Wang Optimistic About Shoulder's Progress, Mets Interested

Since the Mets lost out on free agent righty Joel Piniero, who signed with the Angels, they have turned their attention to other free agent pitchers ,including former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang, according to Anthony McCarron of the Daily News .

The article doesn’t say exactly how interested the Mets are in Wang, just that they are one of the 15 teams that have been in touch with his agent Alan Nero. McCarron does give us a pretty good update on the health of Wang’s shoulder though:

“He’s been under the very watchful eye of Dr. (James) Andrews,” Nero added, referring to the noted orthopedist. “Once a month, he spends a week with Andrews. He’s been throwing for almost seven weeks and the response has been awesome.”

Wang will train at Fischer Sports, a conditioning center in Phoenix, until he gets a contract, Nero said. “We’re so confident and optimistic about his progress that we’re not in a hurry to enter into an agreement just to have it,” Nero said.

The news involving the health of Wang’s shoulder is positive, but Greg Mathews, Pinch Hitting over at LoHud , had a great post the other day about Wang’s statistical regression. It raised a good point as to whether or not Wang would even be a viable member of the Yankees rotation had they kept him.

As it stands now the Yankees don’t exactly need Wang to return, as he would only be more depth, but we have heard rumors that they are prepared to match any offer made to him. That could change though when the season starts as injuries are bound to take away some of the depth they already have. It might be part of the reason why Wang doesn’t seem to be negotiating seriously with any teams.