Our 2008 rotation battle

[yaomac11-1]

Pedro- can be great, just needs to stay healthy
Maine- Showed promise, now must keep consistent through the whole year
Perez- Good lefty balance to the rotation. pretty much same story as Maine
1-3 seems to be a lock

now to the battle

El Duque- has to get healthy then fight for his spot.
Pelfrey- showed good stuff towards the end possible 5 guy
Humber- got to spend most of last year in the minors getting ready. Is he ready though??
Vargas- Once a top prospect with the Marlins. was decent in the minors, ok w/ the mets.
Mulvey- our top pitching prospect. has good stuff, but i wouldnt want to rush him if we dont have to
or trade for someone

Thoughts and responses??????

if i forgot someone sorry.

P.S. Heilman is going to be in the Bullpen according to Minaya and Willie

[Luv those Knicks]

I'd say Duque is a lock too. Granted, he's not a full season pitcher, so at some point, we're going to need to call up our #6 guy, but if Duque is ready, Duque is a lock for the rotation. He won't need to fight for anything. It's his spot.

Granted, if he's done, he will lose it in time, but he's already written in.


Now, #5

You're overlooking a couple possible guys, but

Pelfrey - he's the favorite, you have to figure. He has upside and he wasn't as bad as his record last year.

Humber - lets face it, he was pretty disapointing last year. Not great in the minors, terrible in spring training, didn't show much when he got a start, but Humber's in the mix for #6 guy - first guy called up when we need a replacement.

Don't forget Brian Lawrence. He's not a good pitcher, but he may end up ahead of Humber and is a possible call up too.

and Dave Williams (is he still with this team?) Well, he's a long shot, but he's also possible.

and I think Omar will sign somebody, Garcia or Hernandez - and whoever he signs will have a shot, perhaps compete with Pelfrey.


I'd forget about Heilman as a starter. He's too good in the pen and unless our Pen magically fills up (Sanchez, Burgos, Joe Smith) - making Heilman expendible - I think Heilman will be a fixture in our pen once again.

Mulvey - forget about early in the season. Maybe he joins the team mid season but probably he's towards the end of the year when the roster expands.

and Vargas - I figure he's low on the list. Pelf & Hum are both ahead of him and for Vargas to make the team, he'll need to step up and really show something. It's possible. If Vargas is lights out in spring training, Pelf may start the year in the minors and Vargas might get the #5 spot, but I think he's a longshot. His 12 something era last year isn't exactly a selling point either.


all just my opinion ofcourse. We'll see how it turns out.

I hope Pelfrey is ready to win 13 or more games for us this year, cause we need that in another of our starters.