It’s on the front page of Mets.com (with a mere link to Hernandez’ MLB player page) and ESPN’s happy ticker claims the same : Arizona is sending Orlando Hernandez (2-6, 6.11 ERA) to Flushing in exchange for right handed reliever Jorge Julio.
Marc Pearlman asks, appropriately enough, why the Mets traded Kris Benson. The long answer has something to do with salary, but the short version is about the sanctity of Santa Claus.
I’m wondering if this means Royce Ring or Heath Bell is going to be called up to fill Julio’s spot.
Or, are they going to reaquire Danny Graves?
Let’s not even joke about Danny Graves. And someone named Anderson Garcia has presumably taken over Julio’s role (i.e. striking out backup catchers in the eighth inning of 7-1 ballgames) as of whenever he got called up last week.
I understand the Benson question, but I honestly didn’t care much about that deal, and still don’t, now. Benson is chewing up innings and actually pitching pretty well in Baltimore, but considering that dealing him enabled the team to add Carlos Delgado, perhaps The Greatest Living Met (or at least the one I’d most enjoy talking politics with), I think it still stands up as a smart deal. That’s a lot of money to pay a guy who probably tops out at 12-10 in a best case scenario. And whose wife won’t stop showing off her giant, artificial breasts/teeth in inappropriate venues.
Personally, I’m pretty excited about Duque. Although it’s funny how something so simple as GC dropping his won-loss record and ERA into a parentheses can dampen that.
Oh, and also the Mets apparently just called up Heath Bell. So…yeah. I type too much.
I don’t have a problem with this trade at all really.
As GC pointed out tonight, El Duque might have turned the corner with his last start or two and he’s always been stand up in big game moments. I can’t say that — statistically right now — he’s a huge improvement on Jeremi Gonzalez or Lima Time!, but Jorge Julio isn’t really going to be needed by the Mets at this juncture. He could turn out to be a huge gun at some point if he regains his confidence in pressure situations, lowers his HRs allowed, and gets some movement on the fastball… but he could also just remain a flame throwing mop up man.
Heath Bell can handle that mop up role (as he and Royce Ring have proven in prior years) if not other roles. And having another established pitcher in the rotation is a nice thought. It sucks to be Aaron Heilman at this point for sure though.
I would love to talk politics with either Carlos Delgado or Anna Benson and will leave the light on for either should they happen to be in the area.
it’s entirely possible that Julio will become a confident, composed closer and/or set up dude in Phoenix or elsewhere…and someday, this trade will look like a steal for the Snakes. For the moment, however, having a really great mop up man is a luxury compared to a veteran arm in the 4th or 5th spot. At 36 years of age (?) part of me thinks El Duque is done…and another part remembers what he did against the Red Sox last October.
There’s no way the Mets could survive the loss of Zambrano and Bannister without looking outside the organization for help. Not without moving Heilman into the rotation, which as we’ve heard a million times, wasn’t gonna happen.
and all things considered, for the price of Julio, El Duque’s a pretty nice pick up compared to some of the other names that were bandied about (Livan, Jeff Weaver, Kyle Lohse). Soler handled himself nicely tonight after the first inning…and if Bannister is ready by the end of June, the Mets might not be looking at automatic losses 2 days out of 5.
Someone, please look this up while I’m watching the end of Phoenix/Dallas — is there an older rotation in the big leagues right now than Martinez/Glavine/Traschel/Hernandez?
And does it really suck to be Aaron Heilman? good middle relievers make more jack than at any time in history…and it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility that Heilman will be starting for another team, if not this year, maybe next. His versatility continues to make him a valuable bargaining chip.
This trade amounts to a lot of ‘if’s.’ Perhaps El Duque and his high strike-out total pitch well enough to win one or two more games than he loses, but when the playoffs come around, you’ve got two pitchers who have balls of steel when the pressure’s on…so would it be worth it to you to give up a very young promising prospect for a World Series win? Even assuming that Julio turns out to be the Next Great Closer? I would. When the Sox traded Nomar, everyone said “holy shit…all they got back in the trade was two good defensive infielders?!?” but that’s exactly what they needed to win, not offense and not pitching. You can’t play for the next decade, you play to win the series now before Pedro gets too old and Billy Wagner starts to suck. Our Team, Our Time, etc. etc…
indeed, Rog, the Mets are all about winning right now (though Beltran, Reyes and Wright are a more than OK foundation for the years in which the team struggles to find a way to void Pedro’s deal, if not Wagner’s).
all of that said, I’ll go back to Marc’s original question. If ownership was truly committed to winning no-matter-what, Benson for Julio was a very curious trade. David Roth nailed it — they wouldn’t take on Delgado’s salary without cutting costs elsewhere, and it was determined that Benson was surplus to requirements mostly based on a deal the Mets gave him that no one else would’ve matched at the time.
Who would you have rather seen getting a start for the Mets the past few weeks, Lima Time, Jeremi Gonzalez, John Maine or Kris Benson?
There’s always an element of risk to such a player exchange, and with everything this team has at stake, I’m comfortable with the level of risk involved in bringing in El Duque. But whether or not Minaya admits as much, this trade is about correcting an earlier mistake. I’m not bitching, either. Better that ownership and management address the current circumstances than insist that Soler, McLaneor Pelfrey are ready to combine for 40 quality starts
I hate to burst the El Duque bubble (or is it a Mets fans’ bubble?), but the guy’s career is over. The only conclusion that can be made from a 2-6 record is that he has made enough starts to be due for the DL. If NY fans are tired of seeing late inning pitching meltdowns, wait until Orlando H. threatens to load the bases in innings 1-5 (1.58 WHIP). That is entirely more frustrating.
With a guy like Duque — of ambiguous age (we just know he’s definitely not younger than the 36 years he claims) and with smoke-and-mirrors stuff — there is always the chance that the ride is over. But the Mets aren’t asking him to head up a rotation, and while he’s obviously better than Lima Time et al, he’s also a tremendous postseason weapon — and someone the Mets would’ve paid much more for had they tried to acquire him at the deadline for just that purpose.
He was hardly lights out for the White Sox last year until pitching brilliantly in the playoffs, and he’s one of the few players with a good postseason rep to have a large enough sample size for it to mean anything. And what it shows is this: he averages a strikeout an inning over 106 postseason IP, with an ERA/WHIP of 2.55/1.14 and a 9-3 record. His career splits are 4.11/1.27. I’m no mathetician (or even an arithmetician), but that seems to speak to continued ace performance under pressure situations, even as his regular season performance has declined into something very much like mediocrity. For the most part Robert Horry isn’t a great regular season contributor, either.
mr. notorius,
he didn’t look finished on Monday night (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0523dbsider0523.html)
Touche…
although the Pirates are a struggling, aged pitcher’s wet dream. El Duque is going to hack out 4 or 5 good starts out of the 20-25max he will make this season, but it seems to me that Heilman or various AA and AAA pitchers would have more (or similar) success. Baseball genius K-Will wouldn’t have dumped Duque for Alex Cintron if the man had something left. I would credit the “Hocus-Pocus!” El Duque moment last year against the Red Sox to luck, and an expanded strike zone.
I just realized Javier Vazquez was part of that deal; making my point null and void. I can only hope Orlando Hernandez ruins the Mets season much like the same organization ruined Robin Ventura’s career. When El Duque starts, the only advice I can offer to the Mets faithful is, “May the force be with you.”
one lousy World Series win and all of a sudden Kenny Williams is a “baseball genius?”
Some of those Chase Field homers should die on the Shea warning track. He’s moving from one of the worst defensive teams to one of the best. His K rate is up, so I don’t think he’s throwing batting practice. He may be old and done, but I think there’s a decent chance this trade looks very good in a month, regardless of what alloy El Duque’s balls are made of.
Hernandez’ era in away games this year is substantially lower than games he’s pitched at the former BOB.
Today’s Phillies/Mets game on WFAN is a fucking nightmare. And I’m not referring to Jeremi Gonzalez’ pitching, either.