I am one of the few that believes Oliver Perez will become a stud. An absolute monster who is a threat to strike out 10+ and/or hold the opposition to three or fewer runs each time out. The kid is only 27. Hopefully we’ll sign him and 2-3 years from today we will be penciling him in at the top of our rotation.

I like Maine a lot despite his inconsistencies. At 28 (in May) he is another one with good stuff who I can envision turning the corner and heading our rotation. The funny thing is there has been all this talk about Perez not going deep into games (probably because he is under scrutiny as a possible FA signing) when, in fact, Maine had more starts of less than 6 IP than Perez in fewer games started. Perhaps the fact that eight of those 12 starts were from June 30 and on suggests that his shoulder was the reason for his struggles. Look for him to improve overall this season.

I’m excited about Pelfrey. He’s gonna have his struggles but he is established (in the sense that he won’t be a deer in headlights) and he has upside. At worst he’ll be our 4th starter, in a perfect world we’d plug him into the 5th slot. Either way he can continue to develop without too much pressure on him. To address your concern better, I think that the net gain we get from Pelfrey will be about the same as last year whether he improves or regresses a tad. I can’t say which it will be but other than improving his K/BB after the AS break I don’t see any signs that suggest a huge leap and obviously I’m hoping against a significant regression.

As far as our bullpen is concerned we can say that we’ll be playing seven inning games this season (knock on wood). What this means to me is that we need to find a “7th inning closer or closer-by-committee”. Getting six innings from our starters isn’t a given, but it’s certainly something that we can reasonably expect. This would create the need to cross a 3-out bridge which should be easy with the combined efforts of Feliciano, Green, Parnell, Sanchez, etc. Basically, the middle relief should feel less pressure and will perform better with less responsibility placed upon them. My biggest concern is striking the right balance so that our starters and bullpen are strong and have enough gas in the tank for a deep postseason run.

Johan will be fine. Just keep your fingers crossed that the Mets prohibit him from pitching in the WBC.

One thing that helps keep the entire pitching staff fresh and productive is an offense that scores a lot of runs (cough cough)…..

Sign Manny, sign Oliver, steamroll the phillies, go to the World Series, with Johan and Ollie taking two turns a piece maybe/probably beat the Yankees in 7.

This is also a guy that pitched what 10 HITLESS innings to start the year. If he never hurt his arm, this couldve been a great year.

1. ollie’s inconsistency/sheets’ health
- very valid here, although the saying is lefties take longer to “get going” than righties so ollie could take off.
- we have redding and neise as insurance for sheets’ health
2. maine not going far enough into games
-hopefully with the bonespur removed, and peterson removed maine could bring back his curve as an out pitch and get further into games
3. total lack of production at 2nd base
-agree, however castillo knows his career is on the line here. im willing to give him this year to come back healthy and prove what he can do. 2b didnt sink us last year and he will be better than anything else we could put there
4. total lack of offensive/defensive ability at catcher
-schnieder was league avg offensively and defensively. yes we’d like better, but do we have the pieces to trade for a better C?
5. duaner and pedro in the bullpen
-duaner was coming off of surgery, first year back. he ran out of gas. his first half ERA was in the 3′s and his second half was in the 6′s. i think a full year removed from surgery and with conditioning he can be great in the 7th again.
-pedro had an off year last year. i am still a little leery about him, but everyone knows middle relief is a c-shoot, so him rebounding isnt out of the question.
6. delgado coming down to earth
-delgado also was finally healthy in the second half after a broken rist and hand surgery. he will produce next year, maybe not at his torrid pace of the 2nd half last year, but will still produce.
7. will pelfrey be as good as last year?
-will improve, dont forget he was a first round pick and really started to excel.
8. johan coming off surgury
-so far reports suggest he is on his current offseason routine, i wouldnt worry about him
9. concussed church
-fully healthy now, will be fine next season
10. murphy’s slump to end last season
-didnt have time to adjust before the season ended. he had a slump in the middle of sept, made adustments and rebounded. id be more concerned about his leg injury (and any nagging effects) and everyone questioning his D.

that said, LETS GO METS!