Matthew Cerrone

News: Colon’s Performance in WL Finals
By Matthew Cerrone - Jan 23, 2008 7:42 am

In a report for Baseball Prospectus, Derek Jacques recaps Bartolo Colon’s recent pitching performance during yesterday’s Dominican League Finals.

According Jacques, Colon mainly threw two-seam fastballs in the 88-91 MPH range, touching 94 once in the fourth inning. 

However, Jacques adds, “Despite the results, he hardly looked dominating.”

According to multiple reports, though the Indians, Mets and White Sox had been scouting Colon, all three teams have backed off their pursuit in recent days.

Colon, who has been battling shoulder and elbow problems since 2006, has a career record of 146-95 and a 4.10 ERA in 306 starts.

…as i have said before, i’m not so sure that the Mets need to lock in a spot with a guy like colon right now…if he ends up signing a multi-year deal, as MLB.com once suggested he is seeking, not bringing him to queens will make even more sense…

…i mean, he is worth inviting to camp, but i assume that is he second choice at this point…of course, his options are clearly thinning out, so maybe that is becoming more of an option than we think…who knows…either way, i have no interest in seeing the Mets get more bogged down in players who are clearly on the back nine of a career…

On a scale of 1–10, 10 being '100 percent confident,' 1 being 'No confidence at all,' how confident are you in the overall future-direction of the Mets?


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15 Comments »

Comment by stickguy
2008-01-23 08:40:02

a ST invite sounds fine. That way the Mets can pay for his surgery and rehab.

No guaranteed contract though please!

Comment by gowrightgo
2008-01-23 08:59:30

Agreed Stick. You can not take a spot away from Pelfrey and give it to Colon. I doubt you can catch lightning in that bottle.

The Mets have found some interesting guys on the scrapheap and turned them into productive players….but going to that well as often as we have led the team to sign Lima, Chan Ho Park, Brian Lawrence, Dave Williams, Jeremi Gonzalez, Aaron Sele and likely other disasters I am not remembering.

Pelfrey and Humber and Mulvey need opportunities to contribute. If they all fail…then we have the wrong guys evaluating talent and we should not be fighting over which ones get included in a deal for Santana. They should all go. But if they can actually pitch…they should get the chance to show it when the need arises. No better way to up their value than to actually let them have some success at the ML level

 
 
Comment by Slob
2008-01-23 08:55:54

Under 2 mil. One year max. Have to be able to release him immediately if he starts crapping the bed.

 
Comment by PA-Mets-Fan
2008-01-23 09:06:42

I would much rather go with the kids than with Colon. If the Mets were going to take a flyer on someone, I would have much preferred a guy like Prior. However, he wanted to stay home and pitch in San Diego.

 
Comment by hot stove chef
2008-01-23 09:14:46

Livan Hernandez is still the guy for me, provided the Mets don’t make a major trade.

The Mets need innings out of the #5 spot to take pressure off of the pen and the rest of the rotation. While I still think Pelfrey could turn into a decent middle of the rotation guy, the Jacket is going to keep him on a pretty strict pitch count, and no one else in the rotation is capable of pitching into the 7th on a consistent basis.

Livan is nowhere near where he used to be, but the guy is the consistent. If I can get a high 4’s ERA, 200+ innings and 10 wins out of him in the 5 spot, I’m happy.

 
Comment by mikey_FF
2008-01-23 09:15:51

Matt, this poll’s results would be great to talk about the next time you’re on SNY. Stick it in their face and jam it down their throats!

:)

 
Comment by 86YearToRemember
2008-01-23 09:26:11

The guy’s a veteran with a lot of success under his belt. I’m not necessarily opposed to a one year deal. We’re not talking about Jose Lima here. Even a damaged goods Colon can be a good number 5 starter.

 
Comment by Elvis
2008-01-23 09:30:41

why would anyone do this?? scouts from three teams looked at him over several winter starts and all three decided to pass … why bring him in to clog up ST?

Comment by REYESBNASTY
2008-01-23 09:39:45

Because the more pitchers (not to mention one w/ a CY young under his belt) casues healthy competition during spring training - u want these guys fighting for jobs - it makes it a more realistic situation w/ the pressure for their jobs on the mound - and makes people who “got it” step up -

ex. JOE SMITH winning a spot out of spring training for example.

Comment by Nate W.
2008-01-23 10:33:16

I think there is significant competition already with what they have. I count 14 pitchers who are out of options or otherwise have to be on the big league team, plus Smith, Pelfrey, Humber, and maybe even Muniz.
The competition will be there.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
Comment by Nate W.
2008-01-23 10:22:46

His condition sounds a lot like Brian Lawrence. Even if he is healthy he likely isnt going to be much better that that WL performance. And worse than that, his lazyness could be a bad thing to have at AAA with impressionable young guys there. Not to mention the possability that Dauner starts the year in AAA and the two eat New Orleans whole… ;)

 
Comment by bb gods productions
2008-01-23 10:31:04

I said it a few weeks ago, and I’ll say it now: Colon’s future is as a reliever. It’s the only way he would be a better than average pitcher and get paid like one. Someone needs to get creative here, and maybe find a reliable setup guy.

Comment by Nate W.
2008-01-23 10:43:53

His lack of fitness doesn’t suggest he would make a good transition, I have no idea what sort of warm up he normally uses but that is always a factor with guys who have never relieved before…

He really just needs to get in better shape if he wants to pitch in any role in the bigs. In his current condition he should be open to anything though, so relieving isnt a bad idea at all.

 
 
Comment by Sylow59
2008-01-23 11:07:25

I may be missing something, but if you remove the name it sounds a lot like our Pedro. If Colon is such a gamble then isn’t assuming Pedro at 200+IP at the top of the rotation like betting the mortgage on green at the roulette table? I would feel a lot more comfortable if we were viewing Pedro as a “potential plesant surprise” rather than a slam-dunk. The same is true of Hernandez. Assuming no signings or trades the fifth spot is a rookie. When (not if) Pedro and/or El Duque they will be replaced by essentially the 6th (and possibly the 7th) starters. Plus Maine and Perez aren’t Seaver and Koosman. I think there are a whole lot of question marks there. A Santana trade eliminates a big question. Plus sign Livan and put El Duque in the bullpen as long or have him swap starts with Pedro. I’d feel more comfortable banking on Pedro for 22 starts rather than 32 starts.

 
Comment by metterman
2008-01-23 13:15:02

I’m amazed at the 80-20 spread on not signing him. First if he wants gauranteed money, us as fans shouldn’t care, give one year 2 million, it’s another arm. If he can’t make the rotation he gets cut, as fans we shouldn’t care that the mets are out some money. secondly although is see the last of washed up has beens that were listed (ima, Chan Ho Park, Brian Lawrence, Dave Williams, Jeremi Gonzalez, Aaron Sele) none of them hurt us past 1-2 starts. Plus if he is truly that awful that he can’t make this rotation than i find it hard to believe anyone else will sign him, maybe he’ll accept a temporary demotion to the minors where he can build up his strength and confidence and be back in the bigs soon. Having the extra arm allows flexibility to move Colon or el duque or even pelfrey to the bullpen. I’m excited about the young guys but none of them have really proven anything and I’m not looking forward to sendning one of them out there, having them not be ready and then shoot there confidence. As we’ve seen the last few years when we’ve averaged roughly 15-18 starters a year, we can never have too many arms. I say sign him up with or without santana, It’s not my money.

 
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