JUPITER, Fla. — Bring on the reinforcements.
Jason Vargas is the probable weakest link in the Mets rotation, but the veteran left-hander said Thursday he would have completely understood if team officials saw the necessity this offseason of adding a free agent such as Gio Gonzalez.
Of course, it’s still not too late.
“If you are asking me if it would have been an insult, definitely not — anything to strengthen the team is what I would be looking for and everybody on the team would be looking for,” Vargas said after pitching two innings against the Cardinals in a Grapefruit League game at Roger Dean Stadium. “The ultimate goal is to have the big ring on our finger at the end of the year.”
For now, all indications are the Mets will pass on Gonzalez and Dallas Keuchel, the two big names remaining on the starting pitching market. The inaction leaves Vargas firmly entrenched behind Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz in the Mets rotation.
The 36-year-old Vargas has never pitched from the bullpen in his career, so a shift from the rotation would present him with a challenge.
“I didn’t ever speak to that or have any conversations about that,” Vargas said. “I don’t know if that is anything they would have looked into, but I feel pretty confident in what I am able to do in starting a game.”
In 20 starts for the Mets last season, Vargas went 7-9 with a 5.77 ERA. Many of his struggles occurred early — in the second half of the season he pitched to a 3.81 ERA.
Vargas isn’t about to blame only the fact his spring training was shortened by a broken hamate bone in his right hand that required surgery for his first-half struggles.
“There was definitely more elements to it,” Vargas said. “I think there can be some part of the effect of not being on a regular schedule, but quite honestly I was on a regular schedule there for a little bit and really wasn’t able to get out of that funk.
“I was able to work on a few things when I went down with that calf injury [in August] and cleaned up a few things that were exposing some weaknesses that were making me leave the ball up and letting hitters see the ball really well.”
On Thursday, he allowed a homer to Matt Carpenter leading off the game for the Cardinals before avoiding further damage in his two-inning stint.
