Has anyone seen Omar Minaya lately? He has been pretty quiet this season — hasn’t made too many public appearances and doesn’t appear on talk radio anymore.
Well, now would be a good time for Omar to stick his head out of his office and tell us something — admit that his three plus year experiment with John Maine and Oliver Perez is a total flop and it is time for the Mets to go in a different direction.
Both pitchers have been just awful this season. Perez has been a disaster all year, 0-3 with a 5.94 ERA and more walks than strikeouts: 28-27. Perez wouldn’t accept a demotion to triple – A, meaning he will become a garbage time reliever out of the bullpen.
Meanwhile, Maine has been equally bad. On Saturday, Maine couldn’t get out of the first inning when he walked four out of five batters and put the Mets in an insurmountable 3-0 hole. Maine has an ERA over six.
The Mets are planning on using either Hisonori Takahasi or R.A. Dickey to replace Perez, but that probably won’t be enough, especially if the Mets (18-19) have any plans of contending this summer.
No matter how good nor how bad the Mets play from here to the deadline, changes have to made on the field and in the rotation. The Mets have to consider acquiring some starting pitching that will make them a competitive franchise for the rest of this season, and in the next few years to come.
Let’s take a look at Perez’s replacements, as well as possible pitchers the Mets should consider trading for to make themselves relevant over the long term.