Buzz: Consider Livan Hernandez
In a report for the New York Times, Ben Shpigel speculates that Omar Minaya may ‘seriously consider’ signing free-agent RHP Livan Hernandez, as he searches for an innings-eater.
The 32–year-old Hernandez has pitched in more than 200 innings during 
each of the last eight seasons. However, his total innings-pitched has dropped during each of the last four years.
Last year he was 11–11 with a 4.93 ERA in 33 starts for the D’Backs, during which opponents hit .308 against him.
…the buzz in baseball, for a while now, has been that livan and his brother, Orlando Hernandez, have been wanting to be on the same team for years now, hoping to reunite before one or both of them retire…
Orlando is a free agent after next season.
…i agree with ben, as it would not shock me at all if livan ends up pitching for the Mets…i keep getting a sense that the Mets are seeking one, maybe even two, durable, work-horse type starting pitchers, which, considering the cost of the league’s top options, leads me to believe they must be eying a trade for a guy like A’s RHP Joe Blanton and/or signing a free-agent like livan or Carlos Silva, because they all sort of meet that description, but that is all just logical speculation, of course…
For what it’s worth, in today’s Star-Ledger, in-the-know Dan Graziano lists the Mets as his ‘best guess’ for where Silva will sign.
…in short, i would be ‘comfortable’ entering next season with, say, blanton and livan, along with Pedro Martinez, John Maine and Oliver Perez, in the rotation, as it would also mean moving el duque to the bullpen…
…however, i hope minaya can score higher than this, though i fear that is up to the market more than him…
