Pedro Feliciano

Feliciano led the Mets and the majors with 92 appearances in 2010, the third straight season he exceeded 85 appearances. Feliciano was especially tough against left-handers, holding southpaws to a .211 average with no home runs in 123 at-bats. He declined the Mets offer of arbitration and signed a two-year, $8 million contract with an option with the Yankees, where he will be their primary lefty out of the bullpen.

Feliciano set a Mets team record for pitching appearances in a season (88) and was the team's most consistent reliever last year. The only month Feliciano struggled in was August, but he rebounded to have a strong September and post numbers similar to his brilliant 2007 campaign. He improved his G/F ratio, normalized his BABIP and lowered his walk rate. He is arbitration-eligible and under the Mets' control for the 2010 season. After that, he will be eligible for free agency, but Mets officials and Feliciano expect to speak about a multi-year deal during the winter to keep him as the team's top lefty reliever.

Feliciano saw his ERA rise by nearly a run and had a marked increase in his WHIP due to a large move upward in his BABIP and home run rate while his walk and strikeout rates remained fairly steady. He was solid in four of the six months of the year, but struggled in July and also in September, which might have been due to his heavy workload of 86 appearances. If Feliciano is not dealt, look for him to reprise his role as the main set-up lefty out of the bullpen.

It was almost a Tale of Two Halves for Feliciano; dominant in the first, and very average in the second. After not giving up a run in 22 of his first 23 appearances, Feliciano surrendered at least one run in 14 of his last 41 outings over the last four months of the year while seeing his ERA rise nearly two runs. A likely culprit may have been overuse, as despite a small four-inning increase, he appeared in 14 more contests with the Mets' starters averaging less than six innings per start. Despite his struggles, he still held lefties to a .168 BAA, so heading into 2008, Feliciano will at worst be used as a lefty-specialist and in all likelihood, will once again be used heavily in all middle- and late-relief situations by manager Willie Randolph.

Feliciano was brilliant in 2006, cutting more than three runs off his ERA while dropping his WHIP from 1.42 to 1.26. However, those numbers might not be repeatable as his batting average against rose from .209 to .248. Despite doing a decent job against right-handed hitters, Feliciano was a nightmare against lefties, holding them to a .231 BAA and 1.02 WHIP. With Darren Oliver signing in Anaheim, Feliciano should be the main southpaw set-up man in New York in 2007.

Feliciano regressed in 2004 after a solid 2003 campaign and found himself on the Triple-A Norfolk shuttle most of the year. His propensity for walks was his downfall. With John Franco moving on, Feliciano will get a shot in spring training to be the team's left-handed specialist, but the likelihood is that he will spend another year bouncing up-and-down between Triple-A and the majors.

Feliciano is very similar to his competition for the Mets' lefty specialist job, Jaime Cerda, as they have similar career paths. Feliciano may have a slight advantage based upon his work last year. The only negative for Feliciano is his propensity for walking batters.

The Tigers claimed Feliciano off waivers from the Mets in October with hopes that he could be an effective lefty specialist this year. Unless there's planetary alignment in his favor, Feliciano, 26, isn't going to see save chances, so you can toss him in the pile in the corner with the rest of the potential lefty specialists in the American League.