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Taking The Fifth (Part 2 of 2)

As we all know, the Mets are currently searching high and low for an able-bodied individual to fill out the last spot in their starting rotation. In Part 1 on Wednesday, I looked at pitchers that the Mets are considering from within their own organization. Today I will look at:

Part 2: The Scrap Heap

The following pitchers do not belong to another team and are free for the pickin'. Too bad it's slim pickin'.

Rick Reed

Reed was one of the few union members to cross the picket lines during the 1994-95 strike. He was deemed a "replacement player" and has yet to be allowed back into the union. Nevertheless, Reed was the Mets best pitcher in 1997 and was their second best pitcher in 1998 to Al Leiter. His ERA+ in 1997 was 140, which was good for ninth in the league. His 2.89 ERA that year was sixth in the league.

Reed's success has always been tied to his ability to control the strike zone. Though he couldn't hit 90 MPH driving a Ferrari, his 1.66 career BB/9 is really outstanding, and ranks 1st among active pitchers and 35th all-time. Though he doesn't fan a ton of hitters, his 5.64 career K/9 is adequate.

Where Reed gets killed, however, is when it comes to giving up the longball. He's given up 1.24 per nine innings over the course of his career, which is one of the reasons he hasn't been better than he's been.

Reed will turn 40 this coming August, so he can't have much, if anything, left in the old tank. Of course, there are much worse choices out there. For instance...

Scott Erickson

There's not really much I can say that will be flattering to Erickson. He had good seasons in 1991 and 1992 when he posted ERA+ marks of 134 and 120, respectively. Since then, he's only cracked 115 once (119 in 1997). He was a workhorse from 1996-1999, averaging over 231 innings per season. Then his arm fell off in 2000 and, as you'd expect from a pitcher whose pitching arm fell off, hasn't really been the same since. He's pitched a total of 253.1 innings over the past four seasons, missing all of 2003 with, what else, an arm injury.

Please tell me the Mets (or anybody) aren't really considering Scott F'in Erickson? Why sign him when they could opt for the dried-up husk of this guy...

Garrett Stephenson

Ugh. Career ERA+ of 96 (4.55 ERA for the layperson). He just turned 31, which is about the only good thing I can say about him. He started 27 games last season for the Cardinals and struck out a whopping 91 batters in 174.1 innings. He also walked 60 during that span and gave up a jaw-dropping 30 homeruns (1.55 HR/9). Run away from this one really fast, boys. Don't make eye contact. Don't walk. Get out of dodge. There's gotta be something better out there. Someone like...

Orlando Hernandez

I picked this guy up off of waivers in my fantasy league last year, expecting him to foil National League hitters with his wide array of arm angles, all of which he uses to throw the exact same pitch. Hernandez went down in Spring Training and didn't throw a pitch during the whole season.

He's been a better-than-average pitcher for much of his five big-league seasons and sports a career K/9 of 7.04. He's a bit prone to the gopher ball, particularly when there are runners on base and he has to pitch from the stretch.

If he's had one great strength, it's been his performance in the postseason. In 97 postseason innings, Hernandez has 95 strikeouts, a 10-2 record, and an ERA of 2.51, including a 2.28 ERA in the World Series. Unfortunately, this particular "skill" (?!?!?) will be of little use to the 2004 Mets. According to Baseball Reference, he turned 38 last season. ESPN.com lists him at 34. Only Mrs. Hernandez knows for sure.

Well, there's certainly not much to choose from here. El Duque definitely has the most upside, though Reed has the fewest health concerns. Both pitchers have had success in New York, bud I'd probably throw my hat in El Duque's corner, mostly because I think he can still do a good job getting major league hitters out, and it would probably steam Boss George if he has any kind of success with the Mets.