Niese has the talent for the job, but there are other factors

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

There’s just four days remaining until pitchers and catchers report, but the battle for the Mets fifth starter job likely won’t be decided for another month and a half. That’s because Nelson Figueroa, Fernando Nieve and Jon Niese all pitched well enough in 2009 to be considered for a spot in the major league rotation. It’s likely that two or even all three of them will be more productive than Oliver Perez, but thanks to all the money he’s “earning” the Mets will have to choose just one of the three candidates.
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Guys like Nelson Figueroa shouldn't be a part of the Mets' long-term future. (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

I don’t know if you have noticed the past couple of weeks, but I am starting to get a bit fed up with the team. I understand how people can get a bit excited over the performance that we saw from Nelson Figueroa, but it is quite another thing to start discussing him as a part of the future. I saw an article this morning regarding whether it has finally “come together” for Nelson, and it would be a nice story considering.

But I think it’s not going to happen. The Mets need to be focused on guys who have hope. Investing their already limited resources in an aging 35-year old career minor leaguer would be a big mistake.
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Unfortunately, Bobby Parnell doesn't seem like the long-term solution for the Mets. (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY JOSEPH STONE
STACHE WRITER

This article, although written with tongue-in-cheek humor, is exactly the type of thing that ticks me off about this franchise. Granted, you can find something to rank on any team’s stadium, which by the way, Deadspin has done. But the complaints in here just burn me up. The worst part was the Fillie fan talking smack.

Is it just me, or are they an entire fanbase made up of Guido douchebags and people who fell in love with the team somewhere around October of last year? God, I hope Cliff Lee’s apocalyptic numbers from yesterday are what he is going to put up the rest of the year. If that were to happen, and they go in the toilet in the NLDS, I could just write this season off to a statistical anomoly. Please, Dark Lord, don’t let them anywhere near the Series, unless it is to get utterly raped by the other team, to the tune of 60-2 in a four game set. Oh my, would I never let that one go.
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Building a Team after this Moment has been very hard for the Mets (Courtesy of Boston.com)

BY JOSEPH STONE
STACHE WRITER

I have heard it said the the Mets mission statement over the last two years was to win Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. That they wanted to eradicate the memory of the loss and somehow change the course of history. I don’t think that’s quite true. I think that was something we the interactive fans and the professional writers inferred upon the team, that that particular game was somehow still winnable.

The Mets, in a wise move, just stuck with the core of a team over the next three years that was thisclose to the World Series in 2006, and are just now feeling the fallout from a long barren run at post-season success. After the outcome of the 2006 season, obviously the Mets, as an organization, felt that essentially standing pat with a team that was so close to the promised land was the right choice, hence the Alou signing as a stopgap to shore up RBI production and keep the train rolling.

Management felt that the veteran presence would assist, and not even a beat would be missed on the march back to October. They were absolutely correct. The 2007 season was going along according to script until…no need for specifics in rehashing at this point, we are all well versed. The team that had steamrolled along all year hit the wall and blew up. It happens. Only once in a blue moon, but strange things can happen in baseball. Ask the Cubs, or the Phillies.

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Nelson Figueroa has fought through hell and high water to get back in the big leagues. (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

Nelson Figueroa has certainly been through a lot. Last season, he made his debut with the Mets and did fairly well, and before that, it seems like he pitched in every country known to man. When we saw him fair well in the beginning, it seemed like a nice story. But then, he kind of faded into the background.

But he hasn’t given up.

Earlier this season, Figueroa was DFA’d in favor of Tim Redding, who has been nothing short of a disaster, and now, it looks like it may be Redding whose career with the Mets may be on life support. Redding is sporting a not so impressive 1-4 record with a 6.99 ERA. That has Triple-A written all over it.

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Tough luck for Figueroa, who did all he could to help the Mets win, but all he gets is the boot.

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

We have quite the tough business here. First of all, we have all of these hopes in the young sidearmer Darren O’Day, and the Mets decide to offer him back to the Angels so they could call up Nelson Figueroa to make a start for the injured Mike Pelfrey. I thought the Mets would have been better served either placing Pelfrey on the Disabled List to be safe, or they could’ve used Brian Stokes, who has made starts before for the club. But instead, the Mets decided to offer O’Day back to the Angels. No word yet if the Angels have accepted him back. My hunch says that he will be back in California before you know it.

You think that would be it, but it isn’t. The Mets made another move after today’s loss to the Brew Crew. Nelson Figueroa, who was only made aware of his promotion what seems like hours ago, has been DFA’d, despite throwing six quality innings and giving up only three runs today. When you have an offense behind you that is supportive, that kind of performance would usually be enough to net someone a victory, but the Mets just couldn’t cash in when they needed to, and it cost Figueroa a lot. Instead of keeping him around, they have called up journeyman lefty Casey Fossum, who has been around. The trade essentially becomes O’Day for Fossum, which I am not in love with. O’Day could deceive, and the National League doesn’t have much exposure to him, but the lefty Fossum has faced everybody and their mother, so you would think that players know the book on him.

There are multiple ways in which this could pan out, but I think the Mets are going to regret this move. O’Day might be going back to California, and today’s start might influence another team to take a shot at Figueroa. You know the Nationals love picking guys up off of the scrap heap. Figueroa could fit in nicely for them.

Poor move, Omar. This is one I just can’t see the plus side with.

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

There have been people all over the internet that have been campaigning for the Mets to add another arm to their fifth starter mix. We have already seen Tim Redding and Freddy Garcia look less than attractive thus far this spring, while Jonathan Niese isn’t getting too much of a fair chance because it would seem that the Mets would prefer him to get more seasoning in the minors. Livan Hernandez may not be ready to go once the season begins in April, so the Mets have a bit of a conundrum. One name that has come up across the buzz is Odalis Perez, and quite frankly, that makes me sick to my stomach.

Perez was better than usual last season with the Nationals, but he still wasn’t that good. In 30 starts in 2008, Perez won just seven to go along with 12 losses. Only once in the 32-year old’s career did he post a winning record, and that was seven seasons ago in Los Angeles, when he went 15-10 for the Dodgers. His strikeout numbers aren’t very impressive, and he gives up a lot of hits. Personally, I would rather see Nelson Figueroa or Brandon Knight on the mound than Perez. Remember, we already have one southpaw named Perez that gives us some headaches.

If it’s a minor league deal, than I guess I can deal with it, but I pray that Odalis Perez will never toe the rubber for the Mets in 2009 or beyond. If it comes to that, then it will be official. The Mets will be in trouble.