Morning Mets Notes: Nationals Sign Chris Young to Minor League Deal

Once the Mets agreed to sign Shawn Marcum to a one-year deal about a month ago, it was clear the organization wouldn’t bring back Chris Young, who filled Mike Pelfrey‘s spot in the rotation last season. Young agreed to sign a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals yesterday. Although he didn’t throw a pitch for the Mets until last June due to rehab from shoulder capsule surgery, he had his healthiest outcome on the field since 2009.

In 20 starts for the Amazins, Young went 4-9 with a 4.15 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, striking out 80 hitters in 115 innings pitched. It was the first time the big right-hander reached the 100 IP plateau since the 2008 season with the San Diego Padres. Although I wouldn’t have been opposed to seeing the Mets re-sign Young to fill the void left by R.A. Dickey‘s departure, I’m glad they found someone else. With his mid-80s fastball, he had to rely too much on pinpoint accuracy, and frequently got pounded by opposing hitters his third time through the lineup, preventing him from going deep into games and putting more of a strain on the bullpen. However, I am happy to see Young find some work for this season. Unfortunately for him, with a deep rotation in the nation’s capital, he could be finding himself start the year in the minors.

August 28, 2012; Philadelphia, PA USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Chris Young (55) throws during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Danny Abriano gave us all the pertinent news and notes we needed to stay up-to-date with our Metsies yesterday. Lucas Duda has been in PSL for a while and has latched himself on to Dave Hudgens; Adam Rubin clued us in that we could be watching a significant change in his stance…let’s hope it’s for the better. On the heels of hearing about Jenrry Mejia being cleared to report to camp, he’ll arrive in Florida this afternoon, just in time for Grapefruit League games.

The Mets filled out the rest of their promotional schedule for 2013, as they’ve added bobblehead promotions for David Wright, Dwight Gooden, and Tom Seaver in June, July, and August, respectively. Yesterday morning was photo day for the team, and Johan Santana had a little fun by taking Adam Rubin’s picture for him.

Also, don’t look now, but rumors point to Bobby Valentine being named the new Athletic Director at Sacred Heart Unviersity (effective July 1st) on Tuesday. I’m hopeful this is true and he becomes my newest co-worker!

On Rising Apple yesterday, Dan Haefeli went into detail surrounding Bobby Bonilla and the fact that he’s the second-highest paid outfielder on the team’s current payroll. We had a quick recap of Wednesday night’s Rising Apple Report with The Coop (with a nifty looking, embedded player, courtesy of Sam Maxwell) whlie we finished up the Rising Apple Roundtable Discussion with each of us selecting the player we think has the best chance at having a breakout season in 2013. Danny Abriano offers his opinion on the chatter surrounding Terry Collins and his job status beyond this season, saying that he has done a good job thus far, but not good enough to earn himself an extension. Rich Sparago drew a comparison between Justin Turner and his fellow red head from the 1973 NL Champions, Wayne Garrett.

Grapefruit League games may not get started until tomorrow, but the Mets will have an intersquad game later today, and Anthony DiComo said LaTroy Hawkins, Pedro Feliciano, Greg Burke, and Brandon Lyon are all slated to toss from the mound. Let the bullpen competition begin!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to Like Rising Apple’s Facebook page and follow @RisingAppleBlog on Twitter to keep up with the latest news, rumors, and opinion.