Friday, April 22, 2005
Grant Roberts Is On Drugs
But you knew that already. What might surprise you is that the drugs Roberts has been using lately have been of the performance-enhancing variety, though I suppose using the word "surprise" in discussing the subjects of Grant Roberts and disciplinary action is something of an antiquated practice from days gone by. Roberts has been suspended for fifteen days for violating the minor league steroids policy, though as far as I can tell, he is no longer employed by any particular major league franchise, having been released by the Mets eight days ago. So it seems that any team itching to get a hold of his unique talents will have to wait fifteen days after signing him to do so.
Roberts first pitched in the Mets organization back in 1995 at the age of seventeen, posting a 2.15 ERA in 29 1/3 innings of work in the Gulf Coast League. He struck out 24 and walked 14, which isn't too impressive, but he did post good numbers in the following two years, striking out 214 and walking 81 over 198 1/3 innings across the next two rungs of the Mets' minor league ladder. But as he progressed through the higher levels of the minors, his ERAs and K:BB ratios got less and less pretty. He made it to the majors in 2000 and began a five year stretch in which he became increasingly familiar with travel routes between Shea Stadium and the Norfolk metropolitan area. He had occasional bouts of effectiveness as a reliever over short periods of time, but never really established himself as much of a major league pitcher. Various injuries have kept him from pitching even 100 professional innings in any year since 2000, but it's been even longer than that since he posted the kind of results that would qualify his absence from the Mets' major league roster as any kind of tragedy. Pointing to him as an example of squandered potential likely overstates how good he was to begin with. Presumably this latest controversy will be enough to sever his ties to the Mets organization permanently. ¶ joe | 4:54 PM |
But you knew that already. What might surprise you is that the drugs Roberts has been using lately have been of the performance-enhancing variety, though I suppose using the word "surprise" in discussing the subjects of Grant Roberts and disciplinary action is something of an antiquated practice from days gone by. Roberts has been suspended for fifteen days for violating the minor league steroids policy, though as far as I can tell, he is no longer employed by any particular major league franchise, having been released by the Mets eight days ago. So it seems that any team itching to get a hold of his unique talents will have to wait fifteen days after signing him to do so.
Roberts first pitched in the Mets organization back in 1995 at the age of seventeen, posting a 2.15 ERA in 29 1/3 innings of work in the Gulf Coast League. He struck out 24 and walked 14, which isn't too impressive, but he did post good numbers in the following two years, striking out 214 and walking 81 over 198 1/3 innings across the next two rungs of the Mets' minor league ladder. But as he progressed through the higher levels of the minors, his ERAs and K:BB ratios got less and less pretty. He made it to the majors in 2000 and began a five year stretch in which he became increasingly familiar with travel routes between Shea Stadium and the Norfolk metropolitan area. He had occasional bouts of effectiveness as a reliever over short periods of time, but never really established himself as much of a major league pitcher. Various injuries have kept him from pitching even 100 professional innings in any year since 2000, but it's been even longer than that since he posted the kind of results that would qualify his absence from the Mets' major league roster as any kind of tragedy. Pointing to him as an example of squandered potential likely overstates how good he was to begin with. Presumably this latest controversy will be enough to sever his ties to the Mets organization permanently. ¶ joe | 4:54 PM |
