Keep Glavine, Among Other Things
I could see it coming and refused to believe it would happen. When I wrote the post, "You Gotta Bereave" I thought they would hang on and the fail in about six games in the NLCS.
John Delcos, the sportswriter for my hometown paper, has ten suggestions for the Mets offseason. All of them totally debatable. Here's a controversial one.
Re-sign Tom Glavine: This isn't a popular choice given how he finished the season, but in 16 of his 34 starts Glavine gave up two or fewer runs and was the only starter in the rotation with 200 innings. That's not easily replaceable production, but they need this guy because of the durability questions surrounding Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, and the uncertainty of youngsters Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber.
I couldn't agree more. I know some Mets fans taken to calling him "the Manchurian Brave" since his last terrible outing. But he was an extremely consistent pitcher throughout the past two and a half seasons. There is little downside in re-signing him and just waiting to see if their young prospects can develop into starting pitchers. I also just like seeing him pitch. He is a stock-character in baseball: the crafty, corner painting, struggling, aging and stoic veteran.
Unbelievably, Delcos doesn't suggest the Mets go after Johan Santana who is in a contract year and wants to stay in the NL and have a big stage as he hits his prime. The Mets starting rotation should be: Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, John Maine, and Oliver Perez. Humber and Pelfrey ought to be trained as long-relief pitchers and used to fill in when the veterans on the team fail, or (as is likely) find themselves injured.
And remember, Glavine will be the last 300 game winner. As reported by the Onion,
"Make no mistake, after me, there will be no one else to win this many games as a pitcher. Ever," said Glavine in tones that froze the blood of all who heard it. "Randy Johnson will not recover from his injuries. [Mike] Mussina will not play, and perhaps not live, long enough. And C.C. Sabathia, I beg you—you are so young, with so much to live for. Do not dance with the devil by attempting to win 300 games now that Glavine has done so."
Do we really want this man to retire as a Cardinal, Red or (shudder) Brave?
Michael Brendan Dougherty
in Sports
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