Every time I want to write off Elmer Dessens, he comes back and disproves my assertion that he stinks. Still, I maintain that he does not have the talent to pitch in the big leagues, and his incredible stat line must have something to do with either voo-doo or a pact with the devil; there is no other way to explain how someone with such pedestrian stuff can post a 2.30 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 53 games.

Much if not all of his success has to do with throwing strikes – he walked only 14 in 47 innings. The way he was used also helped – generally speaking, he either faced one or two batters, or was brought in for mop-up duty. In other words, a combination of lack of exposure and appearing in meaningless games.

2011 Projection

I wouldn’t want to negotiate a contract with Dessens after he put up those numbers. Despite the fact he had a similarly strong half-season with the Mets in 2009, I do not believe he can keep it up, and am willing to gamble that he falls back to Earth in 2011. Let him walk.

Click here to read the 2009 Analysis of Elmer Dessens

Mets 6 Marlins 5

Crazy things can happen in San Juan.

Strange things occurred before the game even started — Jose Reyes was held out of the game after experiencing “back stiffness” during batting practice. The blame was placed on the hard astroturf surface at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. This would be the same hard astrotuf surface that the other 49 players have been playing on for the last three days. But hey, everyone is different.

Then, rainfall delayed the start of the game. OK, that’s not necessarily crazy, but it added to the plot.

When the game finally began, Jesus Feliciano was in the leadoff spot and Ruben Tejada in the two-hole. Somehow, however, the Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, things did not go well with almost-ace Mike Pelfrey, who left the contest before finishing the fifth. Elmer Dessens finished it for him — recording one out on the evening yet winding up with the victory.

A lot of stuff happened in between, including 17 hits by the Fish. When the dust settled, however, it was the Mets who gained the win — their 44th of the season.

Game Notes

Mike Pelfrey allowed 12 hits, a walk, and 4 runs in 4 2/3. He did strike out 3, though, so there was that.

Although Dessens was given the win, the trio of Ryota Igarashi, Bobby Parnell, and Frankie Rodriguez combined to allow one run over four frames. So really, the entire bullpen should’ve been credited with the victory.

Despite scoring 6 runs on 10 hits, no one really stood out on the Mets offense — it was more or less a full team effort, as 8 Mets collected at least one hit. David Wright and Jesus Feliciano had two apiece. Both of Wright’s hits were doubles, and Feliciano hit a double of his own.

Josh Thole drove in a run with a pinch-hit single for the second time in the series. He keeps this up and he could carve himself a niche in the big leagues. Remember Matt Franco?

Next Mets Game

Thankfully, the Mets return to the continental United States on Thursday to begin a four-game set with the Nationals in DC. Game one begins at 7:05 PM and pits Johan Santana vs. 2009 Met Livan Hernandez.

Yankees 2, Mets 1

Did you ever see a movie that you were REALLY excited to see? A movie that was REALLY interesting and totally lived up to its expectations for about 90 minutes, until something totally unbelievable and ridiculous happened that it totally took you out of the movie? You were suddenly aware that you were watching a movie and not just any movie, but a REALLY BAD movie?

Yeah, tonight’s game was like that. And Elmer Dessens was that unbelievable and ridiculous moment.

On a personal note, Dessens destroyed my fantasy team once and I wrote him off as a guy that really had no business on a Major League team since then.

That was in 2003.

Sorry for the tangent, but really, the Mets were lucky to get out of the 7th inning down 2-0. Say what you want about John Maine’s weird exit last night – but Maine deserves a spot on a team that employs Dessens in the bullpen.

Ugh. I digress (again).

Howie Rumberg of the Associated Press summed up this game in a paragraph:

Javier Vazquez pitched one-hit ball for six innings before becoming the latest pinstriped player to leave with an injury and the Yankees took advantage of more inept Mets play to win the opener of the Subway Series 2-1 on Friday night.

The only other thing you need to know is exactly how the scoring occured and Rumber has that covered, concisely:

Kevin Russo got his first hit of the season and first two big league RBIs and Mariano Rivera struggled to earn his first save after two subpar outings, helping the makeshift Yankees win their fourth straight game at Citi Field after sweeping the series last year.

Rivera gave up consecutive two-out doubles to Jason Bay and Ike Davis in the ninth inning, bringing a record Citi Field crowd of 41,382 to life before getting David Wright grounding to second for his eighth save in nine chances.

With both teams struggling – the Yankees because of injuries to several key players, and the Mets because of an anemic offense and a rotation in disarray – Vazquez and spot starter Hisanori Takahashi engaged in a fantastic pitchers’ duel for six innings.

The two big bright spots here are obvious – Takahashi continues to impress and Ike Davis is just… well, let’s not jinx it, although it does appear that second base is made out of kryptonite – or whatever Ike is allergic to.

Next Game

Mike Pelfrey (5-1, 3.02) takes the mound for the Mets on Saturday. Phil Hughes (5-0, 2.25) will start for the Yankees. First pitch at 7:10pm.

Enjoy this video of Opening Day at Shea Stadium, circa 1982. Sorry, I’m on a nostalgia kick:

After a month of holding our collective breath, it’s finally official: Elmer Dessens has re-signed with the Mets.

The lights-out mopup man returns to the organization for one year, minor league contract that could be worth as much as $700,000 if he makes the 40-man roster.

We can all rest easy knowing Dessens will be among the spring training invites in February.

Eight 2009 Mets filed for free agency: Alex Cora, Carlos Delgado, Elmer Dessens, Ramon Martinez, J.J. Putz, Brian Schneider, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Tatis. Let’s go through them briefly, one by one.

Elmer was the glue in the Mets bullpen down the stretch — if “stretch” is what you want to call the agonizing final two months of the season.

Though he didn’t join the club until late June, Dessens managed to find his way into 28 meaningless games, and posted an impressive 1.04 WHIP over 32.2 IP. If nothing else, the 38-year-old righthander from Mexico proved that he can still reach home plate from 60 feet, 6 inches away.

But what to take away from Elmer’s performance? Hard to say, since many of the games he entered were blowouts, and he rarely pitched under duress. Further, his surprisingly good numbers could have been due to the advantage of being “unknown”; although he’s been in MLB since 1996, he pitched in only 4 games last year for the Braves (3 vs. the Nationals, 1 vs. the Mets), 17 games in 2007, and 19 games in the NL in 2006. One must wonder how well he’d pitch after the scouting reports caught up with him (interestingly, one of his worst outings this year came against the Diamondbacks — the same team that lit him up for 7 runs in a 1.1 inning start in September of 2007).

What gives Dessens a ray of hope is the same set of circumstances that pushed him to the bigs in 2009: who else is there? Yes, he’ll be a 39-year-old journeyman with a sketchy past when spring training rolls around, but the Mets don’t have a plethora of pitchers banging down the door to the big leagues. The sheer lack of depth of MLB-ready pitchers of any talent level forces the Mets to consider any and all options. That said, it can’t hurt the Mets to offer Dessens a minor-league contract for 2010, and stick him in AAA. Buffalo will need a mopup man, and the spot can go either to him or a minor league free agent that is cut loose from another organization. Depending on who becomes available this winter, it may make sense to simply keep Dessens around — sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. Scary, huh?

Just got word that Carlos Beltran’s MRI did not look good, and he’s headed to the DL.

Fernando Martinez reportedly is on the way back up to take his place on the roster.

In addition, Wilson Valdez has been DFA’d and Ken Takahashi demoted to AAA Buffalo. Taking their places will be lefthanded pitcher Pat Misch and and RHP Elmer Dessens.

Adding Misch and Dessens to the bullpen makes sense, since Dessens has been pitching well as a middle reliever in AAA (as loyal MT reader/commenter Micalpalyn has noted on several occasions), and Misch can’t be any worse than Takahashi as a LOOGY. Misch was used as a starter and reliever by the San Francisco Giants prior to being released by that club, and is one of those crafty lefties (meaning, don’t expect him to overpower anyone with a 95+ MPH heater) who relies on pinpoint control. Dessens is a longtime MLB veteran swingman who survives on guile and luck. Both arms are a welcome addition to the bullpen, whose main three men are about to pass out from overuse.

Now what about F-Mart? Does he become the Mets’ starting centerfielder? Or does he play RF while Ryan Church shifts to center? Church has played 114 MLB games in centerfield. Otherwise, it’s Jeremy Reed’s time to shine.

Finally, the Mets have found a LOOGY to help Pedro Feliciano shoulder the load — they’ve signed the recently released Ken Takahashi.

OK, in reality, there’s little if any chance of Takahashi going north. Most likely, he joins what may be an all-lefty bullpen in Buffalo, hanging in the bullpen with the likes of Casey Fossum, Adam Bostick, Jon Switzer, and Heriberto Ruelas.

On the one hand, if he does eventually get promoted to the big club, he could have a stint of success, based on the fact that no one has seen him before. In a LOOGY role, that stint could be spread out for a couple months. On the other hand, Takahashi is my age, meaning he’s too damn old to be an MLB rookie (though I’d love to put him on my Sunday league roster).

For a full analysis on Takahashi, including a video, see NPBTracker.

In related LOOGY news, the Dodgers signed Will Ohman on a minor league contract (for about a million less than the Mets guaranteed Tim Redding) and the Rangers released Jimmy Gobble.

Despite Ohman’s success against lefties over the past few seasons, the Mets were never interested.

Though Gobble has now been released twice this spring, neither of his previous employers face Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Raul Ibanez 19 times a year. I still believe this turkey is worth bringing aboard … certainly he’ll be more useful than Fernando Nieve or Elmer Dessens.

Speaking of … Dessens and Nieve are still in camp, while Nelson Figueroa is not? Where’s the logic in that? Figgy was one of the most impressive pitchers during the WBC, facing some of the best hitters in the world in a tournament that was taken very seriously by everyone other than the USA.

Put another way: Figgy fared better than Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt in March, yet was given a ticket to triple-A so that room could be made for Elmer Friggin Dessens. Go figure.