Tough Decisions on Tap

With The Duque looking worse by the day, the Mets have some serious decisions to make. They could run into the season with what they have and let Pelfrey have the fifth spot and they can hope The Duque will provide depth at a later date. Or, they can try and nip this thing in the ass right away and tell Pelfrey his time to shine will have to wait until someone gets hurt.

The buzz going around that Lohse can be nabbed for someone between $4 million and $10 million dollars for a one year contract. Since 2002, he posted an ERA+ of 105, 98, 89, 106, 78, and 100. Obviously one year is way out of the line and the others are very 2007 Tom Glavine-esquely average. He went from being a guy who was looking for a ridiculous contract that was way out of line with what it should have been to a guy who is a veritable bargain. Scott Boras overplayed his hand and a guy who should have easily had a job if they were reasonable from the start is now not doing much of anything.

              Glavine vs. Lohse in '07
          ERA  K/9 k/bb Batting Against Inn ERA+
Glavine  4.45 4.00 1.39 .281/.338/.438 200.1  96
Lohse    4.63 5.70 2.14 .279/.339/.447 192.2 100

I am fully aware that Glavine was a far better pitcher in prior to 2007 and I am kind of cherry picking numbers here, but you get what I'm saying. One guy was good enough for a $8 million dollar one year contract and a first round draft pick and the other guy is getting the Jose Canseco/Sammy Sosa/Barry Bonds treatment. If I were him, I would fire Boras right away and maybe he would get some work. Lohse was grossly mishandled and now he is sitting home instead of trying to gain some consistency in his career.

Furthermore, at 29, there is surely room for growth. He also posts decent k/bb ratios and strikes out enough people to satisfy me. I am torn for sure because I want the Duque in the bullpen and Mike Pelfrey in the rotation. However, the only problem with that is there is no depth that does not really compromise the bullpen if The Duque is pitching effectively from there and I think he will. With Lohse in the mix, Pelfrey is the #6 guy and The Duque is the emergency #7 guy with Vargas, Sosa, etc. as the shit hitting the fan group.

If anything, this current rash of injuries should make the Mets front office seriously consider bringing in too many pitchers to the fold. If someone goes down, the Mets will be in trouble. Who can they dish off to get anyone who is worth anything? Sure they can take a look at the scrapheap, but there are certainly better options.

If anything, the extra depth gives the Mets at least something to deal at the break if they needed to upgrade their team in other areas. Lohse could be dished off with no commitment following him and Pelfrey could take over mid year so they can monitor his usage over the course of the first half. At $40 million over four years, not taking Lohse is a no brainer. At $5 to $8 million over one season, it is a no brainer to go after him. With one more season like 2007, he also stands a pretty good chance of giving whomever picks him up a sandwich pick.

The Mets are primed for some pretty great things this season. To see them evaporate because of depth would truly be shame. When it was cost prohibitive it was one thing. However, Lohse is set to be a bargain in baseball terms and bargains make you rethink your original plans.

* * *

Mike Pelfrey continues to do the right things.

Mike Pelfrey allowed two hits, including an infield hit, and retired six batters on groundouts while pitching three scoreless innings in his second start of the spring.

A strikeout would not kill the kid, but the six groundballs is very nice.

Ruben might be more injured than than anyone previously thought. Not good for Gotay.

John Donovan is drinking the Pedro Martinez Kool-Aid and why not? Again, Pedro is not the first guy to get surgery. If he did not have a nice five game stint at the end of '07, I would be leery. But he came back before anyone thought he did and did much better as well.

Now, he is back in a Mets uniform and looking sharp. I have high expectations for him this season. Yes, I doubt he will toss 200 innings, but that is fine. 180 innings is more in line with what I'm expecting. We all have to remember he has the ability to be very economical with his pitches and get through 6+ innings with 90 pitches.

I think Wallace Matthews is trying to pull a fast one by switching his name around. Thanks for the shitty article.

Cory Patterson is now a Red. The man's line in the bigs is .258/.298/.414. He looked like a star in the making, but that never happened. Dusty Baker had been calling for him and now he has him, which means Jay Bruce is likely out. The fact is, if this team truly thinks they have a shot at the NL Central or the Wildcard, Bruce should be in.

If they truly do not believe that, then this move is just fine. For me, I think Volquez, Cueto, Bailey, and Votto are enough wildcards that give me pause before I say this team has no chance. The fact is, there is upside there. Arroyo, Harang, Bailey, and Cueto could potentially be a nice front four with Fogg and Affeldt still in the mix. Their bullpen could be greatly improved as well if Volquez and Affeldt are in there as well.