Who should be our 5th starter?

[metsbulls1025]

Shawn Marcum if that's a possibility.

This would be my choice.

[5+7=DYNASTY!!!]

I agree Marcum would be great but sadly he's most likely out of our price range.

[YoungStuna]

Hefner is a very solid 5 starter, Mejia has the potential to be more than that. My only point is we are in a position to gamble so why not take it. If he sucks Hefner is starting by June and Mejia goes to the pen. Best case scenario Mejia develops into a good 4 and we have even more SP depth.

Hefner is a #4/#5 that can give you innings and solid performance given his great control and peripherals.

I don't even see Mejia doing that. His command is poor which spells being a pen arm for his future.

[5+7=DYNASTY!!!]

Hefner is a #4/#5 that can give you innings and solid performance given his great control and peripherals.

I don't even see Mejia doing that. His command is poor which spells being a pen arm for his future.

Listen I have no problem with Hefner at all. If he gets the 5th job I wouldn't bat an eyelash. IMO it'd just be good for the Mets to find out what they have with Mejia as a starter first because if they start him in the bullpen now I don't see a transition to a starter ever happening again.

I should note that this is just my opinion at this moment. Obviously spring training could change this.

[SILVER SEAVER]

Jurrjens looks no better than Hefner. Marcum is injury prone and will want multiple years.

Wheeler will not start the year in the majors.

Didn't you say in another thread that if they had Marcum that he would be able to replace Dickey and help contribute to a playoff spot along with Bourn and Hamilton?

[YoungStuna]

Didn't you say in another thread that if they had Marcum that he would be able to replace Dickey and help contribute to a playoff spot along with Bourn and Hamilton?

That was an alternate scenario, this is reality.

[KingsOfQueens]

5+7 has expressed my exact thoughts on the Mejia situation.

Now is probably the only opportunity he's gonna get to show what he's got. Jeremy Hefner has gotten his and showed us. It's not bad, but Mejia can be better. The organization screwed him over, he deserves a real shot now.

[DisgruntledGoat]

I'd like to bring back Young for cheap, but I don't think that will happen.

If that's the case, then yes, I think letting Hefner at it would be a good move. This could also apply to Familia or Mejia. Let him prove himself and if he is unsuccessful for a bit, call up Wheeler when he's 100% ready.

In the end, I see all three of Familia, Mejia, and Hefner as bullpen pitchers.

NO! Bad MetsFantatic19! *whaps you on the nose with a rolled up newspaper*

Young is NOT a good choice, cheap or not, he's had 2 seasons..2 chances here..both of them were a bust, let's not make the same mistake thrice

We essentially don't have a bullpen at this point and whatever rag-tag group eventually gets thrown together will not be able to handle the work load Young would shoulder them with, at BEST he's a 2x through the batting order pitcher before he starts getting lit up, personally he hasn't shown me that he's effective much past the 4th inning.

[Sick Of It All]

I rather staple my balls 100 times than to see Hefner as the 5th starter, in this one occasion I say **** FIP!!

[Marty Mcfly]

I agree Marcum would be great but sadly he's most likely out of our price range.

And that's why this team is going nowhere. We're not talking a $100M deal here.

No on Young, he is a BP killer and is painful to watch.

[YoungStuna]

I rather staple my balls 100 times than to see Hefner as the 5th starter, in this one occasion I say **** FIP!!

Lol why? He was a rookie last year too.

[Sick Of It All]

IMO he is a guy whose FIP may look decent enough now, but he will get hit hard over a whole season. Also is not like his good games were against top notch offensive teams, 2 were against the Marlins, 1 was vs the Astros and the other vs the Pirates who did not show up the last month and a half of the year. Also they were mostly in September and I always take what a guys does in that month with a grain of salt since there are many teams that have packed it in like the Astros, Marlins and Pirates.

He is a guy that you may use as the long man and use as a swing guy if they are no other options or things have gone horribly wrong.

I much rather give a guy with higher potential a shot.

[jomota]

I rather staple my balls 100 times than to see Hefner as the 5th starter, in this one occasion I say **** FIP!!

I doubt if you got past ten. Maybe five.

[MetsFanatic19]

NO! Bad MetsFantatic19! *whaps you on the nose with a rolled up newspaper*

Young is NOT a good choice, cheap or not, he's had 2 seasons..2 chances here..both of them were a bust, let's not make the same mistake thrice

We essentially don't have a bullpen at this point and whatever rag-tag group eventually gets thrown together will not be able to handle the work load Young would shoulder them with, at BEST he's a 2x through the batting order pitcher before he starts getting lit up, personally he hasn't shown me that he's effective much past the 4th inning.

How has he been a bust? What did you expect from him, his 2007 days?

He's been pretty much average all around.

4.15 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 0.287 BABIP, 4.50 FIP all around average for age 33 and around league average for the most part.

He is a good veteran to bring back who can help out Harvey, Wheeler, and other young guys coming up this year. I'd rather bring him back for cheap than to overpay for Marcum.

[SJ5382]

I do agree that Hefner was quite unlucky this season, and was better than his surface stats show. I wouldn't be opposed to giving him a spot in ST. Right now, we have 4 guys with guaranteed rotation spots, although one of them is a huge injury risk. I would like to sign someone like Marcum or Pavano and have Hefner as insurance as our spot starter. Marcum and Pavano have put up #3 starter-esque seasons just 1 season ago.

Odds are, one (or more) of our current four will get injured, and we shouldn't have to risk Wheeler up if that happens. We need some depth at SP.

I don't know much about what we're planning on doing with Mejia, but he doesn't seem like a real viable option. He just doesn't strike anyone out anymore, and his BB rate is far too high to make up for that. I would make him a middle reliever.