Mets Lookin’ Kinda Short in Starting Rotation
|
|
|
|
|
With the 2007 season 2 1/2 months away, the Mets starting rotation is looking mightly lean these days.
When you get past lefthander Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, John Maine and realize that Pedro Martinez will sit until at least All Star break recovering from shoulder surgery and with Mike Pelfey an unknown quantity and lefthander Oliver Perez’s numbers highly problematic at best, you gotta like the way the Phillies projected starting rotation of Freddy Garcia, Brett Myers, lefthanders Cole Hamels and veteran Jamie Moyer, Adam Eaton and Jon Lieber looks with 3 weeks to spring training.
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com writes about the Met’s efforts to fill what looks to be gapping holes in their starting rotation;
Jorge Sosa. Ramon Ortiz. Aaron Sele.
Those are the types of free-agent pitchers the Mets are considering as they continue their search for additional help for their starting rotation, with Sosa perhaps the leading option.
The Mets are not interested in right-hander Jeff Weaver, and they’re not one of the two teams offering righty Tomo Ohka a two-year contract, according to major-league sources.
Ohka, 30, spent 77 days on the disabled list last season with a partial tear of his rotator cuff. The condition of his shoulder is a concern for several clubs.
Sosa, who turns 30 on April 28, intrigues the Mets because of the quality of his arm and his ability to work both as a starter and reliever.
The problem with Sosa — and virtually all of the remaining free-agent pitchers, frankly — is that teams can’t be certain of what they’re getting.
The Mets would want Sosa to start. He went 10-3 with a 2.62 ERA in that role for the Braves in 2005, 1-8 with a 5.53 last season.
The Braves traded Sosa to the Cardinals on July 31, after which he posted a 5.28 ERA in 19 relief appearances. Manager Tony La Russa did not use him in the post-season.
The Mets still could trade for an established starting pitcher, but appear to be constructing a team similar to the World Series champion 2002 Angels — strong offense, powerhouse bullpen, five-inning starters.
With Pedro Martinez out until at least the All-Star break, the Mets’ rotation presently consists of Tom Glavine, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey.
So, as the Mets contemplate old, older and oldest with the closest to recent success being Sosa’s 13-5 2005 with the Atlanta Braves, as a Phillies fan, my heart wells with anticipation at the array of starters which GM Pat Gillick has assembled for the 2007 season.
If the Phils offense gets off to a fast start, it looks very much as if the starting pitching will take care of itself. And as the Mets wait on Pedro, they may just be watching over their shoulders as the Phils pass them.
del.icio.us |
digg |
Furl |
Reddit |
YahooMyWeb |