Thursday, June 21, 2007

A Call to Arms


Trade season is upon us and early reports indicate that the Mets are focusing their attention on starting pitching, which is never really a bad thing. But unless it’s an Oswalt or a Zambrano (Carlos), I’d much rather see Omar go after some quality arms to rescue a very suspect bullpen.

More than anything else, they need to improve their middle relief. You have to assume the offense will get back to normal. And the starting pitching, while not great, is certainly serviceable, especially with Pedro on slate to comeback early August. But the area that concerns me the most are those guys coming out to pitch in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings. With the exception of Joe Smith & Feliciano, I don’t feel confident in any one of the guys they’re throwing out there. And it’s been a big reason why they are in this skid.

Your bullpen is supposed to do two things: 1). keep you close in ballgames to allow you a come back, and 2). lock down a game you are leading. This is what made them so devastating last year. They’re bullpen was flat out dominant. Games are won and lost in the bullpen now more than ever before. Teams can overcome starting pitching flaws with a good offense, but you’ll be hard pressed to overcome a bad bullpen, especially in the post season. And right now, the Mets bullpen is awful. That is why it is imperative for Omar to go out and get at least two quality arms in that pen. If he doesn’t, the Mets are in trouble.

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