True story. When Ollie first came over to the Mets Peterson wanted him to speed up his windup because, as Peterson said, he was doing the waltz when he needed to be doing the merengue. So Peterson had him listen to his iPod while throwing side sessions to get him to speed up his windup and get into a rhythm.

“nah JK, the brewers just gave up on him for shits and giggles…obviously they gave up on him because he’s not very good for some reason, whatever it is, teams don’t just cut guys for the sake of it.”

Here’s the thing with Vargas. He’s no longer a prospect and they probably figured he would never pan out. Coming out of Spring Training they had Sheets, Capuano, and Suppan as locks for the rotation. But they also have a lot of good young arms: Parra, Villanueva, Gallardo, Bush, and a two other young arms in their top 11 prospect list. Gallardo was essentially guaranteed a spot in the rotation as well. So you basically had 3 pitchers competing for one spot in the rotation, and that’s without Vargas.

I can’t stand the argument that Player X is worthless because Team X gave up on them. Look around the majors: Keppinger, Nady (Padres gave up on him), Maine (O’s), Brandon Phillips (Indians), etc. There are many reasons why a player gets cut… and a lot of times it doesn’t have to do with ability. Sometimes a team just wants to go in a different direction.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Vargas isn’t going to be an all star. But he will be a very good 5th starter on a team like the Mets. He will be moving from a top 10 offensive ballpark (Miller Field) to a park that traditionally suppresses home runs (Shea), which is what has plagued Vargas in his career.

The guy has good stuff and fits the MO of the kind of pitcher Peterson has had success in “fixing.” Guys like Lawrence, Lima, Soler, and Gonzalez… there wasn’t anything there to fix… they were junkballers. But guys like Maine, Ollie, Feliciano, Sosa… they have live fastballs and good stuff. Peterson has helped them to focus and pitch on the mound, rather than just throw.

Given Peterson’s history, I don’t think it would be unreasonable to think Vargas could lower his walk rate a tick, and pitching in front of a better defense (the Brewers team D was awful last year) in a pitching favorable stadium could lead to him being a very solid #5 starter.

Again, I’m not suggesting he will suddenly blossom into this dominant pitcher. All he needs to do is go out and pitch a solid 6 innings per start so that the bullpen doesn’t need to come into the game in the 4th inning, like they had to under the Jeremi Lawrence-Lima era.

That seems about it.

We have to hope that Big Pelf can hold it down and wait for one of the old guys to get better.

Vargas is good for depth/emergencies but unless Peterson can “fix” him he doesn’t appear to be someone who will help the team long-term. He’s not an efficient starter, failing to reach 6 innings in more than half his starts. That’s something the team can ill afford. Maybe that’s a reason why the Brewers gave up on him.

Sloppy: Thanks. There isn’t anything wrong with the guys we have: Figgy, Armas, Bostick. But I see these guys as organization type guys… you know, guys who stick with an organization and give you a spot start here and there, or even being long relievers. I just can’t see any of them being viable long term options for the rotation. Vargas started off pretty good last year and has solid stuff. Plus, we don’t need miracles from him, just innings.