John Franco has been working with the Mets this season, reporting to Dan Warthen and management on how pitchers are performing 
in the minor leagues and on rehab assignments in St. Lucie.
This morning on WFAN’s Boomer and Carton, Franco said Billy Wagner is pitching from a mound and throwing over 90 mph.
…i am sure he’s not ready, because, if he was, we’d all know about it by now… however, i can’t help but wonder if even a 50 percent wagner, throwing 90 mph, would be a better option in the current bullpen than, say, Ken Takahashi, especially since the Mets need at least one other person to be capable of retiring left-handed hitters…
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i don’t want him to rush, that is a sure fire path to Mets-question-mark-injury-status. but he will be a boon if he can work it back into game shape quickly…
Matt:
Didn’t you report a week or so ago that Mets placed Wags on the 60 day DL?
If that is the case, he can not be rushed. Am I missing something?
or is the 60 day retro to beyond 60 days ago so that it does not matter?
There is a 10-day cap on retroactive credit for a player placed on the 15-day DL, but I believe a player transferred from the 15- to the 60-day DL gets full credit for time served. The only other nuance is that in order for a player to be placed on the 60-day DL, a team’s 40-man roster must be full. The effect of this is that in order for that player to be activated, another player will have to be removed from the 40-man to make room.
Why are people excited about this? Since when was Wags a sure thing even when he was healthy?
I think Wagner is a closer is alot different than Wagner as a set up guy – especially in a pen not exactly stocked with lefties.
As one of the premier closers in baseball history, there is no doubt he’d be a tremendous asset, especially with Putz’s situation. I don’t know that anyone would have preferred Wags to Takahashi in the 10th last night…or any time a lefty is needed for a run through the Phillies lineup.
Something tells me that Billy, unlike JJ will not have a problem finding adrenaline for whenever he is used. He knows this is it for him. He would be a huge help…for the pen, even if it is just a morale boost.
BTW, what are people’s thoughts on looking into Pedro again with Maine going down?
Would Pedro give you anything more than Nelson Figueroa?
Figueroa’s allowed 2 ER or fewer in 7 of 9 AAA starts this year (and 3 or fewer in 8 of 9). Opposing hitters are batting just .219 against him. And he’s gone at least 7 innings in 5 of 9 starts (and at least 6 innings in 7 of 9).
Very true. I say give the ball to Figgy and than keep him here in the pen. He might actually be able to help Feliciano get a few lefties out.
I would rather see Wags than Takahashi in any situation coming out of the pen. He also should be able to not be the closer and still have that rush a lot of them thrive on. If he plans on pitching next year that would be his audition and he would stand to get a much better contract and security if he showed he was healthy and effective
Billy Wagner placing the ball on a tee, then running back to field his position on the mound is a better option than Takahashi.
By the way, when I misread this originally and thought it said Franco was throwing 90 mph and laughed out loud at my desk.
He was indeed moved to the 60 day DL.. not sure if there is retroactive time in there…
Jon Switzer is lefty and is having a very good year at AAA. Is he a possability?
2.13 era 29 Ks in 25 IPs 9 BB 21 hits only 1HR
Buffalo lefty Adam Bostick is another option. Between AA and AAA he’s got a 1.93 ERA and has allowed just 16 hits in 23.1 IP with 5 BB to 25 K. In 6 IP in AAA he has yet to allow a hit.
The 60-day DL just removes him from the 40-man roster. Anyone who has been disabled over 60 days is eligible. The only difference is to activate him they need to clear a spot on the 40-man, which is why teams don’t like to use it.
This is a perfect scenario for Wags.
He takes his time, comes to us in late August/early September, and gets into games 1 batter at a time. He becomes quite a nice lefty specialist.
Asking anything more of him at this stage in unrealistic.
I’m very skeptical – has anyone come back from Tommy John surgery this soon? We’re not even at the nine month mark yet.
BJ Ryan? not sure, but I thought he came back super quick and was rather effective
Didn’t Josh Johnson come back from Tommy John pretty quickly. And he even has more life on his fastball, if Wagner can get back to 95-98 with his slider, i’ll take him and (a healthy) Putz for the 7th and 8th innings depending on what the matchups are for those 2 innings.
Yes have some.
Billy Wagner at 50%, tossing a golf ball, underhanded, to a better using a tennis racquet, is a better choice than Ken Takahashi.
Why is it that we have a lefty in the bullpen who left-handed batters have an average that nears coin flip status anyway. This guy has about as much business being on a Major league roster as I do.
Seriously, if this is the best guy out there to take this roster spot, than Minaya really has some splainin to do.
Bring Him UP!
As long as you’ve spent 60 days on the DL, if you’re on the 60 day DL, it means you’re eligible to come off when ever you become healthy. Unlike a 15 day DL player, man on the 60 day DL doesn’t take up up a roster spot on the 40 man.
Wagner can help us. It looks like he’s progressing well. He’ll have to adapt to a new role. It can work for both sides. The Mets won’t have to make a trade for a good reliever down the stretch. Wagner will enhance his market value for the off-season. He might be replace – or even give us more than what an unhealthy Putz was. The key is to get him back healthy. He’s not there yet. Give him another month. Than we’ll see.
Takahashi’s really nothing more than a stop gap. He’s more ideal as a long reliever than any type of specialist. Overall, he’s given the Mets some good innings, but he shouldn’t be relied on in key situations. Hopefully, by the trade deadline, Redding and Wagner are in the bullpen. Takahashi and Nieve aren’t on the roster. Maine and a ‘’sane” Oliver Perez or another decent starter (ex. Jarrod Washburn) is in our rotation.
90? And he’s still 6 weeks away? A naive question, but what else does he need to do before he’s ready?
I look at Wags and Delgado as trade dealine acquisition, and Putz as a September callup..
All three will make us stronger down the stretch.
Getting through the next six weeks will be critical. I hope for help sooner than later. Adam Dunn or Jermian Dye would help (I’d prefer Dunn). We need help now in the rotation, so Pedro isn’t an option. If the White Sox are going to have a fire sale, wouldn’t Dye and Contreras make sense. A trade for Dunn and signing Glavine (ugh,, i just typed that?) would be cheaper, and considering our ballpark and the phillies line up, might be more effective
Mike Gonzalez was on pace to come back after 10 months, but during his rehab he broke some scar tissue and was set back two weeks, then had to start his rehab over. He was closing a month later, but the point is, Wagner still has to throw to batters, then get in some rehab games, see if he can pitch back to back days, and not have any setbacks. Without the setbacks we’re still looking at a month minimum for all that, with a minor setback of a week or two we’re looking at August 1st.
Speaking of Franco, if he does get into the Hall of Fame, do the Mets retire his number? He has more saves and a lower ERA than Goose Gossage, first lefty to 400 saves, etc etc. Personally he is not a Hall of Famer to me, I’m more stringent and don’t believe milestones should matter too much, but the argument can and will be made, and he was a team captain too (as far as retiring his number at Citi)
Question 2: Which number do you retire? He wore 31 for 8 or 9 yrs and 45 for his last 5 or so.
Franco has no shot…He was long enough to compile a very nice resume, like Fred McGriff, but Franco was never among the dominant closers of his era. In fact any closer who pitched during the golden age of Mariano Rivera will have a very tough shot at the Hall, outside of Trevor Hoffman, and John Smoltz, who is getting in due to his body of work as a starter AND closer.
As for question 2: 31 will be retired sooner rather than later, but it won’t be for Franco. So if it comes to it, he gets 45.
It is too early to be talking about getting Wagner back although it is encouraging to hear he is getting up to 90mph. Maybe we will get lucky and have him ready by late July or early August but to expect him before that is wishful thinking.
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