Bad News: The Mets still don't have a fifth starter, though it could very well be Jorge Sosa. We know that Mike Pelfrey and Orlando Hernandez have done little to distinguish themselves this spring, though I think it's safe to assume that once Hernandez is back in game shape that he will take the ball every five, at least until he succumbs to some random malady that is only supposed to afflict 80-year-old Jewish men.
Meanwhile, Jorge Sosa might be the man to make a couple of April starts while Hernandez is still working the kinks out of his antique engine. Sosa was credible as a starter last season, posting a 4.59 ERA in 80.1 innings; nothing flashy, but completely serviceable for the last line guy in the rotation. He was terrific to begin the season and fell apart shortly thereafter, but with any luck the Mets will only need him for a few outings at the very most, so hopefully he can get in and out before things inevitable go "boom".
In other news, Reed Johnson signed with the Cubs, so despite Dan Scotto's ovations from Queens, Johnson will be suiting up on the North Side and the Mets will break camp with Endy Chavez, Angel Pagan and maybe, just maybe, Brady Clark as their three-four-five outfielders.
Speaking of Endy, I love the guy; I was at Shea for the catch, and Jebus knows that Endy will be living off the residuals of that magnificent piece of glovework for the rest of his days. That said, he's really a stinker with the bat. He plays a mighty fine defensive outfield regardless of where you put him, but he would have considerable difficulty hitting his way out of a paper bag and for a team with championship aspirations I really wonder if great defense is enough to slide by at a premium offensive position like left field. No one is saying that defense isn't important, but it's not nearly as important as offense, and the Mets are going to be sorely lacking in that department from a certain corner outfield spot as long as Moises Alou and his pee-hands are on the shelf.
I'm going to be out of town for the day, though I'll be back tomorrow night. Not that any of you care, but I'll have limited access to the internets or, at least, this site, so I expect the three of you who regularly post comments here to behave yourselves.
Here are some links.
- Rob Neyer thinks that David Wright will be the best player in baseball over the next five years. That's good news for the Mets, and Mets fans, and teeny boppers. Neyer put together a list of the top fifty ballplayers over the next five years, and the Mets have three such gentlemen in the top seven: the aforementioned Wright at numero uno, Johan Santana at #5 and Jose Reyes at #7. Carlos Beltran clocks in at #26, just for good measure.
- Over The Monster compiled a PDF preview of more than 50 Red Sox players. The list is very sharp and informative, and it's something we should consider doing here if I had either the time or the inclination to do so.
- Someone named Joe Lavin found a pre-release copy of the new Jose Canseco tell-all at a local bookstore, mistakedly put on the shelf a solid week before it was supposed to go on sale. I bought Canseco's first book, Juiced from the bargain shelf at Borders for less than three bucks, and it was actually far from awful. I was a big fan of Canseco during my formative baseball years, so some of my enjoyment was likely derived from nostalgia for the slugger, but the fact that much of what he wrote actually turned out to be true scares me more than I would care to let on.
- John Sickels asks if Twins fans will be satisfied with their return on the Johan Santana trade in five years time (ed note: what's with all of the "five years" articles today?"). My guess is "No", they won't be satisfied.
- I missed this last week, but Joe Sheehan talked about small sample sizes and the absurdity of using spring training stats as any kind of barometer for future big league success over at Baseball Prospectus.