Immediately and in the future, change is coming to our favorite New York Ball Club.
First for the most immediate change, Johan Santana is shut down for the season, which is probably the best decision the Mets could make right now. Collin McHugh (7-9, 2.88 ERA, 143.2 IP) will be taking his spot in the roster. Collin has often been described as Gee like, and now will get his chance to audition for the rest of the season.
Now this connects to the next year. The following pitchers could potentially be starters next year:
– Mike Pelfrey (2nd year Arb.)
– Johan Santana
– R.A. Dickey
– Jon Niese
– Dillon Gee
– Matt Harvey
– Collin McHugh
– Zach Wheeler
The reason I’m listing this is because Sandy Alderson said that there will be major changes to the roster next year, most likely by trade and not by free agents. Now if they don’t offer Pelfrey arbritation, that should save about 5 mil off of the roster, but the Mets will need to make trades with the chips they have, chips that Alderson is confident that he can give up.
It is easy to see how McHugh or Gee could be a chip. Or how one of our OF’s could be with Den Dekker on the rise (or Den Dekker the trade chip).
So going back to the immediate, this is an important month for Valdespin. Essentially if change is going to come via trade, probably to the OF, then the Mets will be trading OF spots.
For the first time in a while, I’m excited about the Mets again, because Sandy knows we need more productive players.
