Friday, April 02, 2004
Seo long, for now
The preseason-long drama over who would fill out the back end of the Mets' starting rotation has come to an end in a way no one could have predicted at the start of spring training. Jae Weong Seo, previously thought to have the fourth spot in the rotation locked up, is headed to Norfolk and Tyler Yates and Scott Erickson will assume the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation. For now.
While I was, and still am, against giving a spot in the rotation to Erickson and this seems like an example of small sample size rum amok, it may be a defensible move. A few days ago, the Mets were just trying to figure out who would be the five best starting pitchers to begin the season on the major league roster. But now, they are trying to pry Milton Bradley away from an Indians team set to send former Steve Phillips blunder Jeff D'Amico out to the mound to start the fourth game of the season. If the Mets left Erickson off of the major league roster, he'd be a free agent available to the highest bidder. But with Erickson on the roster, the Mets can, and seem eager to, pursue trading from what has become a position of depth to fill a need. If Erickson, who won't be of much use to the Mets while wearing their uniform this year, can be part of a deal to bring Bradley to Flushing, then this will turn out to have been a great move on the Mets' part. If this takes a little time and allows Seo to get a couple of minor league starts and work out whatever problems he's been having with his delivery or his approach in his recent starts, all the better.
Of course, Seo, Yates and Erickson aren't the only Mets affected by this move. Grant Roberts' recent struggles have landed him in the bullpen, leaving only one or two spots for Dan Wheeler, Orber Moreno and Ricky Bottalico, depending on whether the Mets carry eleven or twelve pitchers. If Jose Reyes starts the season on the disabled list, the team might fill his roster spot with a twelfth pitcher. But once he gets back, which hopefully won't take too long, the team will only have room for eleven, leaving two of the aforementioned three out in the cold. I think both Moreno and Wheeler have earned major league spots, and Bottalico hasn't been bad himself, but the Mets' desire to stock up on mediocre middle infielders limits the space in the bullpen. Maybe Roberts is only in the bullpen temporarily until Erickson gets traded, or maybe another of the team's veteran bullpen arms is on his way out as well, but if that's not the case, I can't say I'm wild about how the Mets are using their roster space. ¶ joe | 11:44 PM |
The preseason-long drama over who would fill out the back end of the Mets' starting rotation has come to an end in a way no one could have predicted at the start of spring training. Jae Weong Seo, previously thought to have the fourth spot in the rotation locked up, is headed to Norfolk and Tyler Yates and Scott Erickson will assume the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation. For now.
While I was, and still am, against giving a spot in the rotation to Erickson and this seems like an example of small sample size rum amok, it may be a defensible move. A few days ago, the Mets were just trying to figure out who would be the five best starting pitchers to begin the season on the major league roster. But now, they are trying to pry Milton Bradley away from an Indians team set to send former Steve Phillips blunder Jeff D'Amico out to the mound to start the fourth game of the season. If the Mets left Erickson off of the major league roster, he'd be a free agent available to the highest bidder. But with Erickson on the roster, the Mets can, and seem eager to, pursue trading from what has become a position of depth to fill a need. If Erickson, who won't be of much use to the Mets while wearing their uniform this year, can be part of a deal to bring Bradley to Flushing, then this will turn out to have been a great move on the Mets' part. If this takes a little time and allows Seo to get a couple of minor league starts and work out whatever problems he's been having with his delivery or his approach in his recent starts, all the better.
Of course, Seo, Yates and Erickson aren't the only Mets affected by this move. Grant Roberts' recent struggles have landed him in the bullpen, leaving only one or two spots for Dan Wheeler, Orber Moreno and Ricky Bottalico, depending on whether the Mets carry eleven or twelve pitchers. If Jose Reyes starts the season on the disabled list, the team might fill his roster spot with a twelfth pitcher. But once he gets back, which hopefully won't take too long, the team will only have room for eleven, leaving two of the aforementioned three out in the cold. I think both Moreno and Wheeler have earned major league spots, and Bottalico hasn't been bad himself, but the Mets' desire to stock up on mediocre middle infielders limits the space in the bullpen. Maybe Roberts is only in the bullpen temporarily until Erickson gets traded, or maybe another of the team's veteran bullpen arms is on his way out as well, but if that's not the case, I can't say I'm wild about how the Mets are using their roster space. ¶ joe | 11:44 PM |
