Trade Poll: Antonio Bastardo and Cash for Jonathon Niese

[Edgy MD]

We're a week late with this, but talk is cheap. Get your money on the table.

[fimg=90]http://www.carcheckup.com/templates/images/dollarSignBig.jpg[/fimg]

[Guest themetfairy]

We have Jon Niese back.

Meh.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I like it. It's worthwhile just to get out from under the obligation to Bastardo for next year. (This advantage might be mitigated, depending on the amount of cash that was sent to Pittsburgh.)

[RealityChuck]

It's plus to get rid of Bastardo. Niese will be useful in his place in the bullpen, and could become a fifth starter if needed.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Love it. Bastardo was awful.

[Zvon]

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: Love it. Bastardo was awful.

Bingo. And Niese could be useful.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Like, Bastardo had to go go...

[MFS62]

It was like .. "Yay! They got rid of Bastardo. Oh, wait... "

Addition by subtraction and subtraction by addition.

Indifferent.

Later

[Lefty Specialist]

Crap for crap. My indifference knows no bounds.

[Guest themetfairy]

Can I double down on my vote?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Crap for crap... only you can throw THIS crap at a spot start, or a multi-inning stint. I like it. I sorta like it. I barely like it.

[TransMonk]

RealityChuck wrote: It's plus to get rid of Bastardo. Niese will be useful in his place in the bullpen, and could become a fifth starter if needed.

Before the season, I would have said, "It was a plus to get rid of Niese. Bastardo will be useful in the bullpen. We're not going to need another fifth starter."

Niese is useless, but so was Bastardo. Garbage in, garbage out. Indifferent.

[Fman99]

I like it. If Verrett continues to eat it four innings in, give Niese a chance to start. Why not.

[ashie62]

Verrett really really sux. Start Niese.

[Frayed Knot]

This isn't a trade that's going to swing fortunes wildly one way or the other but it's one I make ten times out of ten.

Neither guy is likely as bad as he looked this season but, for whatever reason(s), they weren't working out so, at worst, it's change for change sake and the future results couldn't be much worse than what we were getting.
And Niese fits a role here better because he can start or go long if needed while Bastardo's lefty-ness was all but irrelevant.
And finally just the ability to get out of next year's commitment makes it worthwhile by itself.

Plus it'll shorten game times by 35-45 minutes simply by replacing a Bastardo inning with someone else. Man he was a chore to watch!!

[Edgy MD]

To me, it's a repeat of Jorge Julio for Orlando Hernandez.

[MFS62]

Fman99 wrote: I like it. If Verrett continues to eat it four innings in, give Niese a chance to start. Why not.

They really haven't been playing Niese kinds of games. They haven't been jumping out to big leads that he could blow.

Later

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I have never been a big fan of Niese, but Bastardo has been an absolute trainwreck this season. I'm not sure Niese is suited to being a lefty specialist out of the pen, but it appears pretty clear than Bastardo certainly couldn't fill that role. I think Niese can do better than Bastardo did for us this season. Niese also offers greater versatility as he can also serve as the long man out of the pen or a spot starter.

Either way, this trade is unlikely to make much impact on the fortunes of the Mets this season.

[RealityChuck]

Rockin' Doc: just noticed your sig. I have a hell of a story involving that song.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Rockin' Doc: just noticed your sig. I have a hell of a story involving that song.

I'd love to "hear it" sometime, when you get the chance.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Fman99 wrote: I like it. If Verrett continues to eat it four innings in, give Niese a chance to start. Why not.

Ashie62 wrote: Verrett really really sux. Start Niese.

Why not start them both? Like, make every fifth day a shared-start day. They alternate "starting" the games, but really, they're handling 3-4 innings each, with the other being the first out of the pen.

[nymr83]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Fman99 wrote: I like it. If Verrett continues to eat it four innings in, give Niese a chance to start. Why not. Ashie62 wrote: Verrett really really sux. Start Niese. Why not start them both? Like, make every fifth day a shared-start day. They alternate "starting" the games, but really, they're handling 3-4 innings each, with the other being the first out of the pen.

why not really go outside the box - give the start to a "reliever" who pitches the first inning with both Niese and Verrett ready to go - then decide which one pitches the 2nd inning on based on the opposing lineup's lefty/right split - as long as the other team believes you are equally willing to start either player they wont be able to load the lineup with lefties/righties.

[Edgy MD]

Another option is to start the guy who the other team matches up most poorly against.

But I disagree that Verrett sucks.

[Centerfield]

Nymr83 wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Fman99 wrote: I like it. If Verrett continues to eat it four innings in, give Niese a chance to start. Why not. Ashie62 wrote: Verrett really really sux. Start Niese. Why not start them both? Like, make every fifth day a shared-start day. They alternate "starting" the games, but really, they're handling 3-4 innings each, with the other being the first out of the pen. why not really go outside the box - give the start to a "reliever" who pitches the first inning with both Niese and Verrett ready to go - then decide which one pitches the 2nd inning on based on the opposing lineup's lefty/right split - as long as the other team believes you are equally willing to start either player they wont be able to load the lineup with lefties/righties.

What a terrific idea.

[Edgy MD]

Everybody who voted this trade down, please step up to the window and collect your winnings. The Knights Who Say Niese are now the Knights Who Say Knee Surgery. The Second Niese Era has ended with 11 innings pitched, an 0-1 record, an 11.45 ERA, 9 walks, 11 strikeouts, and a torn meniscus.

That's two of us. Hey, I was one!

http://www.espn.com.au/mlb/story/_/id/17385468/jonathon-niese-new-york-mets-likely-2016-knee-injury

And yeah, before you check, Antonio Bastardo has done perfectly well with the Pirates.

[Guest themetfairy]

Everybody who voted this trade down, please step up to the window and collect your winnings. The Knights Who Say Niese are now the Knights Who Say Knee Surgery. The Second Niese Era has ended with 11 innings pitched, an 0-1 record, an 11.45 ERA, 9 walks, 11 strikeouts, and a torn meniscus. That's two of us. Hey, I was one! http://www.espn.com.au/mlb/story/_/id/1 ... nee-injury And yeah, before you check, Antonio Bastardo has done perfectly well with the Pirates.

I was the other.

Looser....

[TransMonk]

I was one of the couple of people who went with the indifferent option. The only things that kept me from dislike were Bastardo going the other way and this making the Walker trade look that much better.

I won't miss watching Niese pitch...again.

[Frayed Knot]

The deal still got us out from under the commitment to Bastardo for next season and just removing his occasional 2/3 of an inning appearance lowered the time of game average by some 30 minutes - so I'm sticking with my 'Like'