Building a Winning Rotation

The Mets have certainly upgraded their bullpen -- whether there is enough quality there for a playoff-caliber team remains to be seen. The biggest questions now concern the five men who will try to hand the bullpen a lead.

Mets.com: Heilman will have to earn a starting job
Kit Stier reports that, if Aaron Heilman has a spot in the rotation when the Mets head north at the end of spring training, it won't be because the job was handed to him. Stier lists newly acquired John Maine, Japanese pickup Yusaku Iriki, and top prospect Brian Bannister as potential competition. We also hear the Cuban Alay Soler will get a long look.

Heilman, despite erroneous reports earlier this month that he was demanding a trade rather than pitch out of the bullpen again, understands that he will be used in whatever manner is in the best interest of the team:

I'm coming into Spring Training prepared to do whatever role they see fit for me. I'd certainly love to start, but I want to be a part of this team, and I want to be a part of what I feel is going to be a very successful ballclub.

Heilman credits working with pitching coach Rick Peterson and changing back to the arm angle that was successful for him at Notre Dame, for his belated major league success:

It got to the point where I was thinking way too much when I was out there on the mound. That was hindering me from doing my job and making quality pitches. Working with Rick has gotten me back to my natural arm slot and allowed me to focus on the things that are important.

Not only did it help me become more consistent from a mental aspect, it allowed me to kind of change my focus and really emphasize doing what it took to get results and not worry so much about the process.

Heilman has enjoyed success with a moving fastball and a great changeup. According to Rick Peterson, the key to succeeding as a starter will be for Aaron to develop complementary pitches to keep batters from sitting on his changeup.

NY Sports Day: Interview with Rick Peterson
NY Sports Day's Joe McDonald conducted an interview with Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson. Some highlights:

Having a guy like Wagner in the Bullpen, does that change your approach as a pitching coach on what advice you give to Willie Randolph?
Absolutely. You start to look at major match-ups and now we have so many options. Last year if you look at our bullpen, we had maybe a king and maybe a queen, but this year we have an ace, maybe three kings and a couple of queens. It's a nice bullpen.

Do you think the organization's faith in Victor Zambrano is justified?
In the middle of the season last year, there was a stretch where he was our best pitcher. He certainly has the ability, but it's about him going through the full season and it's a marathon.

What do you like most about Zambrano as a pitcher?
If he focuses and takes it one pitch at a time, he's a dominant pitcher. It's a matter of focus with him. There are times he is in there throwing pitch after pitch after pitch and something happens that causes him to lose focus.

I saw the quick interview Peterson did at the very end of the Mike and the Mad Dog show Wednesday, and he said the same thing about Zambrano. I've heard Minaya talk about Zambrano like this in interviews, too.

I know there are a lot of Mets fans that would like to see Victor Zambrano just go away, because they are disillusioned with his performance last year and because he's a constant reminder of the awful Kazmir trade. They accuse the Mets of holding on to Zambrano to somehow justify that deal.

In my opinion, if the Mets' primary concern was the Kazmir trade, they would quietly pack off Zambrano for whatever they could get. I think people would forget Kazmir more quickly if Victor wasn't around to serve as a reminder. I believe Omar holds onto Victor Zambrano only because he sees the potential there for a quality starter. I'm not sure if Victor will ever develop the focus needed to achieve his potential, I just wish the fans that ride him would back off enough to let him try.

ESPN: More on Pedro's toe
Enrique Rojas reports on the special shoe that Nike is making for Pedro Martinez to protect his toe. Rojas quotes Martinez on the origin of this problem:

By having this irregular movement on my right foot [at the end of his pitching motion], I've damaged the cartilage of my toe.

The pain became insufferable during the 2004 season, and I had to take a cortisone shot in order to tolerate the pain and be able to help Boston win the World Series. Last year, the pain returned in June, but the doctors recommended that, rather than ignoring the wound by applying cortisone, I rehabilitate the foot instead, which is what we're doing right now.

The purpose of the shoe will be to keep the toe from being damaged any further, hopefully putting an end to the pain that has hampered Pedro's pitching.

Sports Illustrated: The need for another quality starter
S.I.'s John Donovan, in a story highlighting teams that still have needs to fill this season, offers the following on the Mets need for a quality starter:

Omar Minaya, one of the busier general managers in the game this offseason, has overhauled the bullpen, so now he's taking aim at the last troublesome unit on the team -- the rotation. He's already reworked it, trading Jae Seo and Kris Benson, which has cleared a spot for young Aaron Heilman. But finding another good young starter is critical, especially when you consider that aging Pedro Martinez (who has a bum toe) and Tom Glavine (how much does the soft-throwing lefty have left?) top this rotation. Getting the right man (Barry Zito, maybe, at the trade deadline?) could make the difference between being an also-ran and unseating the Braves in the National League East.

I have to confess that I go back and forth so much on Zito, I give myself a headache. A still-young, left-handed quality starting pitcher is quite a commodity. There is no doubt that he would provide a huge upgrade to the rotation. I wonder what the Mets might have to give up in talent to land him, and also what it might cost in a contract to keep him.

I've mentioned previously that pitchers that enjoy great success at a young age and then regress a little scare me. Since the 23-5, 2.75 ERA year in 2002 at 24 years of age, Zito hasn't approached that type of success. And, despite only turning 28 in May, he has some wear and tear on that left arm, with over 1,200 innings pitched in his career heading into this season.

He's playing out his option this year, and will undoubtedly get a huge multi-year deal next winter. If he puts up numbers comparable to those he has posted the last couple of years, Barry Zito has the potential to be one of the most overpaid players in baseball. Like I said, I make myself crazy with this.

Getting off of my Zito-phobia and back to Donovan's article, he also opines on the Braves need to find a closer:

The great Dan Kolb experiment flopped last season, and when Kyle Farnsworth took the Yankees' money this winter, the Braves were left holding the resin bag. All the best closers (and even some not-so-good ones) have long since been snapped up, so the Braves will see if Chris Reitsma (15 saves in '05) can do for them what Kolb couldn't. And if Reitsma can't handle the pressure, maybe they'll give already battered Joey Devine, their first-round draft pick last year who gave up grand slams in his first two outings, another chance. Or maybe they'll go to Plan F. Once they figure out a Plan F.

I never bet against John Schuerholz, but he's really gambling this time. Then again, it's obvious that the bullpen has never been a huge priority for Atlanta, and things have worked out well for them, at least until the post-season.