Mets Interested In Tim Redding

Ewwww
Surely they would sign Pedro over these rumored pitchers right?? Please??

The Nats are supposed to be getting the Mets scraps not the other way around.

Would Redding really be a bad 5th starter/Competition for Niese?

Best case scenario is Niese steps up this spring, and negates Redding to a long-relief role. Worst case scenario is Niese doesn't step up, in which case we have an okay 5th starter option.

Plus, he's got good numbers against the Phillies, for what it's worth.

Obviously he needs to be the second starter the Mets would bring in, and not the First though.

Because it's pretty much an insult to take someone who was making 13 million per, and ask him to take less then 3 million for a non-guaranteed starters job?

I like Pedro too, but cmon.

I don't think money is an issue with Pedro. He just wants to pitch and prove himself.

Just a quick question for the Mets fans.

I don't mean to stir anything up but why are you so eager to bring Pedro back? Last season was a disaster and he's been showing signs of wearing down for years now. Is it a case where you believe if he is truly healthy that he can be effective?

I think his better days are far, far behind him and he would only be useful in a bullpen role.

"Incentive based deal. He won't get close to 13 a year anywhere. But if you give him an incentive deal and he reaches certain milestones his salary goes up. Who says he isn't guaranteed a job?? Obviously if he gets hurt he can't but he wasn't that bad last year. Even hurt he's miles ahead of Redding

Posted by: RIPShea | December 16, 2008 at 08:29 AM "

You can't guarantee Pedro a rotation spot coming off a 5.62 ERA season. If he's awful (again), then you're stuck with that for far more time then he deserves to figure himself out.

And I don't know why you seem to think Pedro is a better option then Redding. By pretty much any measure you want to choose, Redding is considerably better then Pedro at this point. Better ERA, Better WHIP, ect.

If we are going after Tim Redding, please just bring back Pedro.

Yea cuz realistic is trading Delgado. Signing Hudson,Manny,Lowe, and Sheets......

The point is anyone who wants Redding over Pedro is dillusional or doesn't know baseball.

Pedro is low risk high reward. Either he will be what he was the last few years and Niese gets his shot oooor he goes 17-5 with an ERA in the low 3s.

Of course we can always get Redding to go 10-13 with a 5.24 ERà

I know how bad this sounds, but honestly at this point in time, Tim Redding is better than Pedro Martinez. Maybe Pedro could turn it around, but last year he sucked.

In the last month of the 07 collapse there was one Met pitcher that was lights out. He was an ace even in the horrible month of September almost pitching us into the playoffs. People forget that. I mean when he was finally ready last year his father died. You can't dismiss him for a pitcher named Redding

"Yea cuz realistic is trading Delgado. Signing Hudson,Manny,Lowe, and Sheets......

The point is anyone who wants Redding over Pedro is dillusional or doesn't know baseball.
"

Anybody who wants Pedro over Redding thinks this is still 2005 (Then again, with 17-5 and Low 3 ERA predictions perhaps 1999 is more accurate).

Pedro is Low Risk, No Reward.

This is the problem with the Mets. Always unwilling to make that one last move they need to make. If they don't get Lowe or re-sign Perez they deserve to finish behind Philly again.

"

I honestly think pedro is a better pitcure...when healthy last year, he went a good 7 innings vs the phils last year, and the only thing that runined the game was their bullpen.."

He also gave up 5 runs in 4 innings after being handed a 7-1 lead. He had another disastrous start against them in Sept.

Pedro is shot. He has nothing left.

The only reason the Mets want him is because he pitches well against the Phillies,other then that he's garbage.

"as a Phils fan I much prefer bringing Pedro back vs Redding."

As a Met fan, I would much prefer bringing Pedro back vs Redding as well. Pedro will shut all of you doubters up. Consider it a guarantee. This is Pedro Martinez. It is really brave of you all to look at his past season ( a season where he wwas coming off surgery in 07, tweaked a hammy in game 2, and was awaiting the imminent death of his father all season long) and say he is finished. Nope. He isn't. His control will be much better, which is standard for a shoulder surgery in your second year back. His control was literally the only thing about the way he was throwing that caused him to have a bad season. Seriously. That is. The velocity is fine, he still has plenty of bite on his changeup and on his curveball. He will be very good next year. He just couldn't locate like we are used to seeing, but he will. And like I said, all of you saying Pedro are shot will be calling for Omar's job when he leaves and goes to Oakland or St Louis or something and wins 15 games.

"Yea cuz realistic is trading Delgado. Signing Hudson,Manny,Lowe, and Sheets......

The point is anyone who wants Redding over Pedro is dillusional or doesn't know baseball."

Zing!

And Mike Mussina just won 20 games throwing 85 mph fastballs. Lets not be so quick to dismiss Pedro, one of the best of all time.

And to be clear, I can understand why people would b wary of Pedro. What I don't understand is the idea that if healthy, he still can't pitch. I guess guaranteeing success was a little strong, but I will say, if he is healthy, he will be more then serviceable. The question is only about his health. He will come relatively cheaply, and you just have to have ca plan 'B' for if/when he goes down. I would rather have 150 innings of a healthy Pedro with 50 innings of Jon Niese then 200 innings of Garland or Redding (although I don't hate the idea of Redding).

I also am tired of hearing how Madson is some god and Lidge is a level above K-Rod.

This was an entry from a post yesterday directed at Philly fans who think their bullpen is some lock for success. Of course, nobody responded to it.

Phils I would have said I doubted that Heilman would have fell off a cliff, but he did. And his 2005 and 2007 season's were better the Madson's 08. His 2006 was only marginally worse. So much stranger things have happened. You keep saying how much better Lidge is then K-Rod. He really isn't. It is pretty much a wash. Even last year, in K-Rods worst season of his career, he was almost identical to Lidge. Lidge had more strikeouts, I will give you that, but they both walked the same amount of batters, and for such an outstanding year, Lidge's whip was awfully high for a closer, only slightly lower then K-Rods. And last year is the only sample you can base that argument on, because last year was the only year since 05 that Lidge was even on K-Rods level. Lidge and K-Rod both dominated in 04 and 05. Then Lidge fell off the planet. K-Rod dominated that whole time Lidge was struggling. Lidge came back to dominance last year, and only marginally outperformed K-Rod. I don't love K-Rod going forward for 4 years, although for 12 mil I'm okay with it, but to act as if Lidge is so far and away better then K-Rod is sort of crazy.

Maybe you should be worshiped across the land as the next great prophet.

You are right about one thing, nrmax88: Ryan Madson just isn't that good. His 3.05 ERA isn't that great for a set-up man, and he managed to give up six home runs in 82 2/3 innings. Although in that pathetically small ballpark, I don't blame him. He also had a 1.23 WHIP and a fairly low amount of strikeouts for a guy his size (67). Look, the guy can pitch. But he's no J.J. Putz.

Haha. My smart-ass comment was in response to your smart ass comment. Look. I believe Pedro can be successful with the stuff he has right now because I have seen him do it. He did it in 2005 and was a top 10 pitcher in baseball. He did it for the first couple months of 06 until injuries got in the way. He pitched very well down the stretch of 2007 for the Mets upon his return. I understand if you are worried about Pedro getting hurt, what I don't understand is the idea that he can't pitch anymore if he is healthy. Last year the Mets did rely to much on Pedro, but this year, if he is retained, it would be as the number 5 starter. You have to have guys like Claudio Vargas or Bartolo Colon waiting in case of injury. How does a guy struggling in his first year of pitching after shoulder surgery equate to him being done? It is common knowledge that your location is the last thing you get back, and your second season back will be more indicative of what you can do then your first season back. Again, I understand the health question, just prepare yourself for the worst, and hope for the best. The upside of a healthy Pedro is enough for me to risk him getting hurt. Besides, Jon Garland and Tim Redding aren't going to put up some phenomenal numbers anyway, so it isn't like if Pedro goes down we would be wishing we could have had Garland and his 4.75/1.40. I would rather see Niese pitch then signing Garland anyway, so I would rather take the chance on Pedro an hope he stays healthy.

If Derek Lowe is signed, I would really have no problem with Pedro in the 5th spot. He will come a lot cheaper then Garland, on a shorter term, with much higher upside. As a 5th starter, for a 5 million dollar base salary, with backup plans, I don't see where the downside is.

He was relatively healthy in 08, just rusty from the surgery and not pitching in a year. By the way, Tim Redding does have an injury history, and he has never even come anywhere near 200 innings. I like Randy Wolf, but he also is constantly hurt. I'm not going to keep trying to convince you of what I believe, I have given reasons why I think Pedro is not finished and should be given another shot. Every person who thinks Pedro is finished has just said that he is "done" or "shot", without any reason other then 2008. While he may not be able to stay healthy all year, I would pay 5 million to take that chance, again, as long as you have suitable backup plans. I still don't see the downside. I don't see the Prior comparison at all. Pedro at least pitched in 08, he was rusty, but he got on a mound. Prior hasn't thrown a pitch in like 3 years. No matter what anybody can say, I just cannot see the downside of having Pedro on a 1 year, incentive laden deal as the 5th starter.

Metsobsessed, Tim Redding had one good year in Houston. He has and always will be a league-average starter, if not a below league-average starter. If we are talking about similar money, I would certainly take the chance on Pedro Martinez to reinvent himself than automatically know what I'm getting with Redding. You are talking about ''upside'' but what kind of upside does Redding have? Would a 4.25 ERA be considered upside here?

If you want upside, look at Hall of Famer or near Hall of Fame pitchers in this generation and see how many have reinvented themselves in their late 30's and early 40's. If Pedro is healthy again, I would certainly take the chance on him rebounding. Needless to say, he puts a ton of butts in the seats as well.

People are placing too much emphasis on the fact that Redding was good against the Phillies. He'll end up pitching four games against Philadelphia if he's lucky.

I know, and the funny thing is, I have mentioned having multiple backup plans in every single post where I suggest bringing back Pedro. People seem to conveniently ignore that. Nobody is suggesting Pedro come back as a number 2. That is an enormous part of the equation. Going into 2008, people penciled him in as a number 2. If he returns, he is penciled in as a number 5, and a number 5 with as big of an upside as any number 5 you can throw at me. Santana is the ace. Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and whoever is brought in out of Ollie/Lowe/Sheets(who I don't prefer, simply because of what Metsobsessed said. You bring in Sheets, he goes down, you lose your 2. You bring back Pedro, he goes down, you lose your 5, the first scenario is much more devastating) will fill out the 2,3,4 spots. Bring in a guy like Daniel Cabrera to pitch long relief and you have Jon Niese waiting in AAA. If Pedro goes down, those are 2 backup plans, and even if they both don't work out, so what? Do you know how easy it is to get a number 5 pitcher on the trade or free agent market? We see guys like Byrd moved all the time. It is a heck of a lot easier then trying to replace a number 2 pitcher, and that is the biggest point.

Pedro as number 2 starter: No

Pedro as number 5 starter: Yes