Yeah, the Mets are pretty desperate for pitching. So much so that they’ve signed two guys that have pitched 78 innings over the past two seasons. But don’t worry … they aren’t so desperate to take a guy that 29 other teams have ignored.
Brian Bannister, who was a darling when he was a Met, and was built into mythical status mainly because the guy the Mets acquired for him turned out to be an alleged murderer, has signed a deal with the Giants. Not the world champions in San Francisco, but the Central League’s third place Yomiuri Giants (I hope Gregg Clifton didn’t make a clerical error on that). Beggars can’t be choosers? Not if you’re in Flushing, friends.
Sure, Citi Field would have helped Bannister. But that’s what we say about any pitcher “ooh, Citi Field would really help (Chris Young, Jeff Francis, Cliff Lee, Ambiorix Burgos)”, right? Well Bannister would certainly help Bannister more than the Tokyo Dome, which is 361 in the power alleysas opposed to Citi Field’s power alleys which stretch to LaGuardia airport. But the Mets didn’t want him and his ever rising WHIP to come to the park that can only do so much (see: Perez, Oliver). I guess he didn’t have the requisite amount of question marks surrounding his health … guess they want to keep Ray Ramirez on his toes.
Or maybe he was just too rich for their blood like everyone else.
So if Jeff Francis, who has many suitors, and Chris Young decide to sign somewhere else, and Perez is the fifth starter (hey, he’s still on the team despite not being able to get out Mexican League hitters), will we be clamoring for the over six ERA of Brian Bannister?
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