Pedro Feliciano Staying In New York

Super LOOGY Pedro Feliciano — aka “Perpetual Pedro”, “Everyday Pedro”, or “Pedro Lite” — has chosen to remain in New York for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

However, it will be as a member of the crosstown Yankees bullpen, not the Mets.

Since the Mets have no plans to compete for the postseason for at least the next two years, it made good sense to let Pedro move on; a team in rebuilding mode can’t afford to be committing 2 years and $8M to a situational lefty in his mid-thirties. The difference he’d make might help the Mets finish fourth instead of fifth, but won’t do much to advance their long-term strategy. On the other hand, his “Type B” status as a free agent means the Mets get a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of the 2011 amateur draft — which should be around #47 overall. To put that in perspective, David Wright was a “sandwich pick”, chosen #38 overall in the 2001 draft; Kelly Johnson, Dustin McGowan, Adam Jones, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Huston Street, Gio Gonzalez, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, Joba Chamberlain, Chris Coghlan, and Tommy Hunter were all “sandwich” or “supplemental” picks.

So in a way, this could be a very good thing for the Mets — if they use that pick on someone who eventually becomes a top prospect. Of course, the down side is that it will be difficult to avoid seeing Feliciano in the event he’s successful in pinstripes.