Pel Free

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Well look, elbow injuries almost always suck and unless it turns out to be something like tendonitis, we may have well have seen the last of our frustrating friend Mike Pelfrey.

Schwinden to me looks like a give-up move, about as likely to be successful as starting Batista was the other day. I mean, it's one thing to be a veteran with lots of experience but Batista was 41 and hadn't pitched well in the spring or in his relief outings this year. So It kind of pissed me off when the predictable thing happened. The need for reserve starters was obvious with this club and it tripped it up the very first time. That's just booshit.

Now we got another thing coming down the road with Pelfrey's starts here, and they wanna go with Schwinden. I don't think that will be successful either. Does anyone?

[Ceetar]

Schwinden's actually pitching well right now, I could see him being..passable? for a couple of starts, particularly if the offense ever wakes up.

If it's more than a tendinitis recurrence that needs more than 3-4 weeks, I hope they're not content to wait and see with Schwinden. Cohoon hasn't really been good either above AA. I don't really want to see Carrasco (and that's probably a month away anyway)

They may try to bridge a the month to Chris Young with Schwinden, but maybe they acquire someone?

[Edgy MD]

I think they see it as worthwhile to shuffle through the ready-to-serve options in order to, if nothing else, keep the top prospects on the healthiest timetable. Harvey, yeah, but maybe first Batista and Schwinny and Dylan Owen and maybe Hefner, Olson, and/or Cohoon. You get some faceplant starts, but sometimes you find something while shuffling through the options like that. They found Gee that way, and found Niese and Jae Weong Seo.

Which is to say that I don't think they're kidding themselves, but more likely being painfully deliberate.

In defense of Schwinny, he has been getting it done in Buffalo. So have Olson and Hefner.

[metirish]

Would much rather see Schwinden than Batista, he's at least worth a handful of starts.

[TransMonk]

Yeah, I don't know if Schwinden can be successful, but I also don't see any other options right now.

That spot will hopefully be a bridge to Young who will hopefully be a bridge to Harvey.

Pelf was supposed to be the most likely of the starting rotation to last 200 IP without injury. Things will get really dire if Santana or Niese go down again. I for one was happy to see Johan pitch so well last night. After his last start, I thought he might be hurt.

[ashie62]

Is there anything wrong with handing the ball to Matt Harvey now if Pelfrey is done for the year?

[RealityChuck]

Ashie62 wrote: Is there anything wrong with handing the ball to Matt Harvey now if Pelfrey is done for the year?

1. It's not 100% certain Pelfrey is done (though it doesn't look good).
2. Better to give Harvey another year in AAA than rush him up. The Mets have a long history of rushing prospects, and it rarely works out. Harvey is not going to put the team in the playoffs, so it's better not to mess with his development.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't know that Harvey necessarily needs a full year a AAA, but I'd also prefer not to call him up in April. Let's try to hold the spot with Schwinden, or Hefner, or whoever for another six to eight weeks, and then see where we are. Maybe it will make sense to call Harvey up some time in June or July.

[Edgy MD]

True and agreed.

And I don't know necessarily that Harvey won't be the difference in a playoff run whether he comes up tomorrow or mid-season. Happens often enough.

[Guest attgig]

I'd rather see Harvey be GOOD in AAA before rushing him to flushing. he hasn't been doing well against AAA batters, and there's no point in messing with his psyche by bringing him up. I thought starting him in AAA was a slight stretch already.

[Edgy MD]

Oh, he sure as snot has today.

[Guest attgig]

Edgy DC wrote: Oh, he sure as snot has today.

good for him. he needs more of those types of starts to get his confidence up in his pitches, considering his ERA is still near 5 after a handful of starts and the latest being a shutout.

his previous 4 starts were up and down. let him string these good starts together before even thinking about promoting him. he's too valuable in the long run to rush him in April.

[Valadius]

Two words: Jenrry Mejia.

No rush.

[Ceetar]

It's not really about rushing him, I'm not sure there's any real evidence that 'rushing' a guy ruins him long term. Guys are often promoted when they start dominating AAAers, but that's not a prerequisite for being able to get major leaguers out.

It's about whether or not he's the best option, whether he's actually ready to get big leaguers out. And there's not enough data and it's too early to panic and hope that he can.

[Edgy MD]

I'm not advocating promoting Harvey --- and as far as I can see, nobody save Ashie is --- but there's certainly no evidence beyond speculation that promoting Jenrry Mejia led to his injury. I don't know why that's supposed to be such a bleedingly obvious notion that two words sum it up.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Here are two other words: Dwight Gooden.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah, my thing is more letting off steam that the first time they need a lefty pinch hitter they turn to... Baxter.

The first time they need a spot starter... Batista.

Shallowest Mets team in a long time. I demand Matt Franco and Pat Mahomes for these roles.

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Yeah, my thing is more letting off steam that the first time they need a lefty pinch hitter they turn to... Baxter. The first time they need a spot starter... Batista. Shallowest Mets team in a long time. I demand Matt Franco and Pat Mahomes for these roles.

funny thing is..Pat Mahomes was not good. Not even for the Mets.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I wonder... what are the chances of getting a veteran journeyman pitcher or outfielder off the waiver wire in late April? I'm guessing it might not be so good. I guess there might be some guys who were released in spring training who might not yet have caught on with anyone, but I imagine that they're not going to be choice picks. (Someone like Dontrelle Willis yet, but does he have anything at all left?)

It seems that the plan was to simply hope that their lack of depth wouldn't hurt them, but that hope is fading. It's early yet, and it's theoretically possible that people like Schwinden and Hefner will give us more than Pelfrey would have, but you can't count on that. And if another starter gets hurt, things will really be ugly.

[Ceetar]

well, the chances might not be horrible, but it's probably gonna end up being someone like Batista. Livan Hernandez.

Even other teams with pitching prospects are not ready to promote them, so it's not like 'sorta okay veteran guy that has no future with team' is getting pushed out just yet.

Now, can the Mets swing a trade maybe? There are probably guys available via that route.

[TransMonk]

Roy Oswalt was still looking for a job last time I looked. I'm not sure we fit his criteria or can afford his price range, though.

[Edgy MD]

I think the plan was to not invest too much money in fifth and sixth and seventh-starter guys and bench players who are often enough no more effective than the Hefners and Baxters despite having been pretty good big leaguers two surgeries ago.

Can Baxter outperform a veteran pinch-hitter/utility corner guy? Maybe not. Are we talking Tony Clark or Lenny Harris or Willie Harris or what? But if he doesn't, you're not tied to him all year.

Sometimes you get a better player out of your marginal roles by putting your money on the table early and strongly. Sometimes, you do better by bringing in enough lesser expensive options that you can affordably shuffle through them. Maybe you come up with an Eric Valent.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The NL East is looking a LOT more wide-open than it was several weeks ago. Oswalt might not be a bad phone call to make.

Am I alone in liking Cohoon over Schwinden?

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: The NL East is looking a LOT more wide-open than it was several weeks ago. Oswalt might not be a bad phone call to make. Am I alone in liking Cohoon over Schwinden?

I'd have agree with you even 10 months ago, but he doesn't seem to have been able to 'step it up' to AAA when he was there.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Missed that.

[ashie62]

Edgy DC wrote: I'm not advocating promoting Harvey --- and as far as I can see, nobody save Ashie is --- but there's certainly no evidence beyond speculation that promoting Jenrry Mejia led to his injury. I don't know why that's supposed to be such a bleedingly obvious notion that two words sum it up.

I just offered it as an option.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

We have to look at these things in context.

I'm not in favor of rushing guys as a policy but I don't think Harvey's a bad option at all when one alternative is a 41-year-old who hasn't had a single good outing all year and another is a consensus 4A talent who didn't look like he'd be good enough to handle this job while the team was hopelessly out of the race last year.

Again, my overarching point is that the Mets' depth issues were completely foreseeable and are playing out while we still have a shot at this thing. It's disheartening.

[Guest attgig]

for veteran starter, we have Chris Young, but unfortunately, we have to way till mid May before he's in game shape.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Does it look like he'll be ready by mid-May? If so, that's only about three weeks from now. I think we can get by with Schwinden or Hefner until then.

Niese, Dickey, Santana, and Gee had better stay healthy. If not, this lack of depth will become a whole lot worse than it already is.

[Edgy MD]

Well, yeah, the Mets are definitely screwed if their entire rotation goes down.