March 2006
Trade Rumor: Heilman to TB?
From FOX Sports
News: The Tampa Tribune reports that the Devil Rays may try to trade for Aaron Heilman, likely offering the Mets Julio Lugo in return.
Impact: Heilman would likely start immediately in Tampa Bay and New York could use Lugo at second base. The two teams are also reportedly talking about a smaller deal involving Heath Bell.
Please do not trade Aaron Heilman!!!
Anna’s Frontal Assault
Poor Kris Benson. First his wife’s antics get him shipped off to Baltimore (no, we do not believe Omar Minaya’s explanation of this trade) and now Anna decides it time to part ways. Kris apparently cheated on her!! We find this hard to beleive albeit very possible.
This is just a theory, but we think Anna fell in love with the spotlight here in New York and after milling around Maryland for few months she knew it wasn’t for her. She needs to strike while the iron is hot. She moves back to NY or LA and does whatever it is she does and stays in the public eye. In Baltimore the best opportunity for her to get press is to enter the 7th inning wet t-shirt contest.
What about us? All we’re left with now from this fiasco is Jorge Julio and John Maine. Sure this trade was as much about addition through subtraction as it was in suring up the bullpen – but I think we’ve been taken. Maine is in the minors for the forseeable future, Kris will go on to be quality pitcher, Anna will pose nude for millions and we’ll be left holding our breath every time Willie hands to ball to Julio…
Things Beginning to Round Out
Brian Bannister has been named the fifth starter ending the most eye-popping competition in camp. Aaron Heilman will go back to the bullpen. Everyone seems to be fine with the outcome. If Heilman is disappointed (and he should be) he is not showing it. Willie Randolph broke the news to the boys the other day in the presence of owner Fred Wilpon. Willie made his decision based on what would help the team the most at this point in time. It was a sound decision and we support it.
The top four spots in the rotation apparently were never in play. That is something we are having a hard time with here. Pedro and Glavine are legends and should always warrant a spot. But Trachsel and Zambrano should have to show something each year – especially Zambrano. Trax had a few great outings this spring until the other day when the Dodgers knocked him around. The club is still sticking with Zambrano to justify the Scott Kazmir trade. We can’t imagine that Zambrano is a better option than Heilman at this point in time. Our belief is that one of those two will falter (most likely Zambrano) and a call for Heilman will be resonating from the rafters….
We hated to see Jeff Keppinger get demoted, but he is the lesser of two options at 2B. Anderson Hernandez has played his way onto the club and seems to be clicking with Jose Reyes in the middle of the Mets infield. Victor Diaz looks like the odd man out in the Mets outfield. Xavier Nady just outplayed him for that RF spot for moost of the spring. Nady – even though he’s been in a slump – is still the more attractive of the two. Neither one of them look anywhere as good as Lastings Milledge, though. Here’s a question for the Mets: how long can you keep this kid in the minors? We’re guessing not too long. More to come……
Willie: Milledge Has ‘Moxie’
If anyone in baseball knows what it takes to win pennants, it’s Willie Randolph. As a Yankee player and coach he played in 4 World Series and coached in 6 others. Nothing ordinary excites him, especially in spring training. There have been only two players – neither who will be with the team on April 3rd – that have drawn open praise from him – Mike Pelfrey and Lastings Milledge. Pelfrey has been reassigned after several impressive outings. There is no room for him on this roster, so the Mets will let him get regular work in a warm minor league environment. When we’ll see him again is unknown. Milledge has played well enough to make the team, but at age 20, it dosen’t seem likely he’ll get the at-bats needed in Flushing with all the new faces. So off to Norfolk he’ll go…..
Milledge hit a game winning double against the Dodgers yesterday, invoking a response from Willie about having ‘moxie’. It would be a bold stroke for the Mets to get Milledge to the majors this season, but he sure looks like he’s ready. more to come…..
Toes, Elbows, Knees and Fingers….
Those are the appendages and joints the Mets have been dealing with this spring. The nagging little hurts that have sidelined stars and have given the have-nots on this roster a chance to strut their stuff. Anyone up for a hip or ankle injury? Wow. This just keeps getting better and better. I haven’t heard so many questions asked about a finger since Rockefeller flipped off a crowd of war protesters…
Omar – Say NO to Soriano
Many GMs are keeping a close eye to see how the Soriano soap opera unfolds in the nation’s capital. From what we hear, Omar Minaya is one of them. I say this to Omar:
NO NO NO!!!
We do not want this player in Flushing for a multitude of reasons….
1. – He is a horrible fielder. He has 105 errors at 2B over the past 5 seasons – by far the worst fielder at his position over that time. The club needs a rangy 2B to compliment our very average 1B (Carlos Delgado) not a sieve like Soriano that will keep the opposition’s innings alive with miscues and errors.
2. – The deal will be a double negative for the Mets. We will have to give up either Bannister, Heilman or Milledge (doubtful) in a deal plus pay him $7.5 million this year. Not only are we taking on another big salary, we are – again – forking over our young talent to a division rival. Is this good business?
.
3. This guy comes in with excessive baggage. We don’t need anymore baggage around here. I can see it now…Soriano making an error in the field and then whiffing on pitch in the dirt drawing the ire of the crowd. This is an undisciplined player that refuses to be disciplined.
Omar, please pass on this opportunity. You have 2 fine young prospects at 2B the crowd will gladly rally behind (Anderson, Keppinger). I guarantee they will not rally around Soriano, especially if he does not change his ways. We have had too many overpaid, sulking athletes in this town. Quite frankly – we’re tired of it.
Only So Much Room in ‘Pen
Things are beginning to clear up now that Henry Owens and Steve Schmoll have officially ended their candidacy for middle relief spots in the Mets’ bulpen by getting shipped to Norfolk along with John Maine. NOT!!!
This leaves the Mets still with too many pitching decisions to make between now and April 3rd. Decisions on who the #5 starter will be and the health of Pedro Martinez will shape the staff they bring north in 2 weeks. Like we stated the other day, if Bannister wins that #5 spot, that puts Heilman back in the bullpen where there is very little room. If they give the spot to Heilman, Bannister will most likely be demoted so he can keep starting. He has no future in the Met’s bullpen.
Here’s basically what we’re looking at:
Closer – Billy Wagner. Set-up – Duaner Sanchez. 7th inning options - Chad Bradford, Jorge Julio. Others: Yasaku Iriki, Royce Ring, Bartolomo Fortunado…wait!!! That’s 8 guys!!! More to come on this……
Downer of the day……..Jorge Julio attempted to invalidate 2 off-season trades with just one pitch. Mike Jacobs took him deep -way deep – in yesterday’s game vs Florida
WBC Final Has Little U.S. Influence
Whenever you have an open competition among able participants, the dynamics cannot be controlled and just about anything is possible. As is the case of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
Bud Selig, in the interest in promoting professional baseball across the globe, created this competiton and the world came. The Cubans had to overcome politcal hurdles to solidify their invite. The Japanese are not well respected in the global game. Sure they have placed a number of players in American basesball, but over all they are not considered a collective force. That these two teams find themselves playing for the WBC title tonight is a shock to everyone but themselves.
The Dominicans have a roster full of All-Stars – Cy Young and MVP winners – and along with the Americans were favored to be in San Diego tonight for this game. But baseball isn’t won on paper. The DR, although still stacked, were left to play without Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez and for a time -Vladimir Guerrero. The U.S. seemed to be missing just about everyone. It didn’t appear to be the best 9 America could field.
Japan is a team of virtual unknowns with one exception – Ichiro Suzuki. As any baseball follower will tell you he is one of a kind. They also have been hiding some pitchers away as they have not allowed many runs and even shut out Korea in the semifinal to get here. The Cuban team – as always – is shrouded in mystery. Who are these guys? Will we ever see them after tonight? That is up to Fidel Castro. I certainly hope we get the chance.
There are some takeaways for America here. There are more important things than money, but trying to convince anyone in this country of this is a hard sell. Hard work and teamwork are what still wins….so why are we so surprised the two most regimented squads are playing for the title?
All of a sudden, Mets are deep…
Part One
Met fans knew the arrival of Omar Minaya before the 2005 season was a harbinger of good things to come. But looking at the roster these days, one can only be amazed on how quickly Minaya has turned this team into a potential powerhouse. Granted he’s basically been given carte blanche by owner Fred Wilpon, but still money does not always buy a pennant- something we here in Flushing are all painfully aware.
Who stays – who goes?
Starting Pitchers
Starters: Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Steve Trachsel and Victor Zambrano have all solidified spots. The fifth starter will be either Aaron Heilman or Brian Bannister, both who have been near perfect this spring. This situation may resolve itself if Pedro cannot begin the season due to his ailing toe. The additonal depth here is very intriguing. Yusaku Iriki has pitched well enough to make the team. Henry Owens, Mitch Wylie, Ajay Soler and John Maine have shown promise while Mike Pelfrey has wowed the crowd more than once. Outside of Iriki we don’t see the others coming north before September if all goes well up here.
Monday- the bullpen.
mlblogshappyrecap
Hey, Bud, What’s the Point?
Let’s chase Barry Bonds around the country and torture him. Let’s boo him at every twist and turn and make this ugly situation even uglier.
That’s what Bud Selig is promulgating in his way-too-little, way-too-late press conference today.
Let’s face it, Bud. Caving into the ‘right’ on this issue is not the way to go. Especially since it will become a witch hunt that can do no one any good. Everyone knows Bonds and others used perfomance enhancing substances. The ones that could have stopped them from using them did nothing at the time. In fact, no official MLB rules have been broken here. So why put us through this Speilberg revisionist history exercise by suggesting ex-post-facto rules be put in place to punish – or condemn – players for deeds the owners once found acceptable.
Just put in a ‘drop-dead’ date for everyone to get clean and enforce it stringently going foward.
First of all, steroids are getting way too much credit for the home run craze of the late ’90′s, early ’00′s. They naturally played a hand in this, but they had plenty of help. Has anyone investigated the allegation that the baseballs were wound tighter for those years, enabling them to travel further? Has anyone taken into account the fact that every new ballpark is contructed to favor hitters and is conducive to the long ball? Has anyone analyzed the flatter mounds and the recent trend of ‘throwers’ over pitchers? And that only the good hitters benefited from the perfomance enhancers?
Of course not. No one ever wants to admit to being part of a conspiracy. In this event, the conspiracy was to create a more entertaining product by giving the overwhelming advantage to hitters.
And don’t forget the real reason why owners looked the other way. Money. Yes, that green stuff is addictive. Add that to the fact the owners did not want to usurp the labor peace by imposing more random drug tests. They feared Fehr.
So, Bud, you’re only opening up a carton of spoiled milk with this thing. If you want to make good use of George Mitchell, send him to Darfur, ot Baghdad. Don’t have him humiliate you, him, players, owners, coaches, 300 million Americans and countless others with this sudden urge that came over you to do the right thing. The time has passed. Impose new rules and move on.