Did a guest spot for Monday's Hot Stove Report on SNY (6:30 and 11 p.m.) alongside Ron Darling and Gary Cohen. While the majority of the show focused on the Johan Santana trade, the parting question had to do with the biggest area of concern for the Mets heading into spring training.
Now that Santana has filled the hole of No. 1 starter, the presumption is that the Mets are in pretty decent shape (SNY's poll question indicated that 92 percent of you feel the Mets are now the team to beat the National League). Ron was asked to make a prediction on Santana and he was confident the two-time Cy Young winner would notch victories.
As for the biggest concerns, Gary went with Carlos Delgado, who showed his age last year and is not getting any younger. I chose rotation depth, now that the Mets have shipped Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins in the Santana deal. It's not unusual for teams to need 10-13 starters over the course of the season, and the Mets are about six deep right now -- Santana, Pedro Martinez, John Maine Oliver Perez, Orlando Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey. The newly re-signed Jorge Sosa should help, but there will be more openings along the way.
What are you worried about with pitchers and catchers set to report in less than two weeks?
Comments (11)
I agree with your assessment that starting pitching depth could be an issue, given Pedro's recent health issues (though good now) and of course El Duque.
Unfortunately, the remaining crop of free agent starting pitchers is not inspiring, as evidenced by Kyle Lohse being the seeming cream of the crop.
Livan Hernandez' name is mentioned often, I suppose that wouldn't be terrible. Kris Benson, John Thomson and Steve Trachsel are in the "been there, done that" category and there they should stay. Jeff Weaver has already proven he's not ready for the bright lights of Broadway.
Of those remaining, my wild guess is Tony Armas, based solely on the fact that Omar Minaya once had him with the Expos. Otherwise it looks like Jason Vargas gets another chance. Ugh.
my major concerns are that delgados washed up,randolph shows no heart and to often mismanages,if sanchez isnt healthy the bullpen needs another good set up guy.also the teams a bit lefty heavy and could use a right handed bat off the bench and to play firstbase and outfield. someone who could spell delgado and church on days facing a tuff lefty and fill in for alou if hes injured.
The real question is, Are the Mets better today then they were last week? Obviously yes. Now the Mets have a real go to guy now, once was held by Martinez just four seasons ago before the injury bug got the best of him. However, just like the Braves and the Phillies, the Mets do have a few areas of concerns. First, did Carlos Delgado have an off year or did he really show his age and that he is now on a course of decline? What about the ballpen? Outside of Wagner and Heillman, and Feliciano, the rest of the ballpen is full of what if`s then a sure thing. But with that said the depth there is very deep with the additions of Wise, Padillia, and the return of Sanchez just to name a few. Now the real question that all experts are looking at is the depth of their starting rotation. Mainly El Duque and Martinez. If either one goes down who will be there to pick up the peices? Is pelfry ready to step in? After returning from the minors Pelfry was pitching with a lot more confidance, but I think a full season in AAA is better for his development. Jorge Sosa is another possibility, but he is more suited for sport starting and long relief. In conclusion, if you look at the Mets, Braves and the Phillies you have to agree that the Mets are in better shape then their top two opponants. The Braves are rebuilding essentially,but still competive, the Phillies rely far too much on an explosive offense, but they have just as many question marks about their starting pitching as well. It will be a tight race this summer, but Minaya has time to make additions to fortify the pitching corps. He has a lot less resources today to add top names, but the lesser known are usually just as good. I also look for Mike Carp to show more improvements during this season, if he fails then the Mets are going to have to decide what to do for a Firstbaseman to replace Delgado, when his time is up.
Depth is an issue, but I'm more concerned about the bullpen, which was a major disappointment last year after being an essential part of the team the year before. Getting Santana will allow the Mets to put Pelfrey or El Duque in the pen for long relief, so that will help a little, and hopefully Wagner will pitch more like the first half of the year than the second. But who are the reliable set-up guys? Heilman? Feliciano? Is Sanchez going to be effective? I think that's the real Achilles heel. If Wright and Beltran and Alou hit, they can survive another subpar year from Delgado, but I don't think they can survive another subpar year from the bullpen.
The Mets NEED Duaner Sanchez to return to pre-Miami accident form. Middle relief is my biggest concern right now.
I would agree with both you and gary about concerns. I think if the Mets could sign a Livan Hernandez to a reasonable contract, both in years and dollars, it would help the rotation depth. El Duque may even be used out of the bullpen. The bullpen is always a concern. You could say that for all thirty teams, as bullpen pithcers are so inconsistent from year to year and sometimes from month to month.
#1 concern: Jose Reyes. He should be coming into this season with the attitude that he, not Jimmy Rollins, is the MVP and the Mets, not the Phillies, are the best team in the National League East. And he must feel that he has to take back what was rightfully his. As Reyes goes, so go the Mets. Santana stretches the bullpen out, and replaces their poor 2007 fifth starter statistics. Pedro should replace Glavine and Pelfry should be ready to take over for Hernandez when he breaks down. So priority #2 is a right handed first base/ outfielder to back up Delgado/Church and balance the bench.
A huge concern, in my opinion, is the corner outfield spots. How many games will Alou be in there, will Church be the regular rightfielder? How healty will Chavez be? Reserves will get a lot of playing time in the outfiled. Don't forget Beltran is good for at least one injury, with missed games, a year also.
Youtube. Did you guys here about Pedro???? What an idiot. He is involved with cockfighting. I mean if thats not bad enough, he lets himself be videotaped!! At least theres no video of Vick!
Cockfighting is not illegal in the DR. So if, say David Wright, goes to a bullfight in Spain, that's bad also? No comparison between Pedro and Vick.
I WOULD DEFINITELY FEEL ALOT MORE COMFORTABLE IF THE METS WOULD SIGN LIVIAN HERNANDEZ TO SURE UP THE BACK END OF THE ROTATION. SOSA AND ARMAS? NO THANKS. GIVE LIVIAN THE BALL EVERY 5TH DAY AND LET PELFREY GET A HALF DOZEN OR SO QUALITY STARTS AT NEW ORLEANS.
I DON'T RECALL IF JASON JENNINGS EVER SIGNED WITH TEXAS. HAD A BAD YEAR LAST SEASON WITH INJURIES BUT IF HE IS AVAILABLE, I WOULD TAKE A SHOT WITH HIM AS WELL.