The Mets suffered through a most disastrous weekend. Even though they managed to take two of three games on the road versus the Nationals, they suffered great losses both on and off the field. To add insult to injury, not only did they lose Noah Syndergaard for an indeterminate amount of time, they were pounded by the Nationals, 23-5. The embarrassment of that loss aside, the Mets now must concentrate on finding a replacement for Syndergaard for the foreseeable future.
The first option for a Mets team whose starting pitching depth has already been pushed to its limits, is Rafael Montero. Montero is coming off a lost season in which he bounced around the minors. He pitched well enough to begin the season as a member of the Mets bullpen. Though he has gone 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA so far, this season.
These stats aside, Montero was a pretty big prospect just a few years ago for the Mets. The biggest difference between him now and then is his control. Coming through the minors originally Monetero was touted as a control pitcher. In 2011, he had 66 strike outs as compared to 13 walks. This culminated in a 2.15 ERA with a 5-4 record. Last season he combined for 59 walks as compared to 108 strike outs with a 6.07 ERA and a record of 8-9. Not exactly the most encouraging numbers, but perhaps if he is able to regain his control he can turn it around.
If Montero proves to be less than satisfactory, the Mets have little in the way of big league ready talent in the minors. With both Steven Matz and Seth Lugo still at least a month away the team is forced to weather the storm with Montero or look outside the organization for help.
There may be a few teams looking to move pitchers including the Pirates Gerrit Cole and the White Sox Jose Quintana. Though both players would likely require a king’s ransom of prospects that the Mets would not be looking to part with. The Twins have a few options in Phil Hughes as well as Erving Santana and lefty Hector Santiago.
The Kansas City Royals may also end up being sellers with Jason Vargas being an upcoming free agent. The Toronto Blue Jays are also off to an awful start and may be looking to unload some starters as well.
Hopefully the team can get some quality outings out of Montero until one of their more accomplished starters is able to return to the rotation. While the team is off to a terrible start, and their number 1 starter and star outfielder are both on the shelf, this team is still very much alive.
They have a deep enough team were the combination of a slow start and a few key injuries should not bury them. The time to turn things around is now and the team cannot afford to suffer through a few more weeks of subpar baseball. Whether they decide to make a move or not they need more consistent offensive play from veterans such as Curtis Granderson and Jose Reyes.
The next 15 games or so will be very telling in what the rest of the season will hold for the Mets.
Montero has proven to be a big league bust of epic proportions. His prospect status 3-5 years ago has no relevance any longer. The Royals are a couple weeks away from a fire sale, and a pitcher + Moustakis would be quite good to get accomplished.
What would it take to get that talent into New York?
No he’s not.
I’d rather give Ricky Knapp a shot than Montero.
He’ll be a decent stop gap when he pitches decently to MLB Hitters
I’d sooner go with Kevin Plawecki. At least he can play another position in a pinch.
Spinach! Let’s give Ces and Noah lots of spinach. SErve spinach as a pregame meal.
Mike, Montero stinks. He won’t last four innings and will kill the bullpen. I agree with Name that Knapp should have gotten the call, and with Doug Fister and Colby Lewis available as free agents, I don’t know what the delay is. Are they afraid to DFA Montero lest someone steals him, or is this his last big chance?