back-end of the rotation stuff at best and would not be worth much in a trade (unless he started performing better).
The final conclusion I’ve drawn from this is that the Mets believe Jon Niese has the best chance at turning his season around and is ultimately the more attractive trade chip. The Mets need to clear a path for Matz to join the club. It looks like Niese is the only thing stopping him at this point.
