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Taking The Fifth (Part 1 of 2)

With the Mets Winter Caravan underway in New York City, the team has unveiled its new motto: "Catch the Energy". The way the Mets defense performed last season, it could very well have been "Catch the Ball" (get it?). Anyhoo, with Spring Training a month away, the team is still searching for another starting pitcher to round out the rotation.

A lot of "names" have been mentioned in recent weeks. Those names, believe it or not, belong to current or one-time ballplayers, "pitchers", whose services the Mets are considering.

You may remember Spring Training 2003 when the Mets were in a similar situation. Jason Middlebrook, Mike Bacsik, and upstart David Cone battling for the fifth starting spot, with the elder statesman Cone "winning" the showdown. He even managed to hold onto the spot for four starts before calling it a career.

This year is no different, as the Mets are scouring the depths of baseball purgatory in search for a pitcher to round out their rotation.

Part 1: From The Bowels Within

The following pitchers can be currently found within the Mets organization.

Jeremy Griffiths

In a brief stint with the Mets last season, Griffiths pitched 41 innings and posted an ERA+ of 60 (7.02 ERA) which is not good, to say the least. He only managed a bit better in Winter Ball, going 1-2 with a 6.94 ERA. In 532 minor league innings he has an ERA of 3.61. His K/9 is 7.64; not mind-numbing, but well above average. His BB/9 (2.83) is pretty good and his HR/9 (0.65) is excellent.

He's a big guy, 6'6", and he'll be 26 in March. He's by no means an overpowering pitcher, but he has some upside and could turn into an above-average major league pitcher.

Aaron Heilman

Like Griffiths, Heilman has been a very successful pitcher in the minor leagues. Also like Griffiths, Heilman sucked it up big time with the Mets last year. While looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, Heilman responded to being given the fifth starter's position by posting an ERA+ of 63 (ERA 6.75).

A first round pick by the Mets in 2001, Heilman has a career minor league ERA of 3.35. His peripheral numbers are also very strong: K/9 of 7.86; BB/9 of 2.89; HR/9 of 0.49. His strikeout rate was decent with the Mets (7.03), but his walks and homeruns increased dramatically. Heilman was considered an untouchable prospect before last season, and now he's crap. He still has loads of "potential", and hopefully Rick Peterson can help him. It's been said that a lof of Heilman's problems last season came from poor mechanics. If there's one thing Peterson knows, it's mechanics (or bio-mechanics).

Tyler Yates

Yates came to the Mets in 2001 as part of the Dave Justice trade. Looking at his minor league stats, he looks like he has potential.

TYLER YATES

                IP    ERA    K/9    BB/9   HR/9
Rookie Ball    23.0   3.91   7.83   5.48   0.00
Class A       141.0   4.33   8.68   3.70   0.89
Class AA       89.0   4.85   8.60   4.25   0.61
Class AAA      39.0   1.14   8.54   3.23   0.23

He's struggled with his control a bit, but he has an overpowering fastball and he does a great job keeping the ball in the park. He could be a closer in waiting, but the Mets may give him a shot at starting. I can't say I know why.

Grant Roberts

Roberts was an 11th round pick by the Mets in 1995. 1995 was a long time ago. Roberts turned 26 this past season, and should be hitting his prime years. He has a career major league ERA+ of 112 (3.62 ERA). He has struck out 76 batters in 97 big league innings, while surrendering only 5 homeruns and 31 walks.

He came up as a starter in 2000 and promptly got shelled. He gave up 9 earned runs in 7 innings and that was it for him. He returned in 2001, this time as a member of the bullpen. He has pitched well in that capacity for the Mets, but has lost a lot of time these past few seasons due to injury. The Mets are giving him another shot at starting, and Roberts is reportedly very excited about this opportunity. After all, as a started, he'd be able to smoke pot four out of every five days and not have to worry about pitching in a game. Woo-hoo!

Check back tomorrow for Part 2, where I'll look at players outside of the Mets organization who could be vying for a spot in the rotation.