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RHP Matt Wise gave up an unearned run in one inning in an extended spring training game yesterday.
…from what i can gather, the Mets are ready to bring him back and like the idea of getting a fresh arm in the mix…
…the problem, however, is that a player will need to be demoted to make room for wise…
The Mets currently house seven relief pitchers and five men on the bench. However, Willie Randolph told reporters yesterday that he would prefer to carry eight relief pitchers, and play short on the bench, than have to demote Joe Smith or Nelson Figueroa or cut Jorge Sosa.
…so, it seems the options are: demote smith or figueroa, cut sosa or put Angel Pagan on the disabled list, or demote him to Triple-A New Orleans, to make room for wise…
Not a fan of this idea unless Willie becomes more apt to use Castro as a pinch hitter more often. Management of this team already has a penchant for playing short-handed when guys like Beltran or Schneider come up lame “day to day.” I think it will also send a message to the starting pitchers that they’re not expected to pitch more innings because we know have an extra arm in the bullpen.
Simply put, make a decision. If you’re paranoid about losing Sosa, demote Smith until Sosa messes up enough to earn his release.
Guaranteed with 24 hours of DLing Pagan and replacing him with a pitcher, Alou is going to sprain something and we’re going to have no outfield depth for a week or two.
totally agree…13 man staff is ridiculous
Is Wise really the type of player that you would clear roster space to make room for? Why not let him rot in AAA?
He is a big league pitcher, has been for a few years. He at least deserves a chance to lose his job due to poor performance instead of injury.
He also has a big league contract and would have to pass through waivers to remain in AAA after a dl stint
Eight relievers is probably the logical next step the way the game has evolved. And with Easley and Anderson both able to play multiple positions, we can pull it off. But Willie’s going to have to get over his phobia about pitch hitting the backup catcher. I also think Casanova might be a better option than Castro because he can switch hit.
Plus they will likely lose Casanova when they try and get him through waivers. He’s better than some teams backup catchers.
Hopefully the 8 relievers plan is only temporary, and they find a way to keep Casanova and Castro both. They would be a great PH/C tandem and Willie could use them without reservation if he has 3 catchers on the team.
With Santana being an ok hitter you can actually use him to bunt or pinch hit as the last resort before using the backup catcher (aka Owings). Granted you don’t want Santana having to hit regularly on days off for fear of pulling a hammy or something but if he’s the 4th or 5th man off the bench than he shouldn’t be used that often unless games go extra’s. So really we can have an 8 man bullpen and still have 5 pinch hitters available. I like the idea since it also keeps the bullpen fresh and if they all perform, one can be used later as trade bait to bring in something of need later on.
A fresh are would be helpful, so lets make him work back to back days right before we activate him.
I noted in yesterday’s in game thread that Pagan going on the DL could buy some time with the roster crunch, and I think thats what they will do. Otherwise it sounds like he’ll go to AAA, which is the right move. He’s cooled off as a bench player, and with Endy and Marlon on the bench they dont really need another lefty OF. He’ll be nice depth, and a fun guy to call back up in Sept or when needed.
Yep, I still think trying him out at 1B at AAA can only help, too.
Why would the Mets demote Figueroa? Then the Mets would only have 4 starters. The most logical answer is demoting Smith because he has options. Either that or cut Sosa (who’s owed $2M). Then again, Sosa could start but he’s probably better out of the pen.
Cant they just DFA Sosa…if his salary is $2m, then most teams probably wont be interested in him, and he could clear waivers and be optioned back to AAA…i think???
They could do that. Still in todays market …$2M (now just $1.5M left for this year) is small for most teams. We could DFA him and then try to work out a trade in the next 10 days before either losing him, releasing him or sending him to AAA depending on whether or not other teams want him
My preference would definitely be to DFA Sosa.
If Pagan needs to go on the DL, I’d still lean towards DFA’ing Sosa and easing Castro back into the team using Pagan’s roster slot.
The odds of being able to slip Sosa through the waiver wire have to be favorable at the moment, with his ERA and WHIP being so bad. Then when Pedro gets back, Smith can be optioned and Figgy can be the long man. Meantime Willie’s already using Heilman almost as a mop-up guy, so if that continues we would have a multiple-innings guy in the pen even without Sosa.
I guess the question is whether Sosa would accept minor-league assignment. If not, I don’t see him having much trade value right now, so Smith would probably have to make room for Wise. In that scenario, we’d just have to hope that Sosa can make himself worth something before Pedro comes back and he turns into trade-bait (I’d much rather keep Figgy who’s proven himself a warrior and seems to have good chemistry with the team, judging by his reaction to Church after the inside-the-parker on Tuesday night).
If they are making the decision solely on merit, then Sosa would be the one but that presents 2 problems:
1. I think another team would pick him up. He’s having a bad first month but he was valuable last year, he has a rubber arm and he can fill multiple roles. Considering the lack of pitching out there, I would think other teams would claim him.
2. If Sosa goes, who is our long man? This is an issue with guys like Pelfrey and Figgy and even Oliver on occasion. If these guys get shelled in a game and end up leaving after four or five…. who eats those innings? It’s a waste to burn through a reliever an inning and the relievers we are left with are basically one innning guys.
It’s a tough decision that is going to leave us short somewhere no matter which way we go.
Losing Figgy is not an option. We need him…period. If Pedro returns and is solid in his rehab work, then possibly we could make a move with Figgy but until that time…he is our 5th starter and frankly more reliable at the moment than both Pelf and Perez
Joe Smith will/should be sent down, we can no longer afford to have 3 of our 7 relievers only capable of pitching to 1 or 2 batters…
we are all sick of Willie using 5 relievers every night, but truth is he has to because we have three (Smith, Show, Feliciano) who cant go a full inning and are “situational pitchers”….take away the closer and the long man and that is MORE than half of the 5 man bullpen….too much.
However, if this was fantasy baseball I would cut Sosa as Smith’s #’s are better, however in the real world…
what? Smith can pitch a whole inning or two -_- Willie just doesn’t let him do it that much…Sosa has to go
Lets face it. Right now this is a .500 team who needs their absolute best players on the roster. No room to drag guys along.
Right now the least productive players are:
Sosa
Pelfrey
Heilman
Perez
Perez will be in the rotation-so nothing you can do with him.
You have to DFA Sosa, Make heilman your “long man” at least until he consistently shows he can be an effective set-up man again.
Use Wise and Smith in your 6th, 7th, and 8th innings.
And when Pedro comes back, send Pelfrey back to AAA.
That is the team that gives you your best chance to win!
* I should clarify….least productive PITCHERS.
If I include hitters, thats a whole other argument altogether.
i think this is a smart move… wise is going to be our 7th inning guy, i garuntee it… he has good stuff
Get rid of Sosa…he’s the equivalent of Guillermo Mota