Not to be mean to Wallace Matthews of Newsday, but: "Greater baseball minds than mine have analyzed this situation at great length and determined that Joba for the first six innings every five days is better than Joba out of the bullpen five times a week." If you actually think relievers come out of the bullpen five days a week, you're insane and you haven't watched baseball. Ever.

The major league leader in games pitched last year was Pedro Feliciano, with 86. That's just over half of the Mets' games. That means he was coming out of the bullpen three or four times a week. And that's the peak guy, the LOOGY who in those 86 games only pitched 53 1/3 innings. Joba wouldn't touch the mound nearly that often. He'd wind up with 80-something innings pitched, and while those would be high-leverage innings, it's nothing like the 150 he'll pitch as a starter this year, and the 170 next year, and the 200 the year after. It's just not close.