Bastardly

59The Mets have called Dan Warthen their pitching coach since the famous Willie Randolph firing in June of 2008, and as such, he predates every man in uniform except for David Wright.

He’s quietly becoming a legend.

Yet his No. 59 could be under siege now that reports are trickling out that the Mets have come to an agreement with lefthanded reliever Antonio Bastardo, a 59 both in Pittsburgh and in Philadelphia. I learned long before Warthen got here not to expect a whole lot from free-agent relievers while also believing the more the merrier. A Mets team with Bastardo is a little more formidable than one without him, so it gets my approval.

I’m rooting for Warthen to stay in 59 but wouldn’t be surprised if he gives it up.

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13 comments

  1. Matt B says:

    It doesn’t seem Bastardo has any emotional connection with #59. He ended up with it in Philly after they gave his #58 to Papelbon, then his #37 to Mike Adams. I say he gets a lower number and Warthen sticks in #59.

  2. Edgy MD says:

    “…and as such, he predates every man in uniform except for David Wright.”

    Don’t forget #53 Dave Racianello, baby.

  3. Howie R says:

    NJ.com mets app lists Blevins as #23 & DeAza as #44 under the roster tab. I dont know how accurate this is though.

    • Jon Springer says:

      Hope that’s not accurate; they’re both weird choices if you ask me. Mets should “retire” 44 as everyone who ever wore it was a disappointment except maybe Cone and Darling, and both of them switched out.

  4. Chris Sullivan says:

    I thought Carlyle would re-take #44 since Reed is #43.

  5. Tomswid says:

    Warthen wore 39 when he pitched for the Expos, now that Parnell is gone, maybe he takes that #.

  6. jetroploitans says:

    I was trying to discuss possible number assignments on another board and a member there alerted me to the fact he has noticed that cbssports usually has numbers up early for some odd reason. They have the entire 40man and do vary from the nj.com list. They appear to be accurate. I guess time will tell.

    Here are the guys we did not know:

    Herrera 2(back to 2 from 16, I prefer this)
    Cabrera 13(sorry Jerry)
    Reynolds 15(favorite number is 5? don’t think 5 will ever see time on anyone else’s back, officially retired one day or not.)
    de Aza 16
    Plaweki 26(plaw’s favoriote number? his twitter handle has 26 in it so he must have requested this from coach Goodwin)
    Blevins 39(3×13?)
    Smoker 49
    Walters 56
    Bastardo 59(would mean Werthen has changed)
    Gsellman 65
    Lugo 67
    Nimmo 77

  7. jetropolitans says:

    If cbs is accurate that leaves us with NRIs and a couple coaches to discover.

    probably low number NRIs(0,1,9,19,22,23,28,38,44,46,51,54,55):

    (my Guesses)

    Ashley(22)
    Monell(19)
    Kraus(23)
    Muno(9)
    Kelly(1)
    Henderson(51)
    Carlyl(44)
    Pimentel(38)
    Thornton(46)

    probably high number NRIs(60-99):

    Gomez
    Carillo
    Smith
    Ceechini
    Rivera
    Taijeron
    Sewald
    Bradford

    Coaches:

    Scott(54)
    Werthen(55)
    Goodwin(28)

    • Bill M. says:

      Nice work! Cecchini might deserve a low #. Maybe 22, since he’s been 2 in the minors. I think he was 72 last spring.

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