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Although the article linked above doesn't mention it, the Mets non-tendered Scott Strickland and Orber Moreno on Tuesday, leaving the team's bullpen thinner than Colin Quinn's standup routine. Both of these guys have significant health concerns and one or both of them could still return to the Mets, but if either of them winds up healthy and pitching for another team come spring training I have to wonder what Omar Minaya was thinking. Neither one has proven themselves a dominant middle reliever, but given that they've both put up very good strikeout rates in their careers and will probably work for very modest salaries next year, they seem like just the kind of guys the Mets should be using to populate their bullpen.

Strickland hasn't pitched in the majors since the middle of the 2003 season and even then he was often frustrating to watch given his habit of walking around half a batter per inning, so letting him go isn't anything to get too hot and bothered over. But dumping Moreno just doesn't make any sense. Last year he got paid $317,500 to post a 3.38 ERA over just thirty-four and two-thirds innings. He spent the season getting jerked around by Art Howe, who preferred older, less effective options out of his bullpen, and battling arm injuries. Moreno wasn't and isn't a lock to turn into a great or even reliable middle reliever, but he's shown the ability to be very effective when healthy and was just another example of the Mets choosing the older, more expensive option over the younger, cheaper and more promising one. Omar Minaya has done a number of things to make this into a different team than the one Steve Phillips and Jim Duquette put together, but if he's just applying the same prejudices to a different group of guys, what does it matter? Right now the Mets' bullpen consists of Braden Looper, Mike DeJean, Felix Heredia and not much else. If guys like Moreno aren't good enough to fill up the the remaining spots, who is?  ¶ joe | 10:55 PM |