I was disappointed to see that Bartolo Colon signed a minor league contract with Boston. He’s a much better option as a long shot starter than Tony Armas, Jr. is. Colon is only three years removed from a Cy Young Award.
Obviously, Colon’s weight is a concern. It looks like he ate himself out of LA and he’s been hurt for the last two years. Prior to that he was a consistent 30+ start per year pitcher. In his 11 year career (he’ll be 35 in May) he’s 146-95 with a 4.10 ERA. He won 20 games a year twice, most recently in 2005.
Contrast Colon with Tony Armas, Jr. and his 9 year career record 52-65 with a 4.62 ERA, no All-Star games and no Cy Young’s. Sure, he’s played on some bad teams with the Expos/Nats and Pirates. But it just doesn’t make sense to me that the Mets would go in this direction.
The last few years have seen several forgettable starts from veterans called up from the minors like Brian Lawrence, Chan Ho Park, and Jose Lima. Even though Pelfrey and El Duque are vying for the final spot in the rotation, the Mets are bound to need a veteran starter at some point during the season. Minaya missed the boat when he didn’t get Colon.
The Mets Report 