The Mets signed left handed starting pitcher Jason Vargas to a 2 year deal worth 16 million dollars on Friday.
Vargas, who pitched for the Mets more than a decade ago, also reunites with new Mets pitching coach Dave Eiland. The lefty went 18-11 with a 4.16 ERA in Kansas City last year, with Eiland watching from the Royals dugout. Vargas was tied for the AL lead in wins with 18, but struggled down the stretch. He pitched to a 6.38 ERA in the second half. Many feel that regression can be attributed to fatigue as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015.
Little bit of trivia. Jason Vargas joins David Wright and Jose Reyes as the only other current Mets who played in Shea Stadium.
Mets needed pitching depth. Vargas provides that.
In theory.
Injuries have been a concern for Vargas over the course of his career and he is 35 years old. I’d imagine our new pitching coach, Dave Eiland had some influence in regards to this signing as they worked together in Kansas City. Vargas was great the first half of 2017, so let’s just hope his abysmal second half can be attributed to post Tommy John fatigue.
Manager Mickey Callaway, expressed some desire for a six man rotation at times this off-season. Although, today it seemed like Vargas, Wheeler, Harvey and Matz would be battling for 3 spots. Many signs point to Zack Wheeler being the odd man out, and he expressed his desire to start today. I don’t see Matz or Harvey going to the bullpen. I also don’t see the Mets giving 16 million dollars to a starting pitcher and putting said pitcher in the bullpen. So, there’s that.
It now appears that the Mets are done making moves this off-season. That has sparked many debates about how well the Mets have done preparing for the upcoming season.
Was former Mets’ GM Steve Phillips that convincing with his pleas to leave the Wilpons alone? Why are we grading the Mets on a curve in a historically slow off-season? Why are we treating these owners like an infant taking it’s first steps every time they open their wallet? Why are we handling these owners of A BIG MARKET FRANCHISE with kid gloves?
Vargas is fine. I think the consensus is that he’ll be “good enough.”
It just seems to me that we’ve had to talk ourselves into a lot of these signings.
We lost 90 games last year. The Phillies and Braves aren’t going to be rebuilding forever.
Let’s kick the god-damned door down instead of trying to hold this window open with an index card.
Sorry. I wanted Alex Cobb.
My god, A M E N.
Church