I felt it appropriate to re-visit where Jason Vargas is today … and you’ll understand why shortly.

Although Seattle is a million miles away and on the Left Coast, it is still in the Major Leagues. The Mariners — which was a media favorite in the preseason — are having a disappointing season to say the least. The team is so bad that future HOFer Junior Griffey couldn’t even stay awake through an entire ballgame. Their record is 28-41, dead last in the AL West. By all accounts, it is a lost season.

So if a pitcher on that club has a winning record, he must be pretty OK, eh?

Enter Jason Vargas, who owns a 5-2 record, 2.88 ERA, and 1.11 WHIP. Opposing batters are hitting .225 against him. He’s pitched 6 or more innings in 11 of his 13 starts. The statheads will be quick to point out that his BABIP is .245, so some “luck” has to do with his outstanding numbers this year. Because, after all, pitchers have absolutely no control over what happens to the ball after they let go of it — if a batter gets fooled on a changeup and bounces it to short, or if he gets sawed off on a fastball inside, the pitcher is merely “lucky” and had nothing to do with such outcomes.

Lucky or not, Vargas has better numbers than any current Met other than Mike Pelfrey — and it could be argued that he’s pitching as well as Big Pelf, particularly when you consider that Vargas faces a DH every outing.

Why does it matter that Vargas is pitching so well? Because many Mets fans have forgotten that Vargas was Mets property for a little over two full years (November 2006 – December 2008). He pitched in only two games as a Met — one so-so performance, one awful, both while he was less than 100%. Vargas suffered from multiple nagging injuries throughout his short tenure with the Mets. As a result, he never really had a chance to show his true potential, and the Mets shipped him to Seattle — seemingly as an afterthought — in the mega-deal for J.J. Putz.

At the time, I thought it was a mistake to let Vargas go, considering that the Mets were light in MLB-ready starting pitchers, Vargas was still relatively young, and they were probably selling low on him due to his injury history. Plus, I’ve always had a soft spot for Vargas — a (straight-guy type) love affair that began when Vargas was with the Marlins, and solidified after I watched him up-close in spring training 2008. So maybe I’m biased.

But it’s frustrating to see Vargas doing so well for the Mariners right now, particularly when the Mets have been desperate to fill holes in their starting rotation. I know everyone thinks R.A. Dickey, Hisanori Takahashi, and Jon Niese are the bees knees, but imagine if the Mets had another starter as solid as Mike Pelfrey has been — and throwing from the south side of the rubber, to boot? I’d reckon this recent talk about trading for Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, etc., wouldn’t even exist.

On the bright side, at least the Mets still have Sean Green from that mega-deal. He should be back in the bullpen soon enough.

At the conclusion of the winter meetings this past December, Monasterios was chosen by the Mets in the Rule 5 draft. However, the choice was actually made by the Dodgers, who had given the Mets cash considerations for the right to choose and keep Monasterios.

You might be wondering what’s going on with Monasterios out in Arizona. According to most reports, the sinkerballing Venezuelan has impressed the Dodgers’ staff, and in fact is pegged as some to be their leading candidate for the #5 spot in the LA rotation.

“He has a nice presence,” manager Joe Torre said. “He’s very aggressive. I like what I see.”

Torre didn’t rule out the fifth starter role for Monasterios, even though management usually prefers veterans.

“He hasn’t done anything wrong,” Torre said. “We have four starters that, to me, our fifth spot, just go out and pitch, you know what I mean? We’re not asking him to carry any load, but just give us a chance to win.”

Monasterios is currently ahead of veterans Eric Stults, Ramon Ortiz, and Russ Ortiz for the fifth spot in the Dodgers rotation.

The 24-year-old didn’t pick up a baseball until he was 17 years old, and was one of the key prospects in the trade that sent Bobby Abreu from Philadelphia to the Yankees. He relies on a hard sinker that sits in the low 90, an average slider, and a change-up that has impressed LA pitching coach Rick Honeycutt.

“It’s a huge pitch, when you have that confidence and command,” Honeycutt said. “He’s interesting. Very interesting.”

Of course, the Mets have no need for a #5 starter — their entire staff outside of Johan Santana consists of #5 starters. And it could be argued that the Mets would not have drafted Monasterios had the Dodgers not purchased their pick.

A waste of time, that Rule 5 Draft. Its purpose is to provide pie-in-the-sky hopes for desperate, perennial cellar-dwelling teams like the Dodgers. I mean, it’s not like a team can add a Johan Santana via the Rule 5 Draft or anything.

Oh wait …

Since leaving the Mets in the Johan Santana trade, Humber has been underwhelming — both in AAA and in brief stints at the Major League level.

Personally I’m a bit sad that Humber hasn’t been able to “put it together”. I’ve liked him ever since we played together at Rice (oh wait, that was PAUL Janish).

Seriously though, I thought Humber had a good mechanics, a nice repertoire of pitches (including a plus curveball), and solid command, but might not have the right personality for New York. The more laid-back Minnesota seemed to be a perfect fit for the quiet Texan. But he’s been very hittable for the past two years while toiling for the Rochester Red Wings, allowing 280 hits and 36 homeruns in 256 innings. His curve remains big-league caliber, but he tends to spot the fastball too high in the zone. It’s surprising that he hasn’t been able to get more sink on the fastball.

Though it’s been a tough go for Humber, his career isn’t yet over. He’ll turn 27 next week, and there’s still time for him to “figure it out”. Maybe it’ll happen in Kansas City.

Cashing in while his value was at its apex, the Mets traded Petit, Mike Jacobs, and Grant Psomas to the Marlins for Carlos Delgado. A good deal for both teams at the time, and, looking back, still a decent deal for both sides.

However, Petit hasn’t exactly lived up to the expectations.

The Venezuelan hurler continued to throw with good control at the AAA level, but was more hittable and missed fewer bats. Nonetheless the Marlins promoted him to MLB in 2006 and he was abysmal in 15 appearances (14 from the bullpen). At the tail end of spring training 2007, the Fish flipped him to the Diamondbacks for Jorge Julio.

Petit was so-so with the D-Backs, occasionally impressing and putting up OK numbers for a pitcher in his early 20s. He swung back and forth between AAA and the bigs — and the bullpen and rotation — in 2007 and 2008, and kept his ERA in the mid-fours and his WHIP in the 1.2 range despite nagging injuries. In 2009, however, he was awful, going 3-10 with a 5.82 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. He continues to throw strikes, but they often are hit — both hard and long, as evidenced by his 1.92 HR/9 IP rate.

The Diamondbacks gave up on Petit, and he’s been plucked off waivers by the Seattle Mariners.

Is Petit on the last legs of his career? Hardly. He’s still only 25 years old, and throws tons of strikes. In that respect, he’s not unlike new teammate Carlos Silva, who had some strong seasons in Minnesota before landing a multimillion dollar contract. Petit also joins former Met (and Marlins) prospects Jason Vargas and Gaby Hernandez on the Mariners’ roster, which leads me to believe they have a former Met scout somewhere in their organization. Hernandez, by the way, was ranked just behind Petit by BA in 2006, is only 23, and is known for a sharp-breaking curveball. He was one of the players traded by the Mets in the Paul Loduca deal.

This afternoon I received an email from the Southern League announcing that Ezequiel Carrera of the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx had won the batting crown.

I’m thinking … “hey, that name sounds familiar!”. Of course it does — Carrera was one of the two dozen players traded by the Mets for Sean Green last winter.

The speedy centerfielder finished the year with a .337 AVG, and also led the league in on-base percentage with a .441 clip. The 22-year-old Venezuelan native also stole 27 bases.

Of course, the Mets are set in centerfield through 2011 with Carlos Beltran, so if the Mets held on to Carrera he wouldn’t have a shot to make the club until he was at least 24 years old. And even then, there’s a good chance Jose Reyes will still be around to man the leadoff spot.

Further, anything can happen between now and then. Carrera’s batting crown is for the Southern League, which is AA ball. Some players can make the jump from there to the bigs but Carrera will likely have to prove himself for at least another year — either by repeating AA or in AAA next season. And truth be told, Carrera is a slap hitter with speed and a good glove — along the lines of a Luis Castillo. In other words, not a potential superstar. Still, thought you’d be interested to see how a former property of the New York Mets performed this year.

Casey Fossum pitching for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees

Anywho, as you may also remember, Fossum was DFA’d to make room for Ken Takahashi. We assumed he’d simply report back to Buffalo and return to orange and blue when needed.

Instead, Fossum elected free agency, and is now in pinstripes. The Yankee kind. The Yanks signed him and sent him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take the injured Ian Kennedy’s place on the roster.

Last night, Fossum started against the Norfolk Tides and, on a limited pitch count, tossed 3 2/3 “sharp” innings, helping the AAA Yankees to a 5-1 win.

Also, as mentioned earlier this morning, Jason Vargas picked up the win for the Mariners in a 15-inning affair last night. Vargas threw 2 1/3, striking out 4. And in other news, Darren O’Day — who is developing his own “Six Degrees of Separation” — threw another perfect inning in relief for the Rangers last night, striking out two. He’s now appeared in 6 games, pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, and struck out 4. Who says the American League has better hitters?

It’s easy to forget Vargas was part of the deal … most people forgot he was still in the Mets’ organization, after suffering several injuries that knocked him out of action over the past few years. And he was one of, what, 19 players sent to Seattle? OK, maybe it wasn’t 19, but it sure felt like it.

Vargas just threw six scoreless innings , striking out 8, for the Tacoma Rainiers in a 14-0 rout over the Salt Lake Bees. (BTW, another player from that trade, Mike Carp, went 4-for-5 with 4 RBI in the same game).

Said catcher Jeff Clement:

“He has four solid pitches that he can throw for strikes and he mixes it up very well”

Though he didn’t perform well as a New York Met, it could be partially due to being less than 100% in his two starts in the orange and blue. Now, it appears he’s finally healthy (great timing) and beginning to live up to the expectations set as a rookie for the Marlins in 2005. In four games started this year, the 26-year-old Vargas has pitched 21 2/3 innings, struck out 22, walked 8, allowed 15 hits, and has a 2.49 ERA.

Sure would be nice to have a lefty starter with those kind of numbers waiting in AAA about now, wouldn’t it? Oh well, at least the eighth inning is locked down — you have to give up something to get something.

O’Day was so new they didn’t have a uniform for him, so he wore Kason Gabbard’s jersey. Yes, O’Day went into the game with the name “Gabbard” stitched across his back.

“I got off the plane in the eighth inning and had to go through customs and all that jazz,” O’Day said. “The traveling secretary was texting me back and forth. We originally planned to go to the hotel and he said ‘Go to the field, we might need you.’ I got here, got on a uniform and went out there.”

O’Day shook hands and introduced himself to his new teammates in the bullpen, immediately prior to warming up.

Unfortunately for Darren, Millar ripped a game-winning single off of him to deliver a victory for the Jays.

“Gabbard I thought was a left-handed pitcher and he came in throwing sinkerballs, side-armed right-handed, so I was a little confused at first,” Millar joked.

Humber, who barely made the Minnesota Twins out of spring training, was DFA’d the other day to make room for fireballer Juan Morillo.

Aaron Gleeman put it best:

… many Twins fans have simply assumed that Humber is a good prospect because he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2004 draft after a brilliant college career and once received a ton of hype coming up through the Mets system. However, his stuff hasn’t been the same since undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in July of 2005 and little in Humber’s post-surgery performance suggests that he’s capable of becoming more than a fifth starter or long reliever.

Humber certainly still has some value and keeping him around to soak up low-leverage relief innings and perhaps make a spot start or two would have been just fine, but the payoff is minimal given that he’s already 26 years old and the Twins develop pitchers in such a way that they will rarely be lacking in back-of-the-rotation starters or long relievers.

Personally, I’m a big fan of Humber, and hope he can one day make it back to the bigs.

Where They Are Now: Scott Schoeneweis

This is a new category of posts, not to be confused with “Where Are They Now”. In this section, we’ll cover the news of former Mets who are still playing baseball, but not in Queens.

To kick off the new feature, we spotlight Scott Schoeneweis, who is now hurling in Arizona. And from the below quotes from MLB.com (hat tip to Walnutz), he’s hurling more than baseballs.

Despite what appear to be solid numbers last year — Schoeneweis put up a 3.32 ERA in 73 games and gave up 55 hits in 56 2/3 innings — he knows he’ll be most remembered for one thing.

“I gave up a homer to [Florida Marlins utilityman] Wes Helms in a 2-2 tie on the last game of the season, and we went on to lose the game,” Schoeneweis says. “It was a solo homer. It wasn’t like I had a four-run lead and gave up a grand slam.

“And I had pitched pretty well in four or five outings earlier that week. But that’s not what gets remembered. What gets remembered is that I blew it and the bullpen blew it, but the fact of the matter is that the team lost.

“Guys didn’t get hits in key situations. Other mistakes were made. I mean, did we as a bullpen contribute to what happened? Of course. But was it all our fault? No.”

Funny, Scott, but I actually HADN’T remembered that you were the one who gave up the homer to Wes Helms in that fateful final game. It must’ve gotten lost in my memory with all the other big hits you gave up in your two years with the Mets.

No, the thing I remember you for most is the idiocy of Omar Minaya to let Chad Bradford leave for Baltimore because three years was too long a deal for an effective middle reliever, yet it wasn’t too long to wrap up a rundown LOOGY. I also remember:

- the Mets “physical” that you passed to gain that ridiculous contract, despite suffering from a bad leg
- your innate ability to clear the bases / allow inherited runners to score
- the fastball that fell to 88 MPH from 94 MPH
- the irony of your fastball’s demise coinciding with MLB’s toughened PEDs testing
- the 15 homeruns you allowed in 115 innings in 2007-2008
- your perfectly tailored uniform, and nicely manicured hands

No worries, Scott, we’ve forgotten that one homer from game 162 of 2008. You are and will be most remembered for the fleecing you pulled on Minaya, and the consistent disappointment you delivered to Mets fans.