The Poison Pen, 2011

[Guest Edgy DC]

The thread in which we look at the possible alignment of the Mets' bullpen.

The current favorites look like

1. Manny Acosta,
   
2. Sean Green,
   
3. Ryota Igarashi,
   
4. Pat Misch,
   
5. Bobby Parnell,
   
6. Oliver Perez, and
   
7. Francisco Rodriguez.

But that's about as deceptive as possible as (1) may or may not have found new life last year, (2) is non-tender fodder, (3) had only brief bouts of success (and waves of failure) under high hopes from Jerry, (4) is a AAAA starter trying to find a role that sticks, (5) finished last year on the DL, (6) has known the bullpen to be more of a safe-house than an assignment, and (7) is facing criminal charges and accompanying derision.

Also on the roster is Manny Alvarez (doomed to be one day conflated with Manny Acosta, but with little experience above AA), and Tobi Stoner (whose chief claim to fame is being the second ever German-born Met).

Jenrry Mejia could return to the pen, and the team just signed potential situation lefty Michael O'Connor to a minor league dealio, but there's a lot of gray area here.

Into that grayness, I want to toss Dodger George Sherrill. Sherrill is looking at a non-tender posssiblity as (1) the Dodgers are cuttin some costs these days, and (2) his ERA ballooned almost impossibly from 0.69 to 6.65 last season. Desipte that ugliness, he still dispatched lefties with aplomb (.192 / .286 / .288 // .573). So if you don't expect too much from him, you might not be let down.

Look at that arm angle. Can't you see Ryan Howard bailing?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

If he comes to the Mets he will fix that douchy hat of his.

[Frayed Knot]

and Mike O'Connor

[Guest Edgy DC]

Whoah, I don't think Michael O'Connor is particuarly douchey to the point where he needs to be "fixed."

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Igarashi was and is a real mystery. He had a poor spring training, then several pretty good outings in the early going until he hurt his leg fielding a bunt. Not quite the same after that, way too many walks and too many XBHs.

I don't think Jerry ever thought much of him, he clearly thought Takahashi was the better of his two Japanese weapons, so much so I think after a while he crossed up their backstories. Igarashi was the "bigger name" with more success in Japan and he got the bigger contract, etc.

There was a weird moment last season when one of the writers passed along Warthen's comments on what Igarashi had to do to be successful and he said, "He needs to calm down." There was more to it than that, but I never got the sense of what, exactly. The other dynamic at work was Jerry's dumb pressure to have a designated 8th inning guy and what if anything it meant to Igarashi not to get that role.

Thoughts?

[metirish]

I thought Igarashi had great stuff and at times looked great , maybe something weird happened to him when Takahashi had success and he didn't , never looked good after the injury and seemed to give up a big bomb when thrust in to a big spot by Manuel. Then he looked like he was overthrowing the damn ball.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Randy Choate (2.34 FIP/2.90 xFIP, 9.17 K/9 vs. lefties last year... career OPS of .598 agin' em) and Dennys Reyes (weirdly abberant, reverse-splitty 2010 season, but sub-.300 OBPs vs. lefties for each of the preceding three seasons) are interesting, cheap options there, too.

What I really want is a Takahashi-type, matchup-wise. Not a swingman, necessarily... but something like a reverse-LOOGY (or ROOGY, but it's hard to find screwball/changeup-featuring bullpen righties). A lefty who's slightly-to-very-much better at getting out righties... like recent-vintage Dennys Reyes, only sustainable.

[Guest Edgy DC]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Igarashi was and is a real mystery. He had a poor spring training, then several pretty good outings in the early going until he hurt his leg fielding a bunt. Not quite the same after that, way too many walks and too many XBHs. I don't think Jerry ever thought much of him, he clearly thought Takahashi was the better of his two Japanese weapons, so much so I think after a while he crossed up their backstories. Igarashi was the "bigger name" with more success in Japan and he got the bigger contract, etc. There was a weird moment last season when one of the writers passed along Warthen's comments on what Igarashi had to do to be successful and he said, "He needs to calm down." There was more to it than that, but I never got the sense of what, exactly. The other dynamic at work was Jerry's dumb pressure to have a designated 8th inning guy and what if anything it meant to Igarashi not to get that role. Thoughts?

Jerry had him as the "eighth-inning guy" (may I never hear those words again) when he got hurt. When he came back, Manuel was asked what role he envisioned, and answered (more or less), "Same as he was when he went down... eighth-inning guy." When he got bombed in his first appearance, Jerry responded with (again, I paraphrase), "He's entitled to a freebie, he needs to get the rust off, but he's the eighth-inning guy."

I like to think shedding Manuel would mean a world of good for the guy, but that's desperately over-simplistic.

[Vic Sage]

i'd prefer to have like 6 or 7 guys who can, you know, get people out.
Just a pet theory of mine.

[Ceetar]

I can no longer remember if Manuel referring to any situation in the bullpen in any other way than "We gotta have our eighth inning guy."

[Guest Edgy DC]

Mike Silva is pushing Roy Merritt, a Rule V-eligible 25-year-old lefty who held lefty batters to a .228 average in 2010, mostly at Bingo.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: Mike Silva is pushing Roy Merritt, a Rule V-eligible 25-year-old lefty who held lefty batters to a .228 average in 2010, mostly at Bingo.

granted we could protect him, but they haven't, so it's silly to pencil in him for a job no? When's the rule 5 draft?

[Frayed Knot]

Ceetar wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Mike Silva is pushing Roy Merritt, a Rule V-eligible 25-year-old lefty who held lefty batters to a .228 average in 2010, mostly at Bingo. granted we could protect him, but they haven't, so it's silly to pencil in him for a job no? When's the rule 5 draft?

The Rule 5 draft is usually the last thing on the agenda during the winter meetings which start next week I believe - so we're probably talking about Wednesday or so.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Nobody is suggesting he be penciled in for a job. Mike Silva is implying that he might be a worthy candidate, among others, for consideration.

No need to round out the roster until you have to. I'm still waiting for some team to claim Blake McGinley.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Merritt's a lefty submariner, IIRC-- like, Bradford-brand. His overall stats look like crap, and the arm's not blow-your-doors off, so he could sneak by Rule V.

THAT could be funky.

[seawolf17]

Ryan Rowland-Smith, non-tendered by Seattle. Was dreadful as a starter in 2010, but is only 27 and a lefty. Only made $440,000 last year, so I'd think he'd come reasonably cheaply. I'd throw him some ST innings.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Tweetin' Dave Lennon wrote: Alderson on Mejia: "We don't want him in our bullpen this year. Our goal is not to use some good arms ... on stopgap basis." #mets 2:59 PM Dec 3rd via TweetDeck

This is a nice, good thing.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Matthew Cerone wrote: Matt Pignataro of 7 Train to Shea says the Mets interested in signing RHP Dan Wheeler, according to sources. Wheeler had two saves in three chances and 3.35 ERA in 64 appearances for the Rays last season, during which left-handed batters hit .154 against him. He has a terrific slider, which is perfect in relief and crushes left-handed hitters. He�s the perfect set-up man. Wheeler is a Type A free agent, but was not offered salary arbitration, so his new team will not need to surrender a compensatory draft pick. Nevertheless, I still see no way the Mets allocate roughly $4 million for a set-up guy, let alone give a two-year deal, considering they were unwilling to do so for Takahashi. That said, he certainly describes the �right-hander who can retire left-handed batters,� which I wrote about this morning. The Mets traded Wheeler to the Astros in 2004 to clear a spot on their roster for RHP Jae Seo, who had been promoted from Triple-A for a spot start.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Traded him for Adam Seuss.

[metirish]

There's a guy in Wheeler who never looked like he was enjoying himself.....every pitch seemed to be laborious.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

metirish wrote: There's a guy in Wheeler who never looked like he was enjoying himself.....every pitch seemed to be laborious.

Yay!



(Actually, I'm all in favor of this.)

[Benjamin Grimm]

David Waldstein, N.Y. Times wrote: The Mets also spoke to Alan Hendricks, the agent for the right-handed reliever Chad Qualls, on Tuesday afternoon, thinking he could be an underpriced option who could flourish at Citi Field.

He'd be the first Met with a last name beginning with the letter Q!

[bmfc1]

Terry, today:

--Collins expects Bobby Parnell to be his eighth-inning guy.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/#ixzz17YACnb76

[Guest Edgy DC]

(Head explodes)

[Ceetar]

talk is cheap.

collins make comments the other day, in which he inferred that the "8th inning guy" could very well be the "game needs to be won in the 6th inning" guy. Hopefully all he's doing here is giving Bob a vote of confidence as the second best reliever.

[Vic Sage]

As of now, our 7-man pen looks like this:

F-Rod ® - CL
Parnell ® - setup/CL
Carrasco ® - middle/setup
Beato ® - rule V ROOGY
O'Connor* (L) - LOOGY
Misch -or- O.Perez (L) - middle/long/spotSP
Igarashi -or- Acosta -or- Stoner -or- Manny Alvarez*-or- BBonser* ® - setup/middle/long

* not on 40-man roster

Or, as my father used to say: "Oy."

[metirish]

Igarashi clears waivers says Rubin.

[Vic Sage]

F-Rod ® - CL
Parnell ® - setup/CL
Carrasco ® - middle/setup
Acosta ® - middle/setup
Buchholtz ® - middle/setup/spot-starter
Beato ® - rule V ROOGY
O'Connor(L)* / Tankersley*(L) - LOOGY

* not on 40-man roster

the "oys" still have it...

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ceetar wrote: talk is cheap. collins make comments the other day, in which he inferred that the "8th inning guy" could very well be the "game needs to be won in the 6th inning" guy. Hopefully all he's doing here is giving Bob a vote of confidence as the second best reliever.

Pretty much. Take heart, kiddos-- Collins discusses pen usage. It's just words, yes... but nice ones.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm not sure. If the game can be won by the "eighth-inning guy" in the sixth, then it can be won by the "ninth-inning guy" in the seventh, but that sure doesn't appear to be on the table. The fact is, almost any game can be meaningfully impacted by shutting the other team down in the sixth and seventh. That sort of logic is helpful, but not going through it and beyond can lead to more of Jerry's everyday use of his number-two reliever.