In an effort to make me cringe, the Mets have decided that the best move for the team is to shift a promising front-line starter prospect, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, into the bullpen. I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let us review the facts.
The Mets signed Mejia as an Amateur Free Agent in 2007. In 2009 he emerged as a pitcher of note as he obliterated FSL hitters in his first year in the league. His display in Port St. Lucie earned him a call to Buffalo where he struggled but the Mets were now paying attention.
During the Spring Training of 2010, Mejia turned a lot of heads. Met fans began to wonder if they were seeing the future Ace of the staff emerge before their very eyes. Jerry Manuel, the Met skipper hoped he had his salvation in the form of a positive media story. What followed is a tale of what not to do with a talented young arm.
The Mets used Mejia in relief… but not frequently and only in lower pressure situations. When it became evident he wasn’t necessary they sent him down to stretch him out to start. He made a few MLB starts but the 2010 season was a wasted year in his development. 2011 was little better as he made only a few starts before requiring the season ending Tommy John surgery.
Now the Mets are at it again. They are moving Mejia out of the starting rotation and into a relief role for a future undefined role with the big league bullpen. This move likely removes any remote chance of Mejia being a starter to begin the 2013 season and could hinder his development overall.
Could Mejia be a closer of the future? Sure, maybe. Will he close in 2012? No, probably not. Should the Mets have left him starting in AAA all season? You betcha!
Silver Lining: The path is now clear for Wheeler and McHugh to be promoted.
Around the Minors:
AAA:
Fred Lewis Ready in Reserve – The Mets don’t need a lefty OF, but Fred Lewis has been really good in AAA and might be worth a shot if Baxter’s injury lingers.
Jeurys Familia… That’s More Like It! – 5.2 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks, 6 K’s and no runs. It’s still not the dominating stuff I think Jeurys can hurl but it’s much improved.
AA:
Matt Den Dekker Best Hitter in Eastern League – His season OPS is .960 which is good but his 10 game OPS is 1.219 and that’s frigg’n absurd. His batting average is now .340 but I’d want to see his BABIP before I got too crazy. He still doesn’t walk and strikes out more than once per game.
Eric Campbell Still Hitting – He’s doing enough to stay on my radar. He’s still on the fringes of the radar picture.
Jefry Marte’s Streaky Power – It seems Marte goes quiet in terms of power for weeks at a time and then busts out with lots of extra base hits all at once. We just had a deluge… hopefully it lasts.
Zack Wheeler’s Last Start in AA? – 7 innings, 2 hits, 1 Run (not earned), 4 BBs and 7 K’s. With Mejia now in the pen… what is stopping the Mets?
Darin Gorski Back on Track? – He’s had some bumps in the road but his 8 inning performance on the 9th was pretty nice.
Adrian Rosario Hits a Pot-Hole – He had been cruising through 2012 until he had an ugly outing on the 10th. Hopefully he straightens out quickly.
A+:
Wilmer Flores Plays Second – More on this later in the week. Where do the Mets get the most bang for their buck?
Wilfredo Tovar Ready for AA – He’s not a big bopper or a base stealer but his good glove and solid approach could make him a MLB SS similar to Ruben Tejada.
Tyler Pill up to A+ – Pill’s shown great mechanics and control this season and earned his promotion.
A:
Camden Maron – Josh Thole Jr. has his batting average up to .273 and has discovered doubles power. In his last 10 games he has 5 doubles and a triple.
Cringe! Cringe!! Cringe!!! but what can the Mets do with the bullpen in shambles? It is hard to understand but the reality is Chris Young can’t go to the bullpen, and neither should Gee.
Matt Den Decker needs to get promoted now to AAA because he should get some AAA time so that he can compete for CF in 2013. If he makes the club then Kirk goes to left to platoon with Bay. Wheeler should be in AAA now, he has earned it and McHugh at the midseason break. I’m glad to see Flores at 2B. It sends a message that Havens and Valdespin may not be the answer at second in the eyes of the front office.
The Mets could make some smaller trades for Bullpen help. THEY REALLY COULD. Also… they probably SHOULD.
My 2013 Mets Lineup… Right Now:
1. K. Nieuwenhuis, LF (Vs. RHSP), R. Tejada, SS (Vs. LHSP)
2. R. Tejada, SS (Vs. RHSP), J. Thole (Vs. LHSP)
3. D. Wright, 3B
4. L. Duda, RF
5. I. Davis, 1B (Vs. RHSP), J. Bay, LF (Vs. LHSP)
6. D. Murphy, 2B (Vs. RHSP), J. Turner, 2B (Vs. LHSP)
7. M. DenDekker, CF
8. J. Thole, C
Wheeler and McHugh should and probably will be up in AAA by the end of the week.
I’m writing something more in depth on Flores and his positional options.
Add in Davis hitting 8th against lefties… although it might
I hope you’re right about DenDecker. 2013 should not have Davis and Duda in the same lineup, only one can play first, but Davis is playing so poorly he has lost any trade value. I like Turner and he is an avg major league second baseman but I would play Murphy over him. I would trade Murphy and be comfortable with Turner at second otherwise Turner should be traded as Cedeno or Quintenilla are adequate backup middle infielders. 2013 is a long way away and much can change. Hopefully the Mets get some bullpen help in the immediate future.
This is the kind of idiotic move the Mets make are famous for. That tells me they will NEVER and I mean NEVER be a first class organization. Somehow, they continue to attract idiots in the front office. 3 or 4 Ex GM’s and they can’t see the value on keeping a potential #1 or 2 type arm in the rotation. It is the same stupidity that got his arm hurt to begin with but did they learn anything? No because they are the Mets and did I mentioned they are stupid?
Tell me why they just can’t bring up Beato instead and leave Mejia in the rotation especially when you consider that Harvey has not looked all that great lately?
It has become such a task just to be a fan of this franchise.
Useless players taking space in the ML roster like Ike, Bay, Rauch and Nikrais because they can’t make a hard decision so is better to play with 21 guys in the roster since 4 are useless.
Davis needs to be sent to AAA to find his confidence
Bay gets a few more weeks before I’ll be on the same boat
Nickeas should be gone. Rob Johnson should be on the team
Rauch… is gonna be there until the Mets find another solution
I don’t mind Mejia being used out of the pen as long as he’s able to get guys out using all of his offerings, not restricted to just one pitch like in 2010. I also want him used in important situations. If he’s used in mop up roles I’d rather have him in Buffalo throwing 75 pitches every 5th or 6th day and just leave that role to Egbert or Elvin Ramirez.
His surgery was bound to happen and the jerking around of him in 2010 wasn’t the cause of his injury but the idea of restricting him to one pitch and used as a mop up at 20 is just as bizarre an idea of development that I have ever heard of short of Pulispher, Izzy and Wilson pitching 200 innings in a single minor league season.
Pelfrey and Kunz being brought up despite performing poorly in AAA is another puzzler. The Zambranno and Putz deal reek of failure to cover all the bases by the FO. Painted into a corner with Perez was a domino result of prior mistakes. Bell and Izzy of poor development and imagination.
Lack of patience and consideration for the future has hampered many pitching decisions through the years but in this case isn’t a killer as long as Mejia is given a key role.
He can always be moved back into the rotation next year after having used his entire arsenal against Major League hitters in big spots while seeing what works in smaller increments.
Den Decker was promoted to Buffalo on 6/11/12. Alderson has also stated regarding the bullpen, “This is an area to begin to look at externally.”
Caught that when I watched a little of AAA game on SNY last night. Den Dekker had NOTHING to prove in AA so this was the right move. I don’t understand why someone who can’t draw a walk is going to lead off for Buffalo… anyway.
I wish they could undo the Mejia move.
It seemed Wheeler’s promotion was only a few days away.