Mets make moves, Pelfrey to start?

Last night before Willie Randolph had his daily post game press conference he announced that the Mets designated pitcher Jose Lima for assignment. With an open spot on the 25 man roster the Mets promoted reliever Anderson Garcia from AAA. Thus far this season Garcia his pitched 31.1 innings, and has allowed only five runs. Garcia's walks have increased since moving up to AAA, while his striekouts decreased in 3.1 less innings. On the other hand, opponents are hitting just .170 off of Garcia in AAA, compared to the .270 average hitters had against him at Binghamton. Last season between AAA and AA Garcia had a lack-luster 4.66 era in 54.1 innings. However, Garcia did pitch three Sprin Training innings, and he allowed no runs on three hits. Randolph said he has "great stuff" which is a quote you can take either way since apparently Randy Johnson had "great stuff" last night. The Mets acquired Garcia, ironically, from the Yankees in the Armando Benitez trade.

With Lima demoted the Mets now have an open slot in their rotation. The few options th Mets have for the spot are AA stars Alay Soler and Mike Pelfrey and AAA starters Jason Scobie and Evan MacLane. Appearing on WFAN, Ed Coleman announced that the Mets are 99% likely to promote Mike Pelfrey for a start on Thursday against the Philles and Bret Myers. Even more encouraging than that is Omar Minaya's quote "I'm not afraid to pick up a guy from Double-A." In addition, in a pre-game interview on the fan Randolph appeared likely to promote one of Mike Pelfrey or Alay Soler.

I'm on the fence on which AA pitcher I want in the majors at this point. Obviously Pelfrey is beyond talented, but if a player gets rushed their whole career and confidence could be shot, especially in New York. On the other hand, there is Soler who has "major league experience" and if he fails he would probably be able to deal with it better, and I would rather have a shot confidence of Alay Soler when compared to Mike Pelfrey. Either way I'll be happy with whomever the Mets pick.