So Long, Big Pelf

Mike Pelfrey underwent Tommy John surgery today and odds are good that he will not pitch for the Mets again.

I can't say I'm terribly upset by that.

I don't mean the surgery. I don't wish injury on anyone, and I hope that he has a speedy recovery. I'm talking about his playing time with the Mets.

Yes, he had some success during his time here, but for many fans and myself, we only remember last season. The ugliness. The hand licking. The wiping of the forehead. Then back to the hand licking.

So gross.

He's been labeled a head case by some. Maybe they're right. Maybe they're wrong.

Either way, I don't think New York was the best setting for him.

Assuming all goes well with the surgery, I'm guessing that he will recover and go on to pitch for a smaller market team and find success...like most ex-Met pitchers do.

Good luck, Pelf.

Mets Morning News 2-26-12

The Mets released this image of the patch yesterday. 

The Mets announced Saturday that the team will wear a patch on their uniforms to honor the late Gary Carter. The patch features a home plate with "The Kid" and the No. 8 in the middle.

Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger did a Q & A with Jason Bay to find out more about his friendship with Eddie Vedder.

"I was a huge Pearl Jam fan … Eddie’s a huge baseball fan. Huge Cubs fan. There’s a lot of guys who have met him. Sean Casey, who’s a diehard Pearl Jam fan, he’s hung out with Eddie numerous times. When I got traded to Boston, we played a game and that night Eddie was playing somewhere in Boston on his solo tour. And he signed this poster, 'Hey, Jason, welcome to the Red Sox.' And then Casey gave me his number. So we text back and forth."

"I’ve never met him. I’ve never actually technically met him. And that’s the funny part. Casey was like, 'Hey, here’s his number, he said text him.' So he was like 'Hey, sounds good, man. If I’m ever up in Seattle recording …' He’s never up there. He’s got a lot going on. I’m probably the last person (on his mind). 'Oh, I’ve got to call Jason Bay!'"

Pitching prospect Matt Harvey threw his first live batting practice Saturday. According to David Lennon, Harvey is expected to begin the season with Double-A Binghamton, but he writes, "plans are subject to change."

"Obviously, that's a pretty impressive-looking pitcher," manager Terry Collins said. "When you stand behind there, he's got a feel for it all. He's got tremendous rotation on his breaking ball, got a good slider, knows how to sink it. We all know he can throw hard. Now it's a matter of dealing with the process, and that's getting better command and more consistency. I truly believe in the process."

Andrew Keh of the New York Times profiles prospect Kirk Nieuwenhuis who discussed past injuries and his future.

"There’s no doubt this is an important spring for him because of the situation we’re looking at, with us in desperate need of guys who can play outfield," ManagerTerry Collins said of Nieuwenhuis. "We’re going to give him a lot of playing time. He’s going to get plenty of chances to prove himself."

Mike Pelfrey did not do well last season. We know it, and he knows it. David Wright is standing up for Pelfrey though, telling Mike Kerwick of The Record:

"He was coming off a good year," Wright said, "and then all of a sudden just because he's named the opening day starter … a lot of times he got matched up with [Roy] Halladay and Josh Johnson."

He deserved better, Wright said.

"There was numerous times where he pitched well and should have gotten a win," Wright said. "There were a couple times where we blew leads for him late. There were a couple times where he just had some bad luck because he's going up against other team's No. 1."

Mets Expected To Offer Pelfrey Arbitration

Don't expect to see Mike Pelfrey go anywhere any time soon.

Despite stinkin' up Citi Field and just about every other stadium he pitched in last season, the Mets still plan to keep him.

According to Dan Martin of the NY Post:

As general manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins have said repeatedly, despite Pelfrey’s regression in 2011, he still has value to the Mets, since he tossed 193 2/3 innings a year ago and that workload isn’t easily replaced.

He could throw 300 innings a year, I still don't care. What does it matter how many innings he throws if he is ineffective in 90 percent of them?

I haven't heard any good options for who could replace Pelfrey in the rotation, and I'll admit, I'm guilty of this myself. Fact of the matter is, Pelfrey is just not good.

Some argue that he has all of this potential talent and that he needs time. My response: How many years does a guy have to play in the big leagues before those excuses can no longer be applied? If he has all of this "talent" why have we hardly seen it during his years in New York?

All I know is that he needs to go...somewhere. It will make watching games a little less stressful with him not on the mound, and I can guarantee it will be a much healthier game without all of that hand licking.

Mets News Galore

A bunch of things happened in Metsland today.

• Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported on Tuesday that the Marlins offered Jose Reyes a 6-year, $90 million. Rosenthal also wrote, "Obviously, the offer was not tempting enough for Reyes to accept immediately." Obviously.

• Nick Evans declared free agency. According to Andy Martino of the Daily News, Evans will look to play elsewhere. That's for the best. He never stood a chance in New York.

• According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, the Mets will tender Mike Pelfrey and Angel Pagan.

• Adam Rubin tweeted that Jason Pridie signed a minor league deal with the Oakland A's.

• Ken Davidoff of Newsday reported that the Mets are looking at Jason Marquis as a possible replacement for Chris Capuano. Capuano is seeking a two-year deal, and the Mets will not offer that.

• Davidoff also reported that the Mets' medical staff will look a little different next season. Assistant trainer, Mike Herbst, will now oversee health and conditioning of the Mets' minor-league players in Port St. Lucie. Brian Chicklo will now serve as the assistant trainer with the big league squad.

That's all for now.

They're Outta Here!

Yes, he was right.  Yes, everyone overreacted to what he said.  But if Mike Pelfrey hadn't pitched himself out of New York already, he certainly talked himself out the door this weekend.  The former ninth overall pick has been a top prospect, a struggling young pitcher, a potential staff ace and finally, a malcontent.  He has pitched extremely well and extremely poorly.  He was supposed to be the ideal pitcher for the expansive CitiField, and for a year it looked like he might be.  Now it looks like he'll be pitching somewhere else next year.  But he won't be the only Met leaving town.

The Ultimate Mets Lineup

The 2011 Mets are hovering around .500 right now, and they will probably finish the year around .500 too.  Fitting, given that this team has been oddly snakebitten.  Jose Reyes was in the middle of his best offensive season and is now on the disabled list for the second time with a recurring leg problem.  Daniel Murphy joins him on the DL after establishing himself as a starter with a breakout year.  Last year's breakout Ike Davis hasn't seen the field in months, and won't until next year.  Ace Johan Santana will be lucky to see game action in 2011, and may never be the same after shoulder surgery.  David Wright has been hitting well since missing time, leading one to wonder how he would have performed over a full season.  Ditto for the departed Carlos Beltran.

So I decided to perform a little experiment.  What if everyone on the 2011 Mets had performed at the peak of his career? What if every starter had his best historical season - forget that, how about taking every Mets star from the last decade, sticking them on the field and seeing how they would perform at their absolute apex.

The ultimate Mets fantasy team of the 2000s, instead of the also-ran 2011 edition.

Yankees 9, Mets 3: Add This To The List Of Games To Forget

Disaster. This is the only word that describes today's game.

• Mike Pelfrey went six innings before imploding in the seventh. He allowed five runs on eight hits, while striking out four and walking two. Pelfrey began the seventh by giving up a single to Brett Gardner and then followed with a walk to Chris Dickerson and a hit batsman. Why Pelfrey was allowed to even continue after allowing the single to Gardner is beyond me. He's proven so far this season that he can't get himself out of jams.

• The Mets allowed the Yankees to score eight runs in the seventh inning. Pedro Beato's perfect ERA is no more after giving up two runs in one-third of an inning. Mets pitchers are not the only ones to blame for this disaster of an inning. Willie Harris bobbled a ground ball that would have been the final out of the inning, but instead it prolonged it.

• The Mets had a three-run second inning and then went on to do just about nothing at the plate the rest of the game. Willie Harris, Ronny Paulino, and Jason Pridie each had an RBI in that inning.

This was quite possibly one of the most boring series I have watched in a long time, and today's game had one of the worst innings I've seen all year out of the Mets. At least the team wasn't swept and Interleague Play is over for a while.

Next up: The Mets have an off-day Monday, and begin a three-game series against the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.

Mets Send Pelfrey To The Mound In Subway Series Finale

May 22, 2011

1:05 PM ET

Yankee Stadium

TV: WPIX

RADIO: WFAN 660

NEW YORK METS

Starting Pitcher: Mike Pelfrey (3-3, 5.11 ERA)

Pelfrey seems to have gotten into a groove as of late. Despite taking a no decision in his last outing, he pitched well, allowing just one run in seven innings of work against the Marlins. Lifetime agains the Yankees, Pelfrey is 2-2 with a 4.70 ERA.

NEW YORK YANKEES

Starting Pitcher: Ivan Nova (4-3, 4.33 ERA)

In hist last start, Nova gave up one run in 5.1 innings of work, and helped the Yankees end a six game losing streak. He has never faced the Mets.

METS LINEUP:

Reyes-SS, Murphy-1B, Beltran-DH, Bay-LF, Martinez-RF, Turner-2B, Harris-3B, Paulino-C, Pridie-CF. Pelfrey-RHP