If Jon Niese cracks the rotation out of Spring Training, the Mets will enter the season with four...

If Jon Niese cracks the rotation out of Spring Training, the Mets will enter the season with four starting pitchers coming off injury-plagued 2009 seasons. The fifth, Mike Pelfrey, plans to throw more breaking balls than ever before.

And yet Figueroa, a rubber-armed craftsman capable of eating innings in the back of the rotation, could very well be pitching thousands of miles away when the Mets inevitably need a fill-in starter.

Ted Berg on the Figueroa possibly not making the team

about 2 years ago Gina 22 comments 0 recs |

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Nelson should go somewhere where they'll appreciate him.

I’m rooting for him to win the spot, and, if not, the team can certainly use him elsewhere, but come on…

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 22, 2010 2:27 PM EDT reply actions

I agree he should be appreciated

I also agree that letting him go elsewhere would be boneheaded beyond words considering the high risk state of our rotation.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 22, 2010 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Spot on

This sums up the Nelson Conundrum perfectly

by deadspy3 on Mar 22, 2010 2:40 PM EDT up reply actions

When the pitchers are so close in performance, the goal should be to keep as many players as possible

by EtSuKe on Mar 22, 2010 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Niese is certainly coming off of an injury,

but it’s definitely more of the freak injury type rather than any sort of pattern. I’m really not too concerned with lingering effects with either Ollie or Niese, as those types of injuries just happen to anyone.

Who cares how bad the Bay deal will look in 2013, the world is going to end in 2012 anyway

by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 22, 2010 2:55 PM EDT reply actions

I'd still consider Ollie high risk

just because of Ollie being Ollie syndrome.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 22, 2010 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions

No doubt, but I think expecting him to be healthy enough to make 30 starts is reasonable.

Who cares how bad the Bay deal will look in 2013, the world is going to end in 2012 anyway

by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 22, 2010 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree he should be healthy enough

but I imagine he’ll have a couple implosions where some of those 30 starts will be <4 innings, and he may be sent down or to the bullpen to straighten things out and end up missing starts.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 22, 2010 8:05 PM EDT up reply actions

can't we just put Ollie

in triple-A like the yanks are doing with Kei Igawa? Just eat his contract and move on. Figgy is a better option than Ollie. Just because he;s getting paid like a number 2 does’nt mean he’s your number 2.

by TheKid08 on Mar 22, 2010 10:17 PM EDT reply actions

I'd love to trade Perez for Igawa, for what it's worth.

That’d probably come back to bite us in the asses, though. And, we don’t have Rick Peterson to fix Igawa in ten minutes. Meh…

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 23, 2010 12:08 AM EDT up reply actions

History repeats itself

If the Mets are counting on Pelfry and Maine(both GUTLESS) they have to be delusional.At the first hint of trouble these guys fold like a bad Texas “hold em” hand.Pelfry turns beet red and looks like he’d rather be anywhere else as soon as trouble arrives.Maine is the poster boy for lack of self confidence.Neither one of these pitchers has an out pitch they can throw to get a big out.I haven’t mentioned Perez because he probably is under physchiatric care for his many internal problems.

I’d rather lose with youth than lose with these 3
Please revamp this staff and fire Dan Warthen.
Johan Santana has actually told him to leave him alone.If everyone on this team played with Santana’s heart,the Mets would have a great summer and so would all Mets fans.

by Putnan Prince on Mar 23, 2010 9:42 AM EDT reply actions

Are Pelfrey and Maine not youth?

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 23, 2010 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions

I believe you are incorrect

if everyone was playing with Santana’s heart, they’d probably all be arrested and sent to jail for killing a man and mutilating his body.

2009 Did Not Happen

by cjmulrain on Mar 23, 2010 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions 3 recs

Flagged

for saying that Maine and Pelfrey are gutless without any proof.

If there's ever a riot at Citi Field and Oliver Perez was the starter, I started the riot.

by meigs1414 on Mar 23, 2010 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

dude, just look at pictures of them

neither one has a large, Mo Vaughn-esque belly. Hence, gutless. That’s what Putnan meant, right?

2009 Did Not Happen

by cjmulrain on Mar 23, 2010 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions

You're aware that there is supposed to be a space after a period and before the beginning of the next sentence, right?

Also, it’s Pelfrey, not “Pelfry.”

by Evan_S on Mar 23, 2010 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions

seriously, what are you doing here?

Write this down for a script if you need one, and call 718-937-6666.

by anonymous on Mar 24, 2010 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Screw it

I’m going to actively root for Figgy to dominate when he inevitably ends up on the Phillies or the Yankees. I’ve had it with this team.

2009 Did Not Happen

by cjmulrain on Mar 23, 2010 10:45 AM EDT reply actions

something tells me, if it were figgy in and niese out

that the word from “tedquarters” would be bitching about the mets not utilizing/evaluating their homegrown, tons-of-potential, could-be-murder-on-the-lefties-of-the-nl-east rookie pitcher and going with veteran retreads and then he’d go on to quote figueroa’s mediocre career stats.

personally, i wouldn’t be upset either way, figueroa or niese to round out the rotation. i think both could have success. niese already dominated at aaa last year and has shown flashes in the bigs. figueroa is a lock to outperform the afforementioned lousy career stats if he keeps his k rate over 7 per 9. i like them both from a personal standpoint. figgy the local guy, 9/11 charity, journeyman story. niese the homegrown talent, has potential, and a curveball thats fun to watch.

but i think this is one time where ted berg can ease off his ‘fringes of the mets roster watch’ and refrain from giving us a simple little lesson about how some marginal talent should be better utilized.

try to write something positive, ted.

On his property, Mr. Frazier has created a number of places to unwind — or as he said, "just chill."

by inventor frank on Mar 23, 2010 3:56 PM EDT reply actions

why is there no excitement that niese is getting his chance?

as someone mentioned above, we’re not getting 162 starts from our 1-5. figgy will get his chance, too.

On his property, Mr. Frazier has created a number of places to unwind — or as he said, "just chill."

by inventor frank on Mar 23, 2010 3:59 PM EDT reply actions

Did you read the article?

people aren’t worried about Niese making it over Figgy because they think Figgy is better. They’re worried about Niese, or worse Nieve or Misch, making it over Figgy because there’s a good chance Figgy will refuse assignment and sign with a Japanese team, something Niese couldn’t do because he has options left. So no Figgy won’t get his chance with us, instead we’ll be forced to resort to someone much much crappier than Niese or Figgy for multiple starts, where as we could just keep Figgy in the bullpen over meh options like Nieve or Misch and not have to worry about him pitching some thousand miles away. You’re arguments are valid but they have absolutely nothing to do with the current topic.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 23, 2010 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Just to make it clear

while I can see how that quote might read that way he wasn’t talking about Niese in terms of a Niese vs Figgy discussions. He was talking about Niese in terms of how high risk it would make the rotation and how it wouldn’t make sense for people like Nieve or Misch, or even someone like Parnell with options, to get a bullpen spot over Figgy if that rotation was the one we broke camp with.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 23, 2010 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions