Takahashi at His Best Out Of The Pen

As the trade deadline approaches rumors about the Mets acquiring a pitcher ranges anywhere from Ted Lilly to Scott Downs.  Of course there’s Brett Myers, Jake Westbrook, Octavio Dotel, and Chad Qualls in the middle.  I’ve heard several times, most recently a little over a week ago via Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse, that the team just doesn’t view most of the pitchers on the open market as an upgrade over current 5th starter Hisanori Takahashi:

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Mets scouted Jeremy Guthrie's last start. They aren't sure Lilly's stuff > Takahashi's & thus don't see Lilly as sure upgrade to rotation.

11:37 AM Jul 19, 2010

 

Ed Price

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Instead, the front office has turned their attention towards acquiring a reliever.  This logic escapes me, because while Hisanori is occassionally effective as a starter, he has proven to be routinely effective as a reliever.  Last night he came out and pitched a scoreless 7th inning while striking out 2 Cardinals.  In his last 8 relief appearances he has allowed 2 runs in 14 1/3 innings pitched (1.26 ERA).  So what if he’s a ‘decent’ 5th starter, he could settle in as a very impressive reliever.

Should anyone argue that the Mets need to bolster their bullpen and not the rotation, be sure the reliever you want is a clear upgrade over Takahashi.  When you’re looking at the man...TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST AND OTHERS LIKE IT HEAD TO METSZILLA.COM BY CLICKING HERE:

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