The Mets have a lot of problems right now, the least of which is probably the performance of their fifth starter. However, has anyone else noticed that Nelson Figueroa has been -- not to get too technical here -- pretty effing crummy of late? He was the Princess of Flushing after his first two starts against the Brewers and Nationals, but he has been mostly dreadful over his last four starts.

Date	IP	H	BB	R	GmSc
4/22	5.0	7	5	3	38
4/27	5.1	7	3	3	42
5/6	5.0	8	5	5	30
5/12	5.0	5	5	6	36

A little arithmetic gives us 20.1 innings pitched over those last four starts, including 17 runs allowed, 18 walks, 27 hits and three Mets losses. That's more than two baserunners every inning and an RA of more than 7.5. I realize that Figgy got off to a good start, and I don't enjoy ragging on him because he's a good guy and a fun story. Nevertheless, you've got a tough row to hoe if you're going to argue that he is really giving the Mets a good chance to win every time out. Or any time out, for that matter.

Pedro Martinez is throwing in Port St. Lucie, but there is no immediate timetable for his return and I think many would be surprised if he returned before June. Tony Armas is pitching pretty well in New Orleans. Despite a 1-3 record, he has a 3.02 ERA and a solid 36-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 47.2 innings.

The Mets are said to be considering calling up Adam Bostick to pitch on Wednesday, though he hasn't been anything special in seven starts this season. His 3.83 ERA is acctually second on the team to Armas, though the 26 strikeouts and 16 walks in 40 innings is hardly the stuff of legend. Claudio Vargas has made two starts since being called up to Triple-A and, though his 4.91 ERA is uninspiring, his 11-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 11 innings is a good start.

Freddy Garcia is out there, but he won't be ready until July at the earliest.

(what's this?)

Mr. Met: Damion Easley, +13.6%
Mr. Regret: Nelson Figueroa, -41.9%
(Non-)Clutchiest Plate Appearance: Easley homerun off Perez, +10.6%
(Non-)Clutchiest Pitch: Flores 2-run double off Figueroa, -24.5%
WPA by Offense: +3.5%
WPA by Pitchers: -53.5%
WPA by Opponent: +0.0%

• If there was ever any doubt before, it should be clear as Crystal Gravy that Jorge Sosa needs to hit the road. The Mets will have to eat $1.5 million or so, but to keep him on the roster at the expense of Joe Smith is quite simply bad baseball. Matt Wise is ready to come off the disabled list and the Mets need to make a decision; let's hope they make the right one.
• Smith's presence in the bullpen is even more critical in light of Duaner Sanchez's recent poor outings and Aaron Heilman's ongoing struggles.
• Billy Wagner struck out the side in a meaningless ninth inning. When you look at closers around the league crumbling before our very eyes you really start to recognize what a terrific signing Wagner turned out to be. Four years and $40+ million for a 34-year-old closer seemed like a lot of money at the time, but he really is one of the few dominant, dependable closers in baseball.

I think I mentioned the other day that AA would be converted to the new SBNation platform this Thursday (i.e. today). Well, I apparently lied, as the site isn't getting flipped until Saturday. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go check out Athletics Nation, which was the first baseball site to be switched over. About half of the baseball blogs have been converted so far, with five going under the knife last night and another five -- including this one -- set for renovation in the wee hours of Saturday morning. If you want a quick list of new features, check out this intro post at Over the Monster by our esteemed tech guru Trei Bruntrett. A facsimile of that post will appear in this space when the cutover is made, so you can kill some time and be one step ahead of the game by going there and reading it now. Go on, I'll wait.

Ok, while they're off reading, let's look at a few interesting names that were recently released by their former teams. Well, the players were released, not the names, but you catch my drift.

Claudio Vargas, who was released by the Brewers on Tuesday to save the team some $2.7 million. Here are his last three years:

Year	IP	ERA	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	FIP
2005	132.1	5.24	6.46	3.20	1.70	5.44
2006	167.2	4.83	6.60	2.79	1.45	4.90
2007	134.1	5.09	7.17	3.62	1.54	5.08

He hasn't been especially good, but he has been pretty decent overall and he doesn't turn 30 until June. His homerun rate is a bit high, but that should be suppressed somewhat by Shea Stadium. His strikeout and walk rates have been respectable. The Mets don't need him to be Sandy Koufax; they just need him to be serviceable for a handful of starts when needed and to keep the Mets in the game on days when an otherwise credible starter isn't available. Signing Vargas shouldn't cost more than a million bucks, if that, and he would provide some insurance -- or, as in this case, an actual fifth starter -- should the Mets need it at some point this season.

Marcus Giles was released by the Rockies after hitting .321/.457/.536 in 28 meaningless and arbitrary spring training at-bats. Giles has notched OPS+ marks of 87 and 68 the past two seasons, and may actually be finished at age 29. He has some patience at the plate and doesn't strike out that much, but he has very little power and is nothing special in the glovework department. Is he a better option than Fernando Tatis?

Rudy Seanez was dumped by the Dodgers and will be 39 this year, but he has maintained a terrific strikeout rate throughout his career. He gives up a few too many walks to be terribly useful, but the Mets could probably do worse than to offer him a minor league deal with a promise of first call if/when the Mets need another bullpen arm at some point this season.

In other news, a couple of former Mets properties were traded yesterday, as the Padres acquired Justin Huber from the Royals for a PTBNL and the Braves traded Tyler Yates to the Pirates for minor league pitcher Todd Redmond. Concurrent with the Yates deal, the Pirates cut Byung-Hyun Kim and Jaret Wright.