Monday, January 17, 2011

Mets To Sign Chris Young. Smart Move!

By: Clayton Collier

  After months of speculation and rumors regarding the Mets and free agent RHP Chris Young, the two parties have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, pending a physical. Young has had bouts with injury bug, resulting in his failing to reach at least 20 starts any of the past three seasons. But if Young can remain healthy, the Mets could have very well caught lightning in a bottle.

  Although the 31-year old righty has had issues with staying healthy, he still has the ability to be a top-tier arm for the Mets.Young has a career 48-34 record and a 3.80 ERA to match. Young has had four seasons in which he had finished with an ERA south of 4.0. This kind of consistency is just what the Mets need in order to fill the void left behind by Santana and his injured shoulder.

 Young has spent most of his career with the Padres, a club of inconsistent offense and little run support in a spacious ballpark. Young's experience with the Padres has prepared him perfectly for his tenure with the Amazins. When Young's team scores 0-2 runs, he has a dominant 2.61 ERA. This is just what the Mets need given the uncertainty of the Mets offense. Young works even better under pressure in close, low scoring games. He can keep the Mets close when they aren't scoring runs. This ability is something that only one other starter on the Mets staff has: Johan Santana. Young can very well become the Mets stopper in place of Santana until he returns, likely around the all-star break. Young is also a fly-ball pitcher, a convenient attribute for the spacious dimensions of Citi Field.

  With little to be sure of and mostly questions to expect in 2011, the signing of Young, as long as he remains healthy, could be a reliable go-to arm for the Mets this season.

No comments:

Post a Comment