Some Bullpen Suggestions

The number one place where the Mets need to make some major improvements is their Bullpen. In order to accomplish this feat and return it to it’s 2006 for there is really only a couple of moves that are going to be required, in my opinion anyway.

1. First of all the Mets have to figure out what they are going to do with Guillermo Mota and his 5.76 earned run average. After he spent the first 50 games on suspension, Mota showed us Met fans why baseball players go on the juice in the first place. He had the knack of making every in game situation considerably worse and cost the Mets some vital games as we can all tell. The Mets can try and move him in a trade and add some cash, or simply eat his contract and send him down to Triple-A to figure himself out.

2. The next move would have to be to sign a legitimate set up pitcher and one such a pitcher will be available.

Scott Linebrink was traded to the Brewers last season and will become a free agent at the end of the World Series. The Mets would become a considerably better team with his veteran presence in the pen. I would say they should sign him to a one year deal, worth $1.75MM. If there is another team willing to go beyond this bid, then the Mets should double up on the deal. They have no other option for a proven veteran set up man and must bring someone of Linebrink’s credentials in to help turn around the mess.

3. Duaner Sanchez has to do anything and everything to make sure that he will remain healthy for the 2008 season. After getting hit by the drunk driver in Miami in 2006, he has missed a year and a half to rotator cuff surgery and a hairline fracture. With Sanchez back in the pen, the Mets will have the option of pitching Sanchez or Linebrink in the eight inning role on any given night and the other, possibly pitching the seventh.

4. Joe Smith, the youngest member of the Mets bullpen, must do everything in his power during the off season to make sure that he doesn’t get dead arm syndrome in the middle of the season next year and let’s not forget to remind Willie Randolph not to over use the youngster and let him get his rest in between appearances.

5. Orlando Hernandez has shown that he doesn’t have the endurance to go the stretch in the starting pitcher’s slot. So the logical move would be to the pen, where he can act as a two headed long inning monster with Jorge Sosa and make the inning or two appearance if the Mets know that they don’t need to get those kinds of innings out of him and his Bugs Bunny pitch.

With all of the above mentioned moves made the bullpen would shape up to look as follows:

Joe Smith
Pedro Feliciano
Jorge Sosa
Orlando Hernandez
Scott Linebrink
Duaner Sanchez
Billy Wagner

This will surly be a far cry, in the good way, from the 2007 bullpen and if you were wondering about Scott Schoeneweis, I would have to try and include him in a deal for a starting pitcher from the Athletics or the Pirates (my personal preference).