Yes it is an obvious headline but I had to use it at least once.
The Aaron Heilman era has ended. After signing K-Rod yesterday, the Mets pulled off an overnight 3-team trade with the Mariners and Indians. Bottom line, the Mets got:
JJ Putz
Right handed reliever Sean Green (no, not Shawn Green)
Outfielder Jeremy Reed
And gave up
Aaron Heilman
Joe Smith
Endy Chavez
Minor League first baseman Mike Carp
Right-handed pitcher Maikel
Cleto
Outfielder Ezequiel Carrera
Left-handed pitcher Jason Vargas
The only one that hurts is Smith. He had alot of potential and showed poise and durability for such a young guy. We may regret that move one day.
Chavez, not so much. He is known for a great play in an ultimately meaningless game. Loge13 is frankly tired of hearing Met fans speak of that catch with such ebullience. As a player, I liked Chavez alot but he had become almost totemistic. Manuel clearly did not like him much, as judged by his decreased playing time last year.
We sure gave up alot of players. Putz has already said he'd rather be a closer but will adjust to the role. Meanwhile, the other two guys
don't exactly come with sterling credentials:
In addition to Putz, the Mets added Green, 29, to their relief corps,
cushioning the loss of Smith. Green, like Smith, has proven to be a
vastly better pitcher against right-handed batters, and he could step
into a late-inning role with the Mets. Green excelled during the first
half of 2008, before posting an 8.65 ERA in 24 games after the All-Star
break. He has made a combined 136 appearances for the Mariners over the
past two seasons.
Reed, 27, is a former top prospect who hasn't hit with any consistency
in the big leagues since batting .397 over 58 at-bats in his rookie
season. Once the Mariners' starting center fielder, Reed spent much of
last season at Triple-A Tacoma, producing a .269 average in 97 games
with Seattle.
I am a bit baffled that we gave up seven players (four of whom with major league experience) for this crew. But if Putz can reclaim the 8th inning for Mets fans in the names of all things Cook and Turk, then Loge13 welcomes Putz.
Comments
Heilman is addition by subtraction. It's a bit ironic that Endy and Aaron leave in the same trade. Although Endy made the catch, Heilman ALWAYS got away with giving up the Molina HR in the top of the 9th, more so than Beltran. All I heard was swing, Carlos, swing... when the real culprit was Aaron all along.
Glad to see him gone. He was worthless to the Mets.