According to MLB these are the remaining free agent left-handed relief pitchers.
- Beimel, Joe
- Cramer, Bobby
- Gonzalez, Michael
- Grabow, John
- Hendrickson, Mark
- Kuo, Hong-Chih
- Marte, Damaso
- Miller, Trever
- Ramirez, Horacio
- Rhodes, Arthur
- Slaten, Doug
- Stetter, Mitch
- Tallet, Brian
- Thomas, Brad
- Williams, Randy
The NY Mets having put Danny Herrera on waivers which if he clears can opt to become a free agent rather than go to the minors will have 1 lefty Tim Byrdak for the pen going into Spring Training. This is with the belief Dillon Gee will most likely not pitch out of the pen but rather as a starter in 2012.
Taking into account the Mets GM recently said it was “fair” to assume they most likely will not be adding a free agent that would require a salary of more than $1.5M. I would like to submit 1 name for consideration as a potential second lefty for the Mets pen.
Hong-Chih Kuo – Kuo had surgery on his left elbow for the fifth time in his professional career this off-season to remove a loose body during a arthroscopic procedure. Kuo like current Met Mike Pelfrey also suffers from the yips that saw him have a career-worst (over a full season) average of 7.7 walks per nine innings in 2011. If Kuo though could regain his 2010 form that saw him have an All Star year leading all relievers with a 1.20/ERA would that not be worth the risk? In 2010 lefties hit .095/BA and righties did not fare much better at .195/BA. In 60 innings he struck out 73 batters while issuing only 18 walks.
In the 3 years prior to 2011 combined his line reads as follows:
- 10/W 5/L 13/S 1.96/ERA 170/IP 110/H 52/BB 201/SO.
Kuo who was non tendered by the Dodgers this past December made $2.7M in 2011. Could the Mets work out a deal with him for say in the $1.5M to $2M range? Better question is should they?
Let us know.
17 comments
NJstuckinTX
1/11/2012-7:09am at 7:09 am (UTC -4)
Isn’t one yipper enough?
gategem
1/11/2012-7:21am at 7:21 am (UTC -4)
“Win one for the Yipper”
Paul
1/11/2012-7:35am at 7:35 am (UTC -4)
We’re talking about a .500 team here – I don’t understand why they need Tim Byrdak, much less a second veteran lefty specialist.
The Mets should be using bullpen spots to find people who can a) pitch and b) might be around for more than one season.
TRS86
1/11/2012-7:42am at 7:42 am (UTC -4)
The alternative to that is also looking for guys that could have trade value later. I would check in on Gonzalez.
MetsFan4Decades
1/11/2012-7:42am at 7:42 am (UTC -4)
Holy longevity……Arther Rhodes is still pitching? Best thing I can say about him is even though he’s been with about a dozen teams, and no matter what type of season he’d been having….every time we faced in, no matter what year/what team, we seemed to never be able to hit him. But we’ve already got one aging lefty in the pen.
I know very little about the rest of them. If they’re going to sign another BP arm, I’d just assume it be another swing type, long man. Something tells me with that starting rotation, we’re going to need it…..
fongulalou
1/11/2012-8:34am at 8:34 am (UTC -4)
Mark Hendrickson………Along with Jon Rauch will add some size to our frontline. Then we just need a pass-first Point Guard…….And
maybe a Shooter off the bench and we’re good!
fongulalou
1/11/2012-8:46am at 8:46 am (UTC -4)
I agree with Paul here, whats the point of a 2nd lefty (whos not even very good) taking up a roster space on what will be an awful team?
TRS86
1/11/2012-8:52am at 8:52 am (UTC -4)
Like I said it depends on the cost and the benefit. If you can get a guy like Gonzalez for 1-1.5M and then spin him at the deadline for a prospect then you just paid less than 1M for a decent prospect.
fongulalou
1/11/2012-9:14am at 9:14 am (UTC -4)
Agreed.
TRS86
1/11/2012-8:51am at 8:51 am (UTC -4)
True, minor league invite to Chris Young and keep Pelf around and you should be able to dominate the boards.
fongulalou
1/11/2012-8:57am at 8:57 am (UTC -4)
Jeez….Mike Pelfrey…..Whats happened there???
I was on the bandwagon, gonna be a solid #3 or even maybe a #2…..Whats happened???
TRS86
1/11/2012-9:07am at 9:07 am (UTC -4)
I still think he can be a mid-rotation guy. I am not a big numbers guy in terms of 1-5. I group into 3 categories. Top of the rotation, mid-rotation, bottom of the rotation.
To me he even considering last year he is a decent bottom of the rotation pitcher. When you look around the league in general and forget expectations, he pitched comparable to many bottom of the rotation pitchers. What makes it difficult is that in our minds we want/think he should be something else.
Going forward after this year though, if he does not improve into that mid-rotation guy the Mets have to move on.
fongulalou
1/11/2012-9:14am at 9:14 am (UTC -4)
My hope is that he has one of these freakish starts into
June and some contender or wannabe contender is willing
to give up a top prospect for him. By the time we get good again, service time alone will out price him for us.
TRS86
1/11/2012-9:25am at 9:25 am (UTC -4)
I seemed to think think was his last arbitration year, I could be wrong.
NJstuckinTX
1/11/2012-9:28am at 9:28 am (UTC -4)
I’m with you, especially with his escalating salary and then FA looming for him.
To me, he lost his attack mentality (if he ever had that). He is not a strike out pitcher, so he needs to get the players to put the ball in play. So, he needed to attack, not try to nip the corners every time, run up the pitch count and then get flustered when a couple guys get on base.
With Pelfrey comes the feeling that you just know the shoe is going to drop. Just a matter of when…
MetsFan4Decades
1/11/2012-11:09am at 11:09 am (UTC -4)
‘He is not a strikeout pitcher’.
If I’m not mistaken, he was in the minors (albeit the short time he was there). Just what exactly happened with him?
It’s that sinker that disappeared, right?
Paul Festa
1/11/2012-10:52am at 10:52 am (UTC -4)
I would have taken any of these guys 5 years ago.