Chan Ho Park with the Mets...

Great Signing

Nothing but upside.

Fly ball pitcher in a big ball park. If he sucks the contract is eatable and you move on. If he's half decent and the Mets get 150 innings of 4.50 ERA ball out of him it certainly could be better than Pelfrey or Humber MIGHT produce this year. With a 4.50 era and the Mets offense he might go 12-6.

Also his arm got a decent rest at the end of last season as his injury was abdominal/intestinal and not throwing related.

I like it.

"Strikeouts are good...groundballs are better. Home runs are okay...but walks SUCK!" Mike Caldwell

by Torncuff on Feb 9, 2007 11:58 AM EST reply actions

with a 4,50

Just look at Steve Traschel last season.

by JD Sussman on Feb 9, 2007 12:06 PM EST up reply actions

as a mets fan all i can say is

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Seriously now, yhis signing is good and bad in a few ways.

Good-
Depth is always good in the major leagues. Park has been pretty bad the last few years but he had injuries and was in a dominate AL in a hitters park. Who knows what he can do in the NL, now?
This signing takes a little more pressure off the young guns because pelfrey can go down to AAA and work on his slider and changeup until they are ready.
Both Pelfrey and Humber will be on low pitch counts if they get sent back to the minors and will be able to make a big impact later in the season. There is no doubt in my mind they would burn out late season.
There is no way Humber can go a full MLB season a year after TJ surgery. Sure he could pitch well or amazingly but he will tire out.

Bad-
The Mets have a strong bullpen and can afford to give Humber and Pelfrey lower pitch counts and let them learn in the Majors.
Although these two haven't proved them selves in the minors like the elite have Humber is very polished, and Pelfrey would be best off learning from Rick Peterson after ST.
Chan Ho Park has been terrible lately and giving him a guaranteed 3 million isn't a terrible gamble, but it almost guarantees a roster spot.

In the End, i dislike the deal. I think the Mets could handle having a young starter on the team with their bullpen, and i don't like the guaranteed contract. Though this is almost outweighed by a good upside gamble and some extra depth.

by JD Sussman on Feb 9, 2007 12:05 PM EST reply actions

Agree

I think Humber and Pelfrey need more time to refine their skills in the minors. Stretching their arms to throw as starers, and working on breaking pitchers wont hurt.

by ChrisRef19 on Feb 9, 2007 12:36 PM EST up reply actions

600,000

guaranteed means nothing to the Mets, it was a good gamble for a guy who had 13 decent or better starts out of 21

by Peter North on Feb 9, 2007 1:27 PM EST up reply actions

correct..

my bad, i was under the assumption that it was 3 million.

by JD Sussman on Feb 9, 2007 2:45 PM EST up reply actions

definite good move

mainly for the reason that everyone has pointed out (low risk vs high reward)

but theres an even better one:

even though he is chan ho park, pitching depth is pitching depth...look at what happened with the mets last year, a tattered rotation looked to jose lima and jeremi gonzalez (ughh) to bail them out and they failed worse than anyone could have imagined...now the mets seem to be covering their asses in case injuries strike again by stockpiling at least league average starting arms to pitch if need be (vargas, bostick, dave williams, park, sele, sosa, soler, etc.)...and while theyre not studs, i'm not going to pretend i won't take a 4-4.50 era from a spot starter if el duque goes down for a month

also, people talk about the risk of relying so heavily on 2 aging vets like glavine and duque or giving a spot to a a kid like humber or pelfrey but everyone seems to have forgotten that john maine and especially oliver perez are no sure things...i will say that i am very confident in their success but if one or both of them is ineffective these seemingly insignificant moves like park or sele could have a very big impact and at the same time make omar look even more like a genius

by Rob Castellano on Feb 9, 2007 12:56 PM EST reply actions

Park's deal is 600,000

Guaranteed, 2.4 in incentives.....quite a few good starts, remember he had a major health issue second half... Complete game shutout vs the Cubs, 7 innings 3 runs at Colorado, 8.2 innings 4 runs vs Arizona, 6 shutout innings vs the Brewers, 7 innings 1 run at Arizona, 6 innings 4 runs vs the Cardinals, 6 shutout innings at Pitt, 6.2 innings 4 runs @ Mil, 6 innings 1 run vs the Dodgers, 6.2 innings 3 runs @ the Angels, 8 innings 4 runs vs the Giants, 7 innings 3 runs @ Philly... 5.1 innings 3 runs vs the Giants, 21 total starts.... 13 good ones for a #5? I'll take that any day

by Peter North on Feb 9, 2007 1:26 PM EST reply actions

FWIW Guys.....

I heard on XM when they announced the deal that the initial take on the deal was that Park would make a good swingman out of the bullpen.

I'm not sure this signing affects Pelfrey/Humber's battle for the #5 starter job in NY. Though, I have to admit both could use more innings in the minors. Pelfrey especially, since the Mets could put him on the Hughes plan and have him throw nothing but breaking balls for a couple months - get him some control on his secondary stuff. Pelfrey could be scary good if he does get that control.

by guru4u on Feb 9, 2007 2:33 PM EST reply actions

Park

No real downside, as others have pointed out, but I also don't see a ton of upside here. Chan Ho's pretty much done at this point, in my view. He's got a shot to be an adequate relief arm, but that's about it.

by Yakker on Feb 9, 2007 2:41 PM EST up reply actions

Better than...

Look,

for all the "mediocre" pitching talent that was left this year, look up dog-poop in the dictionary and you'll see pictures of: Steve Traschel, Jeff Weaver, Tomo Ohka, Kip Wells, and Gil Meche....need I go on? [sure, they're much better pitchers than me, but...you know...]

Chan Ho is actually 3rd "best" on that list after Weaver and Ohka. Or 1.2, because of health and consistency.

I'd take my chances on him, though, I'd rather give young guys like Humber and Pelfrey a shot. After all, you DID sign them to mega bonuses, might as well see what they're worth.

feslenraster.com

"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"

by feslenraster on Feb 9, 2007 3:11 PM EST reply actions

no

Park is not even mediocre. He has been injured 4 of the past 5 years to an extent. He finally brought his ERA below 5 for the first time in 4 years, in a pretty weak offensive division.

I'd take any of the pitchers you listed easily over him. Easily.

by doublestix on Feb 9, 2007 5:08 PM EST up reply actions

I disagree, but that's baseball

For the money it's a great gamble.

Ohka - poise, torn labrum...thanks for playing

Weaver - big money, got hammered in two of the weakest hitting divisions in baseball last year, and truly 2 out of last 3

Wells - only a life threatening blood clot in his arm...but he's perfect now.

Traschel - respect, but a box of Charmin is tougher than this guy.

Is Park "mediocre"? Absolutely. But at 600k, with a fairly healthy arm and coming into an environment that is right up his alley, I think he's a better bet than the rest of these guys. If he spends over 1/2 the year with the Mets I would bet he has a better ERA+ than at least half the guys on that list.

"Strikeouts are good...groundballs are better. Home runs are okay...but walks SUCK!" Mike Caldwell

by Torncuff on Feb 9, 2007 6:23 PM EST reply actions

Padres

...get ANOTHER draft pick!!!

-peter

by PeterF on Feb 9, 2007 10:28 PM EST reply actions

They'll need it

The NL West is a mess this year with pretty much everyone being relatively competitive, but the Padres (and Giants) will have a lot of holes to fill soon (or yet to be filled)

by RollingWave on Feb 10, 2007 1:02 AM EST up reply actions

LOL

You'd think the Padres finished at the bottom of the division. Don't forget, they've won the past 2 NL West titles.

The Padres now have something like 1 1st round pick, 5 or 6 1st sups, 2 2nd, and 2 3rd round picks.

-peter

by PeterF on Feb 10, 2007 11:12 AM EST up reply actions

except that

They did it with two fairly bad record (last year was ok , the year before they were barely .500) they still carry a ancient rotation and have fairly bad upsides on their offense. even worse than last year, they will need Maddux and Wells to be healthy and productive to even be competitive, meanwhile the Rockies and D-backs are quietly putting together a good team with a lot of rising stars.

by RollingWave on Feb 10, 2007 11:28 PM EST up reply actions

Do you think Matt Bush will be available?

by limozeen on Feb 15, 2007 11:58 AM EST up reply actions

Why

would the Padres offer him arbitration (I guess they did). Furthermore, why didn't Park accept? I think he could get more than 600 grand in arb, no?

Some people bring the Bible to college...we bring Moneyball.

by uga007 on Feb 10, 2007 3:22 AM EST up reply actions

They had...

...a gentleman's agreement for Chan Ho not to accept. He would have made something in the order of $8m had he accepted. Teams have to offer contracts of at least 80% of the previous year's level.

-peter

by PeterF on Feb 10, 2007 11:04 AM EST up reply actions

Park followup

A couple things:

Players taking a pay cut of no more than 20% in arbitration applies only to players who have not yet attained the right to free agency. This is a common misconception.

Thus, Park could have gone to arb with the Padres and, had he lost his case, could have been paid $1 million -- or whatever SD would've offered.

And I would bet more than just a "gentleman's agreement" was required for the Padres to get all their mediocre Type B's to decline arbitration offers. Money almost assuredly changed hands.

Sure, the market value of Park, Embree, Klesko, et al., was unaffected, but would you grant a favor to the team that was, in essence, releasing you?

by Mr Met @ Minor League Ball on Feb 10, 2007 2:50 PM EST up reply actions