Where will Clint Everts fit?

Earlier in the offseason, Omar Minaya signed 2002 first round pick Clint Everts to a major league deal. He is 25 years old and absolutely ripped the minors last year for the Nationals.

He was 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA last season. In 60 innings he struck out 68, gave up 49 hits and just 11 earned runs combined from A+, AA, and AAA. He had a 0.90 ERA in A+, 1.53 in AA, and 3.38 in AAA. Although he ran into some trouble in AAA, his strikeouts were still there. In 10 innings in AAA he struck out 11, though giving up 14 hits and issuing 10 walks.

I'm not sure why the Nationals never brought him up to the bigs while he was red hot, but now he'll get his opportunity with the Mets. Which brings me to my question... where does he fit on the major league team?

Will he be competing for a rotation spot? Possibly. Will he be competing for the set-up job? Possibly. Will he be thought of as a long reliever? Who knows. Ever since the signing you haven't heard anything from him or about him.

How many guys are we going to have in the bullpen? Parnell's fastball is too good to send back down, Feliciano is not going anywhere, Stokes showed promise last season, Igarashi and Escobar are obviously staying, so where does Everts fit?

In my eyes he could be a serious sleeper. Great job, Omar.

Clint Everts

The Mets just signed 25-year-old RHP Clint Everts to a one year, major league deal. In 2002, Everts was the fifth overall pick in the draft and headed to the Nationals (Expos at that time). Last season he went 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA (with six saves), all combined from his 09 stints in A+, AA, and AAA.

His minor league career numbers are 32-39 with a 3.98 ERA in 76 starts and 115 relief appearances.

My question is why didn't the National ever bring him up? Its not like their bullpen was anything to brag about anyways. Regardless, I'm excited. I feel that this was such a good move by Omar. This kid has so much talent with major upside. It sounds promising to sign a fifth overall pick, no matter how long ago it was. He was picked fifth for a reason, now its time to show it.

Other notable players from that draft are BJ Upton, Zack Greinke, Prince Fielder, Joe Saunders, Scott Kazmir, Cole Hamels and Matt Cain. Here's a fun fact, all these players (except Upton) listed above were all picked after Clint Everts was, so I guess that shows something.

Lets see if he can be a valuable commodity to the Mets organization. I sure hope so.