Friday, April 27, 2007By Dave Mills
There is not a MLB team without a flaw (or several). The Mets are no exception.
The everyday players and bench are pretty deep. The corner outfielders and first-sacker are slightly below average and have limited range, but not exactly achilles heel material.
Is the starting pitching really as good as it has been thus far? Probably. Glavine continues to be Glavine. Remarkably consistent and working inside more than he used to. Maine is maturing and getting better with every start. He has the ability to be dominant. Peterson certainly understands Perez and Perez has confidence in Peterson and his own considerable stuff. El Duque is El Duque, but he generally runs out of steam for a while in midseason. Pelfrey may have been rushed a bit, but if he keeps the ball down, he should succeed. But how many teams have a Chan Ho Park, Jason Vargas, Jorge Sosa and Phillip Humber toiling effectively at AAA with a Pedro Martinez in rehab?
The bullpen is likely to be the Mets achilles heel, especially until Mota and Sanchez are back in the mix. Minaya has done a very good job of putting arms in the pen in light of injuries to those two and Juan Padilla.
Three scenarios are NOT playing out in the Mets favor. Sanchez and Padilla are unlikely to return this season and even if they do, they cannot be counted on to be effective. Who knows what Mota will produce after such a long layoff and without chemical enhancers? Heilman is looking very shaky, probably due to his bout with tendinitis.
Two things can happen. El Duque and/or Pelfrey could be moved to the pen with Park or Vargas, and later Martinez, moving into the rotation. Or, Omar makes a deal or two, but prospects will have to be moved. I like the first option and that is exactly why arms have been stockpiled.
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Comments (4)
dave - don't forget about dave williams...
Posted by joyce mandelkern | April 27, 2007 2:32 PM
Dave,
great job! Just one 'add in/consideration/question' ...I wonder if (see my comment on last post) Omar is wary or a little ticked by the last salvo in FA market...losing out on Zito & Dice-K, ...and might be lining up his wares to go after Santana, Zambrano, Oswalt (early)and not simply wait for the next open season....
Posted by Ed | April 27, 2007 2:58 PM
I think the Mets have several places to seek help if the bullpen falters.
A potentially fatal weakness on the Mets would show if an infielder should go down for any considerable time. Any one of the four starters would be impossible to replace from within. Maybe, maybe Carp or Brett Harper could fill in for DelGato for a while, maybe Easley could play second for two weeks without the whole structure collapsing -- but there's nowhere to go for another Reyes or Wright.
Posted by dd | April 27, 2007 3:05 PM
The (stubborn) manager
Posted by Anonymous | April 28, 2007 12:44 PM