Reports: Mets Sign Bartolo Colon
The Mets have reportedly reached an agreement with starting pitcher Bartolo Colon on a two-year, $20 million deal. I do not like this signing at all.
Colon is coming off one of the best seasons of his career — 18-6 with a 2.65 ERA. But he will be 41 years old in May and was suspended for PEDs in 2012.
I like that Sandy Alderson is spending big money this off-season, so in that way he should be commended for this signing. But two years for a guy who will pitch most of the season as a 41-year-old? It does not make sense.
It especially does not make sense when Phil Hughes — at 27, more than a decade younger than Colon — signed for three years and $24 million.
If the Mets were going to go with such an old pitcher, they could have kept R.A. Dickey last year. Or they could have signed Tim Hudson, who is 39 and got a couple of a million more than Bartolo Colon for two years.
With so much young pitching on the way and with other holes on the team that need to be filled, why spend such a big chunk of change on Bartolo Colon? No, this is a terrible signing that the Mets will soon regret.
Colon is a winner. I’m surprised he even wants to bother with an organization such as the Mets but I suppose he had 20 million reasons to sign with this club. I don’t honestly know what to think about this signing but I would rather have Colon than say a Hughes or another similar option. The staff obviously needs and has needed a veteran leader and Colon provides that. If he remains healthy he will eat innings at the top of the rotation and the Mets have publicly stated that this type of pitcher is what they are looking for.
This move could turn out real good for the Mets or, like most free agent signings, it won’t. Time will tell I suppose.
i agree. mark, you always said the mets need a guy like this (as opposed to pelf or someone like that) who can not just eat innings, but quality innings. colon’s last 3 years have been good, so hopefully we can squeeze at least one more year out of him (or even a half year and trade him for something nice)
Yes, Tom, in the past when the Mets needed pitching I wanted them to go out and get a quality starter instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel for the likes of Shaun Marcum and Chris Young. But with all the young starters the Mets have, there was no reason to commit two years to anyone, especially someone who will turn 41 years old in May. I would have been okay with one year (although I would have preferred someone younger), but two years is too much. I fear he will break down during 2014 and in 2015 the Mets will waste $10 million, just as the Mets wasted all that money on Santana and Bay this year.