Bartolo DFA'ed

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Do we dare?

[metirish]

There is a need , go for it

[bmfc1]

8.14 ERA
1.778 WHIP
-2.3 WAR
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colonba01.shtml

Montero pitched a good game, Wheeler is coming back but it's tempting if ATL eats most of his salary.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I haven't checked Big Sexy's numbers recently, but the last time I looked, he was the worst pitcher in the NL among those with qualified innings pitched. Maybe Father Time finally caught up with Big Bart.

[A Boy Named Seo]

He checks my boxes on the entertainment, imminent need, and 'fuck it, who cares anyway?' requirements. Gotta be as close to free as free can be, though.

[Edgy MD]

8.14 ERA 1.778 WHIP -2.3 WAR http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colonba01.shtml Montero pitched a good game, Wheeler is coming back but it's tempting if ATL eats most of his salary.

If he clears waivers, Atlanta eats all of his salary, and the Mets have a chance to take a look at something like MLB minimum.

They can start him in Vegas or as mopup guy in the pen and see what they can do with him. Hopefully it would help morale.

Whether it would help the rotation probably depends a lot on your opinion of Tyler Pill.

[metirish]

Not sure I can stomach another pill

[batmagadanleadoff]

metirish wrote: Not sure I can stomach another pill

But can you stomach another "stomach"?

[metirish]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Not sure I can stomach another pill But can you stomach another "stomach"?

[A Boy Named Seo]

Looks like his velocity is the same as last year, he's just starting walking dudes at twice the rate and is giving up more homers (14.3% HR/FB compared to 11.5 last year), something 44-year old dudes don't likely get better at. Still, his FIP and xFIP are both over 3 runs better than his actual ERA, leaving you with a 5 ERA pitcher. If the BABIP drifts south of its current .360, you could have a 4.50 ERA Bart for cheap-o.

Plus, all the jiggling!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

[youtube:30yez9ww]qsYnhVITf9E[/youtube:30yez9ww]

[Dusts off "Big Sexy" shirt, sunglasses, and can coozies]

[seawolf17]

YES YES YES

ALL EMOTION AND NO BRAIN

BUT YES YES YES

[Edgy MD]

[sprays self with scent of control]

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Even if he IS shit... wouldn't you rather have Bart giving up those game-killing rallies than, say, Ferny Salas?

[Frayed Knot]

It's a mystery as to why he went downhill so quickly ... but then I guess one could say it's as big a mystery as to how he was as good as he was in his early '40s while throwing in the upper '80s (or was it the other way around?)
The bottom line is that Atlanta was looking for short-term options while their young pitching developed and Bartolo went downhill quicker than expected at the same time the lefty Sean Newcomb who we saw once so far (4 starts, 1.48 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) arrived ahead of schedule so this move for the Braves was more a question of when than if.

The Mets are certainly going to wait until he clears waivers before striking even if they're inclined to, although that of course opens him up to other teams looking for a patch as well.
I'd be tempted to bring him on because you can use him in a variety of roles -- start, short, middle, long -- and hope for the best, cuz right now they're about two injuries away from giving ME a call and my shoulder is killing me these days.

[smg58]

You sign him to a minor league deal, then give him a couple of weeks in Vegas to see if he can right his ship. Worst case scenario: we lose nothing, and he gets a couple of weeks in Vegas.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Even if he IS shit... wouldn't you rather have Bart giving up those game-killing rallies than, say, Ferny Salas?

And Neil Ramirez. Has that guy had a single acceptable outing?

[smg58]

Neil Ramirez doesn't even deserve a couple of weeks in Vegas. Hell, a couple of weeks in Binghamton might be too good for him.

[Edgy MD]

Not for the Mets, he hasn't.

Fun fact: Neil Ramirez has appeared 15 times for the Mets and given up at least one hit or walk in each outing.

He's given up 29 hits and walks in 15 1/3 innings.

[MFS62]

smg58 wrote: You sign him to a minor league deal, then give him a couple of weeks in Vegas to see if he can right his ship. Worst case scenario: we lose nothing, and he gets a couple of weeks in Vegas.

No pitcher has ever completely righted his ship in the Pacific Coast League unless it was an injury rehab and he just needed innings.
I'd send him to Binghamton instead. The Eastern League is a little more pitcher friendly and it would be easier to get a handle on his progress.

Later

[Guest themetfairy]

Bartolo! Bartolo!

[Frayed Knot]

Last night was Bart's first outing after three weeks on the DL. But at the same time he wasn't any better prior to going out so it's not like you can simply chalk it up to rust.
I mean, he made 13 starts this season and two were good, his first and third starts of the season (#1 was against us back on April 5)

iow, I don't know what a minor league 'rehab' session is going to do for him except make him a couple weeks older still. And since he'd be signed for the ML minimum a major or minor
league contract is of little difference. If there's room for him on the 40 then I think you do this. The worst that can happen is that it fails.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Surprise, I'm in Uncle Bartolo's corner. Make it so.

[MFS62]

He'd be better than Ramirez.
Heck, I'd be better than Ramirez (hyperbole meter hit 74).
Sign him.

Later

[Fman99]

With waivers, if he clears, then, he gets to decide where to go, right? I would think Flushing would be high on his list of preferences, given his familiarity with the squad, mound, etc. and being such a fan fave the last few years.

GO GET HIS BIG DUMB ASS says I.

[Guest cooby]

Oh my god yes. Someone call the freaking Mets and demand it

[A Boy Named Seo]

I do hope Big Bart finds his way back to Queens. If this is truly it for him, then he gets one last-go and finishes a Met, a team I think he might be the most heavily identified with (pun intended) because of his lovable John Candy antics here. He was a stud fireballer with the Indians, and won a Cy and threw a no-no with the Angels, but he did historical and hysterical shit with the Mets.

He's such the redemption story (and dammit we need something redeeming this year). Busted for PEDs, but comes back more popular than ever in the second act of his career. Legitimately obese, but for years, got prime physical specimens out with guile, a darting 89-MPH fastball, and jack shit else. Bartolo gives the common fan hope. Hope that he or she can rebound from whatever stupid thing made their life difficult, and even at a late stage, turn it all around just like he did (and dammit we need some hope this year!)

He is "Every Man". We see ourselves in him. An older, tubby guy who looks like he just pushed himself off a couch, set down a bag of Doritos, and then starts getting Major League hitters out with ease, all the while wearing this magnetic, impish smile. "If that guy can do it, I can do it," some of us think. We're wrong, of course, but he's a star we can almost touch. A super bright, low-hanging, morbidly obese, cartoon of a star.

GO GET HIS BIG DUMB ASS says me, too.

#BringBartHome

[MFS62]

Who cares if he can get hitters out? We could use him as a pinch hitter.
Bring Bartolo Back!
NOW!

Later

[A Boy Named Seo]

[tweet:1d2j8y8d]

[/tweet:1d2j8y8d]

[Chad ochoseis]

Nah. We all love Bartolo. But there's no upside here. And he takes up space - lots and lots of space - both in the dugout and on the roster.

On the other hand, I think he'd be a great replacement for Mike Barwis.