Here’s the thing I don’t get: why say this at all? Mejia’s own performance will dictate where he will land eventually. That and the organization’s evaluation of his performance. There’s just no question that a top-line starter is more valuable than a short-reliever….

Warthen was being honest, and I suppose he deserves our approval for that. However, sometimes, tact is as important as honesty. I don’t know what question from what reporter prompted this discussion. Nor do I really care. The issue here is that there are other people with the Mets who think Mejia has the potential to be a starting pitcher and he is being developed with that goal in mind this season. Warthen, while expressing a personal opinion, is essentially publicly expressing disagreement with others in the organization.

– Toby Hyde, MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com.

People seem to be making a lot about Warthen’s comment that Mejia profiles as a Major League reliever, but I’m with Toby: It doesn’t really matter much. If we’re assuming that decisions about the way the team’s top prospect is handled are now the dominion of the front office — sigh! — the Major League pitching coach’s opinion probably doesn’t much impact the way the team develops Mejia.

(Oh man, remember all that last year? Holy hell, did that happen?)

Anyway, it might be better if Warthen kept opinions like this one to himself, just for the sake of public relations. But though I’ve ripped Warthen for things he has said in the past, Mets pitchers publicly and privately rave about him, so he must be doing something right. It’s probably not fair to judge him just based on what he says to the press.