Breaking news: the New York Mets have signed lefthanded pitcher Dana Eveland.
Hat tip to Adam Rubin of ESPN-NY, who picked up on Chris Cotillo’s report that the Mets signed Eveland to a minor-league deal but have not invited him to spring training.
Eveland pitched in Korea last year; he spent 2012 with the Baltimore Orioles. It’s hard for me to believe Eveland is already 30 years old; it seems like just yesterday, he was a 20-something starter whose future looked so bright, he was part of the trade that sent Dan Haren from Oakland to Arizona. Eveland will add to the pitching depth at AAA Las Vegas. Not a terrible move — a team can always use another lefthanded pitcher.
Speaking of the Orioles and 30-year-old pitchers, Baltimore signed Ubaldo Jimenez to a four-year, $50M contract. There was a time that Jimenez was one of the brightest young pitching phenoms in the game, then he became a righthanded Oliver Perez, then last year he resurrected himself just in time for a free-agent payday. I don’t know; that Ollie-like fall from grace, combined with his frightening mechanics, spell trouble. It will be interesting to see how that works out.
Fire away in the comments.
WHO?????????????
To further the comparison, Jimenez got an Ollie Perez contract.
A few years ago I marveled at Ubaldo on the mound. Just goes to show that if, like myself, one knows little of proper pitching mechanics, it’s easy to be wrong. I never understood how Ollie at his best was ever that successful, but Ubaldo really had me.
As to UJ, that is a nice little payday, though given the prices these days, I guess it might be considered bargain rate.
If he’s 30, yes, he was “20 something” not that long ago. Last year or so, I would guess.
No implications for the big-league team. These guys are to fill out the LV roster and would pitch for the Mets only in an emergency. Eveland has a career WHIP of 1.6+ and Carlyle isn’t much better at 1.4+ They both get hit hard and have career 5+ ERAs. Let’s pray we don’t have to see them in Flushing.