Elmer Dessens to the Mets.

Elmer is just the glue the Mets need to hold that bullpen together.

I wonder if Pena asked for his release. The Mets are beset with injuries and the Mets called up Evans and Fernando instead of him. He probably figured that he'd never get a shot with the Mets this year.

Did I miss something? Wily Mo Pena has a .276 AVG, .296 OBP, and .414 SLG in AAA. He's 27 and his fielding is erratic. This is not exactly an Israel Alcantara or Roberto Petagine situation, is it? There may not be a huge reason to release him, but there's also no huge reason to think he has any future with the Mets or any other major league team, unless I'm missing something (which I may be).

Pat Misch to the Mets. The Mets quietly picking up Misch is one of my favorite moves of the season so far. For years, Misch pitched excellently in the minors as a reliever and indifferently as a starter. In the majors, he has a 6.95 ERA as a starter and a 2.83 ERA as a reliever. So naturally, the Giants decided to give Misch some starts every year and act surprised when it doesn't work out. Misch has a little too much Josh Towers in him to be a really good pitcher in the majors (disaster strikes when his control is off at all), but if left as a useful reliever that can go more than an inning, he can really help a team like the Mets that has a lot of uncertainty in the starting rotation.

I think that Giants' problem with Misch was that they want their LOOGYs to have an overpowering fastball and that's just not Misch (mid 80s). So they sign Affeldt (low 90s) and will continue to give an inferior pitcher like Hinshaw all the opportunities that he needs over the next few years even if they're undeserved.

In my opinion, the biggest problem with Misch is that he doesn't have anything approaching an effective changeup. He has an mediocre fastball (mid 80s with a little bit of movement, but nothing special) and a decent MLB-quality curveball (solid, but nothing special). But his changeup has absolutely no deception on it and MLB hitters will kill a flat 80mph pitch all day long. Soft-tossing lefties cannot survive for long in the majors without a reliably good changeup.


As for the ~2.85 ERA as a reliever... my recollection is that in 2007 and 2008 he was used almost exclusively in a mopup role when he wasn't starting. So it's possible that he wasn't pitching against really good hitters as a reliever (he only recorded 2 holds and 0 saves in his 27 relief appearances).

Also, the 6.95 ERA as a starter is a bit misleading. First, he only had 11 starts (55.2 IP, in which he gave up 43 ER). But the worst of the damage came in just two of his starts:
- 09/26/07: 4.1 IP, 8 ER (159th game of season)
- 05/25/08: 4.1 IP, 7 ER (1st game of doubleheader)

Bochy left him in a little longer in both starts because the context required that Misch give innings no matter how poor in quality (near end of season, needed IP in the first-half of a double-header). Take those two games out of the equation and he just gives up 28 ER in 47 IP over the remaining 9 starts. Still a mediocre 5.36 ERA, but more in-line with what you would expect (actually, that's almost exactly his 2009 ZIPS RoS). His main problem as a starter was that he struggled to get through even the 5th inning.

Finally, for whatever reason, I heard that Righetti and Misch weren't on good terms. One would think that Misch is exactly the type of pitcher that Righetti would be able to maximize. So Misch might do better under a different pitching coach. But even with the best coach in the world, the overall talent package is probably still just a AAAA swingman.

It's a good sign that the Mets organization is going to give these ABs/opportunities to Evans and Fernando. The Phillips and Duquette eras would definitely have brought up the veteran retreads like Pena and Kielty.

Too bad the Mets dealt away Carp in the winter. They could really use him now.

How is Buffalo going to field a team now?

Did I miss something? Wily Mo Pena has a .276 AVG, .296 OBP, and .414 SLG in AAA.

Frank Wren would take that call.

Did I miss something? Wily Mo Pena has a .276 AVG, .296 OBP, and .414 SLG in AAA.

Frank Wren would take that call.

I was about to post that Wily Mo would be an upgrade in the 2009 Braves outfield. Of course, that says much more about the Braves' outfield than Wily Mo Pena...

Did I miss something? Wily Mo Pena has a .276 AVG, .296 OBP, and .414 SLG in AAA. He's 27 and his fielding is erratic.

I wouldn't say you missed anything, except that the Mets clearly need power and Wily Mo has demonstrated that at the big-league level. He's certainly not showing anything meriting a call-up this year, but it seems random to just cut a guy who's 27 and has hit Major League home runs when your active leaders in ISO are 40-year-old Gary Sheffield, Brian Schneider and Omir Santos.

I, too, wonder if he requested his release or had something in his contract. Otherwise it's strange.

Even the Nationals gave up on Wily Mo!
he cant hit anything thrown his way that isn't a flat fastball; any pitch that breaks or curves and Wily Mo is lost.