So the Mets have said they are going to announce who their fifth starter will be sometime Friday. I don’t know about you, but my entire productivity has shut down while I impatiently await the announcement. Will it be one guy who probably shouldn’t be on a major league roster? Or a different guy who probably shouldn’t be on a major league roster? This kind of drama is why we all love baseball.
While we see if Garrett Olson or Jeremy Hefner gets the Golden Ticket- and by Golden Ticket, I mean the right to hold a rotation spot as long as they pitch around five innings and give up four runs or less- here’s my ranking of the potential fifth starters.
1. None of the Above- the Mets need to go elsewhere to get a better option. Seriously, Roy Oswalt for a few months, Javier Vazquez coaxed out of retirement, Pedro Martinez- none of these are particularly good ideas, and the Mets probably don’t have the excess capital to make it happen anyway. But they stand a better chance of helping the Mets than the current alternatives.
2. Chris Schwinden- believe it! He’s the best they have. His K rate isn’t good at Triple-A, but it is better than Hefner. His walk rate is much better than Olson’s. This is not an endorsement. It is grudging acceptance.
3. Garrett Olson- he’s a failed MLB starter. He’s walking five batters per nine innings at Triple-A. But at least he misses bats.
4. Jeremy Hefner- good control, but way too reliant on balls in play to be effective, especially with the current Mets defense.
5. Dylan Owen- think a poor man’s Dillon Gee. But very poor. Like, had a bunch of his money in the stock market back in ‘08, and took what was left of it after the crash and invested in Groupon.
6. Matt Harvey- the best of the bunch right now, but at the expense of vital minor league development. Pass.
So. Who’s excited?!?
More important: Arizona comes to town, and the guy who beat out Kirk Nieuwenhuis for NL Rookie of the Month, Wade Miley, pitches tonight. I’m assuming the Mets will seek vengeance.
2 Comments
Chuck James used to be a starter and is working in the pen in AAA. Carrasco longs to be a starter.
Darin Gorski in AA has been all but unhittable in 2011 and picking right up where he left off thus far in 2012. He’s already 24, has 4 years of college and 3 years of minor league ball under his belt. When do they think he’ll be ready—when he’s 30???
They’ve been patient with Gorski, and I’d be concerned about promoting a guy with 25 innings above A-ball who has walked 14 in those 25. But if they’d been more aggressive with him, would the results have lined up? I wonder. A guy to keep an eye on, for certain. Great comment.