Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Mets Dump Hielman & Chavez On Mariners; Get Closer Putz

Omar Minaya is a genius once again.
The Mets general manager, determined to rid the ballclub of the stentch and pressence of relief pitcher Aaron Heilman, and the dead weight bat of Endy Chavez just completed a three-team deal with the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians to get Mariners closer J.J. Putz.

The Mets sent Heilman, who had become the eye of hatred for Mets fans with his sour expression and even more sour pitching performances, to Seattle with outfielder Endy Chavez. Chavez made one of the most overrated catches in Mets history when he robbed then-Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen of a homerun in the 2006 NLCS, a game the Mets would lose anyway.

The Mets also sent firstbase prospect Mike Carp to Seattle, while the Indians countered with outfielder Franklin Gutierrez going to the Mariners as well.

The Mets also sent relief pitcher Joe Smith to Clevleand, while Seattle shipped second baseman Luis Vabuena to the Indians to join Smith.

In return for these moves, the Mets received Putz, who was the Mariners closer for the past handful of years, but had a down year in 2008 with only 15 saves and a 3.88 ERA. In 2007, Putz was an All Star with 40 saves and a 1.38 ERA. The Mets also got reliever Sean Green and outfielder Jeremey Reed from the Mariners as well. Green will likely replace Smith's spot in the bullpen as a middle innings reliever, while Reed will be add depth to the Mets bench. Putz, will of course, be the set-up man for K-Rod, Fransico Rodriguez.

This gives the Mets a dynamic eighth and ninth inning duo. They will start with the hard-throwing Putz in the eighth and finish the game with the third best closer in baseball behind Mariano Rivera and Boston's Jonathon Papelbon, in Rodriguez.

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