Mets demote Josh Edgin to make room for Shaun Marcum on the roster

The Mets officially announced today that Josh Edgin has been optioned to Double-A Binghamton—not Triple-A Las Vegas—while Shaun Marcum has been activated from the disabled list. Since they called up Robert Carson and designated Aaron Laffey for assignment at the beginning of the week, the Mets had been carrying eight pitchers in their bullpen. With Shaun Marcum slated to make his Mets debut today since then, too, it was obvious the Mets would make room for him by demoting a relief pitcher.

Edgin began last season with Binghamton but quickly earned himself promotion to Buffalo, then the Mets' Triple-A affiliate, where he continued to pitch pretty well. The Mets brought him up in mid-July, and he was very successful out of the gate before struggling down the stretch and finishing his debut with a 4.56 ERA and 4.69 FIP. He had no problem racking up strikeouts, walked a few too many opponents, and really struggled with serving up home runs.

The 2013 season hasn't been as kind to Edgin. His strikeout rate is down and walk rate is up a tick, but he's given up home runs at a much more reasonable rate of 0.96 per nine innings. But he's been hit hard and often, and through 9.1 innings, Edgin has a 9.64 ERA. His 3.53 FIP is markedly better than that, but he clearly needs to get things worked out in the minors.

This is the first instance in which the Mets have clearly chosen to send a pitcher to Binghamton over Las Vegas, presumably to let him work things out in an not-ridiculously-hitter-friendly environment.