And now, what's replacing Friday Morning Closer...Sunday Strikeouts.  Enjoy!

Pelfrey As A Reliever And The Impact On The Mets' Starting Rotation

Mike Pelfrey made his first career relief appearance on Friday, leading to talk that Pelfrey could be done as a starter and will begin to be groomed into that of a bullpen role.  Tentatively, however, the Mets appear to be devoted to keeping Pelfrey as a starter, for the time being.

But, let’s take a look too see whether the idea has merit.

Pelfrey, since he was taken from Wichita State nearly two years ago, was regarded to be a talented pitcher that lacked any sort of breaking ball to compliment his impressive heater. 

At the moment, Pelfrey has since seen his once promising secondary pitches abandon him, making him a one pitch pitcher.

What could happen is that the Mets could instead try to bring back Pelfrey's confidence by making him a late innings setup man, maybe even giving him the opportunity to spot close every once in a while.  In the meantime, the Mets would be able to force Pelfrey to stop overrelying on his fastball and get him to focus working on his changeup and slider, which could be solid  pitches once he gets them going.

It's a gamble that could be worthwhile and could help improve the formitable Met setup corps, but it doesn't solve the process of the Mets' starting pitching situation.  With the lack of starting pitchers for the Mets, the Mets are going to be severely shorthanded for the rest of the year, as the Mets' rotaiton stands like this:

• Tom Glavine (LHP)
• Orlando Hernandez (RHP)
• John Maine (RHP)
• Oliver Perez (LHP)
• Miscellanious

That's not an imposing lineup and it looks weak considering that the Mets could have acquired an innings eater during the year instead of sitting back and hoping the bullpen would be spectacular again.

The trade market offers almost nothing unless you want to try and go after a pair of right handers that are locked into long term deals, Jose Contreras and Roy Oswalt.  Oswalt has said that he may consider dropping the no-trade clause on his contract if the Astros were able to get a good deal in return, but I don't think it'll happen, as the Mets have become reluctant to part with any talent whatsoever, this deal will be hard, as I don't think either side will be able to match up with a deal that meets their satisfaction.  That and I doubt the Astros would trade Oswalt, as he's locked in a club friendly contract and parting with an ace of his caliber is insane.

Contreras, on the other hand, is a name that could work, as it would involve parting with a part of the system that Minaya is very well stocked with, outfielders, in exchange for him, provided that Contreras' contract is nearly all paid by the Mets.  The White Sox would be able to clear a spot for Gio Gonzalez, a stud lefty that is tearing up Triple A at the moment, and would gain a piece of their future outfield to replace the awful combination of Darin Erstad/Scott Podsednik.  The only real issue is who the Mets will want to send back in return.  Williams will likely want Lastings Milledge, while Minaya will want to offer back Carlos Gomez instead.

Still, regardless of what happens with Pelfrey, he was another failure of the Mets not signing a free agent during the summer.  Instead of targeting the currently injured Moises Alou, had Minaya instead gone after Jeff Suppan or Jason Marquis, this wouldn't be an issue.

Porcello, Harvey Likely To Go To North Carolina

During the draft, a lot of people gave Detroit and Los Angeles credit for pulling the trigger on Boras Clients Rick Porcello and Matt Harvey, citing them as organizations that got it and were willing to invest in talent, regardless of the price tag.

It looks like both players will probably wind up at North Carolina, for vastly different reasons.

For Porcello, it’s not the money.  It’s the contract.

Scott Boras feels that Porcello is deserving of a major league contract, saying that Porcello is the second coming of Josh Beckett.

At last count, only two high school players ever got MLB contracts from the get-go.

Beckett was one.

The other was Todd Van Poppel, who was rushed through the system and wasn’t ready for the majors once the options on his contract ran out.

And, even though the Tigers have been willing to gamble, I don’t think they’ll compromise a player’s development cycle because of an agent’s outrageous demands.  Besides, they’ve got a young staff already and if they don’t acquire Porcello, they’ll gain an extra first rounder next year. 

As for Harvey, it’s going to be about money.

Even though the Angels have been willing to pay good money for talent in the lower rounds, Boras is going to demand a LOT of it to sign Harvey.  It was surprising to see him fall as far as he did, mostly because of the price tag, but the price to sign Harvey, rumored to be around $2 million dollars, may be too much for the Angels to want to pay.  Another reason is that Harvey, if he chooses to go to Chapel Hill, would be a first round pick in three years anyway and would get more than that as a Top Ten pick, assuming he progresses as planned.

So, really, when I think of all of these factors, I don’t think either player will be heading to the minors anytime soon.

2008 Free Agency – Corner Infielder

Unfortunately, there are no first basemen of note coming out.  Hence, I lumped first and third base all together, partially because there is also a first baseman that can double as a third baseman as well.  Anyhow, this is a very thin class unless Alex Rodriguez decides to opt out.  Then, we would really have a frenzy of people that would love to get their hands on the too vocal for his own good Rodriguez in order to plug him into their lineup.  For the sake of argument, we’ll assume that A-Rod opts out, inciting riots on message boards everywhere.  Here’s who you got to choose from:

• Alex Rodriguez (Yankees) – Yankee fans and the New York media have all pretty much come to terms with the fact that Rodriguez will likely opt  out of his deal, as he’s one of the more fanatically loyal Boras clients and will pretty much do what he says, no matter how much he says he likes New York.  Rodriguez would get a lot of interest, as both LA Teams, The Red Sox, and a few other contenders would be more than happy to overpay to get his production into the lineup. 
• Mike Lowell (Red Sox) – Lowell is having a fine season so far, flashing his trademark defense, but he’s also faded badly down the stretch last year and faded in May this year, leaving one to wonder about his long term durability at the position.  I figure he’ll be the second most attractive corner this year.
• Mike Lamb (Houston) – Lamb is a fine backup corner infielder that fields the position well and hits for some contact and can draw some walks.  I don’t know if he’s starting material though, as neither the Rangers, Yankees, or Astros have thought so.  Someone will give him a shot, however, if the need arises that a sure handed first or third baseman is needed.
• Sean Tracy Casey (Tigers) – Tracy has excellent plate discipline, is sure handed at first and is a good team player.  He’s also entering his mid 30’s, doesn’t hit for power and is going to be entering his decline phase sooner rather than later.  Unless the team already is stacked with power bats, I would pass.
• Pedro Feliz (Giants) – I really don’t know what’s going to happen to Feliz.  He’s likely to stay in Frisco, mostly because there really isn’t many options out there at the hot corner, unless they decide to go crazy and pursue Alex Rodriguez.  Feliz has some value in that he can contribute some power late in the lineup and can play multiple positions, but he’s a subpar defender and K’s enough to the point in that he negates his power.  Pursue at your own risk.
• Shea Hillenbrand (Angels) – He’s as close to done as done gets.

Rangers Report Is Tomorrw.  See ya then.