Sosa Gone And Heilman Might Be, Too

Adam Rubin at The New York Daily News writes about the release of Jorge Sosa and the Mets trying to trade Aaron Heilman:

On Sosa:

The Mets placed reliever Jorge Sosa on unconditional release waivers after failing to trade him. Sosa was designated for assignment on May 13.

On Heilman:

The buzz among scouts is that the Mets are shopping Aaron Heilman. Of course, they're looking for a set-up man - something hard to find. Heilman's struggles continued yesterday. He inherited a 4-1 deficit, walked his first batter, Mark Teixeira, then surrendered a two-run homer to Brian McCann before recording an out.

"It seems like every mistake he makes is hurting him," said Tom Glavine, a friend who regularly golfed with Heilman the past few years before going back to the Braves as a free agent. "Sooner or later it will turn. It seems like the time I spent there with him he was never quick out of the gate anyway. Then the second half of the year he seemed to iron things out."

A Take On The Latest Santana Rumor

Eddie D'Anna at Ya Gotta Believe writes about the latest Johan Santana rumor and what he would do if He was Omar Minaya:

That's a lot of young talent, but if I'm GM Omar Minaya, I pull the trigger on that -- as long as the best pitcher on the planet signs an extension.

You land Johan the Man, hold onto your prized pitching prospect Mike Pelfrey and your top right-handed setup man Aaron Heilman.

The Mets have two first-round picks in this year's draft and one supplemental pick. They can replenish the farm system come summer.

Great Read: Heilman As A Starter

Eric over at Blastings! Thrillage writes an elaborate piece on Aaron Heilman and why he should, indeed, be a part of the Mets 2008 starting rotation. He takes a great in depth look as him as a pitcher and breaks down the myth of why people don't think he should be a starter:

It's become fashionable to poke fun at Heilman for his "whining" about wanting to be a starter (which has been overblown, an occupational hazard of playing in New York), but can you blame him? He'd been a starter (and a good one) his entire career before the Mets moved him to the bullpen in May of 2005. They were scared by his 6.36 ERA and 73/54 K/BB rate in his first 93 major league innings (which may or may not have been largely the result of a change in his mechanics that the Mets forced him to make). Denying his strong minor league track record (as with Milledge and now Pelfrey), the Mets panicked and moved him to the bullpen after only seven starts in 2005. It wasn't an indefensible move: the Mets' rotation that year was very strong, but their bullpen was weak, and Heilman solidified the relief corps.

In 2006, though, the Mets really screwed him over. Despite a phenomenal showing in spring training (17 innings, 1.59 ERA, 14/1 K/BB), he was passed over for the fifth starter's spot in favor of Brian Bannister, and even after Bannister and Victor Zambrano went down with season-ending injuries early in the year, the Mets refused to move Heilman back to the rotation. You may remember that the Mets ended up using 13 starters that season, including disastrous stints by Geremi Gonzalez and Jose Lima, and entered into the 2006 playoffs with about two and a half starting pitchers. Just like with fellow BT favorites Ramon Castro and Lastings Milledge (may his memory be eternal), the Mets had already made up their mind about what Heilman was and wasn't, and refused to see past their own prejudices.

In reality, Heilman was and could still be a decent-to-good starting pitcher. He had a 3.68 ERA and a 2.3 K/BB ratio in 430 minor league innings. He was plagued by an unusual amount of home runs and an uncharacteristically high walk rate in his few starts in '03 and '04, but when the Mets finally allowed him to resume using his natural pitching motion in 2005, it looked like he'd turned a corner. In his seven starts at the beginning of that season, he posted a 4.71 ERA, but there were encouraging signs: he pitched two gems and only two really bad games, his K/BB rate was an excellent 34/13, and his WHIP was just 1.17.

Pelfrey Could Be The Set Up Man If Heilman Gets Traded

Ted Berg at SNY hits on a topic that I've hit on before (Pelfrey Could Be The Next Great Closer) with the Mike Pelfrey should move to the Pen:

I've long argued that hard-throwing youngster Mike Pelfrey should be moved into a relief role, and there's plenty of evidence to back me up. Not only does Pelfrey's limited arsenal profile better for a bullpen candidate, but fellow prospects like Bobby Jenks, Adam Wainwright and the stellar Jonathan Papelbon have all had big-league success in relief after working principally as starters in the Minors. I'm not saying Pelfrey will mimic those successes, I'm just saying it can't hurt to try.

It's way too soon to write off Pelfrey as a starter, even if he fared poorly in that role in 2007. Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine both struggled when they entered the Majors, but their teams could afford to stick with them during rebuilding phases. Since the Mets intend to compete in 2008, they don't have that luxury, and I don't know many Mets fans who'd be thrilled to have Pelfrey in the back of the rotation come Opening Day. A move to the bullpen will allow Pelfrey time to develop, and if the Mets still feel he can be the ace they once predicted him to become, they can transition him into the rotation when it becomes clear he has nothing more to prove in the bullpen.

Could Heilman Put The Mets Package Above Anyone Elses?

Eric Hz at Fake Teams speculates that the Twins could want Heilman more than anybody else because of the possibility of trading Joe Nathan:

Because no New York baseball can stand being on the outside of any trade specualtion involving the most valuable players in the game, the New York Post and New York Times report the Mets are still in pursuit of the Minnesota Twins' Johan Santana. In the NYP, Joel Sherman and Mark Hale say "There was a sense among rival executives that the Mets had made themselves viable." An AL executive is quoted as saying, "There is a sense that Omar [Minaya] will do something crazy to solve his biggest problem."

Those same executives "portray the Mets as aggressively trying to fill that breach, working diligently to see if they can configure packages to make them overall more attractive than anything else being offered to Minnesota," and one executive believes "Aaron Heilman could be an important piece in a package" because the Twins are expected to deal 2008 free agent closer Joe Nathan if Santana goes and heilman could possibly fill that void.

Fingers Crossed

In the 2005-2006 Off Season it was Barry Zito and how much the Athletics were asking the Mets for in exchange of one year of service from the Ace Lefty. In the 2006-2007 Off Season it was Dan Haren and Rich Harden and this deal was supposed to be a lock to happen for one of these pitchers with the Mets.

The problem in those two Off Seasons, was that the Mets, particularly Omar Minaya, was reluctant to give up the two players that Billy Beane was hard pressed to obtain from the Mets (Aaron Heilman and Lastings Milledge), but this is not the case this time around.

Omar has been quoted on numerous occasions that he would have no problem trading some of his best prospects in return for a front of the rotation starter.

So the question you have to ask yourself now is,” Is Omar ready to pull the trigger or is he just flirting with other teams again”?

I for one, believe that this time Omar is fully committed to moving some precious prospects in order to meet his goal, because of the way the Mets ended the season and what better suitor than Oakland?

There is no doubt in my mind that if Omar were to press Beane hard enough, he would gladly give up Dan Haren to the Mets in return for a stable of young players, such as Aaron Heilman, Lastings Milledge, Kevin Mulvey and a lesser prospect.

The only question is how far will Omar go to achieve his goals? That’s the question that’s been resting at the back of my mind and I’m sure that all of the fans are thinking of the exact same thing.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what he does in the Winter Meetings and keep our fingers crossed that Omar Minaya comes out smelling like a rose.

Met Ready To Pull Trigger On Heilman

Ken Davidoff at Newsday writes about the Mets and their willingness to now trade Aaron Heilman:

The most prominent major-leaguer to be traded could be reliever Aaron Heilman, who still has value among opposing teams. The Mets have long held Heilman out of trade discussions, but Minaya clearly wants to pull off a big deal.

"They're going to be active," one official from an American League club predicted of the Mets. "They're going to use those guys as trade chips and try to get some pitchers back."

Willie And The Pen

John Chattman at Mets Mesmerized writes about Willie Randolph and his bullpen blunders:

Willie did a tremendous job with the bullpen last year, because he had a strong bullpen. This year with the pen far more unreliable, he constantly struggles with who to put in and when to take someone out. Mota needs to be sent to the minors, but it wasn't his fault last night. It was Willie Randolph's. Sosa should've been starting that inning, because frankly, asking Mota to give you two strong innings is asking far too much. Mota's been horrible this year, but it doesn't matter. Willie will put him in. Ditto for Heilman. Ditto for Sele. I know Willie's just buying time until the rosters expand - when he can use - say Humber or Pelfrey in some of these spots- but the bottom line is it's put up or shut up time for this team. It's time for them to act like a first place team. Last week, I wrote how I saw some chemistry coming and I had confidence in this team. I've lost it quickly, which stinks. I just don't like when we throw wins away like they did last night. In any event, I digress, and I'll also single out LoDuca for coming up limp last night. Moving on.

What Is Going On?

As I eluded to yesterday in my post Tommy’s Time To Shine, I eluded to the fact that Glavine needed to pitch like an ace in last night’s game. The only problem with this story was that I completely left the bullpen out of the picture and rested the game solely on Tom’s shoulders.

What a travesty last night. I don’t know about any of you but I would be completely all right if Guillermo Mota were to blow his arm and disappear into baseball ambiguity. This guy has cost the Mets more game than I care to think about. But you can’t blame it entirely on Mota. Feliciano and Heilman combined to blow the lead in the eighth inning, after Tommy threw SEVEN SCORELESS INNINGS up. How hard is it to get six outs? Please someone tell me because I’m not understanding something.

Heilman The Back Up

Anthony Di Como at Mets.com writes about Aaron Heilman and his duty in the bullpen:

Should Wagner need that extra rest in the coming weeks, setup man Aaron Heilman has proven he's a capable replacement.

Heilman closed out Saturday's win in neat order for his first save since 2005. That year -- one in which he also made seven starts -- Heilman saved five games, four of which came in September after the Mets were eliminated from playoff contention.

"That's always good," Heilman said of the experience. "It's not such a brand new situation."

Is Sosa Turning Into Heilman?

By Dave at Mets Lifer (Network Member):

It was the summer of 2005 and I was stuck putting together some baby furniture on a muggy July evening. The Mets were playing the Marlins and this young pitcher was pitching for the Mets. For 6 innings, he had a no hitter going and I couldn't believe what I was watching. The game ended up being a one hit shutout, and I was impressed that the Mets were able to find a young pitcher like this who could be a future starter for years to come.

That was the last time I remember Aaron Heilman starting a game for the Mets. He may have started one or two more, but he quickly began his bullpen career. Flash forward to 2007 and I think the Mets are trying to do the same thing with Jorge Sosa.

Sosa started off with a stellar first 6 or 7 starts before hitting a wall. Sosa has never been a dominant pitcher, even when he was with the Braves. So what do you do with a starting pitcher who doesn't have dominant stuff but can pitch well? Throw him in the bullpen.

Sosa has performed well coming out of the bullpen. He seems to give up hits or walks early in the inning, but when he settles in he is able to get command of his slider and get batters out. I was extremely impressed with him in Milwaukee when he had the bases loaded and one out and was able to get out of the inning.

Is Sosa the bullpen help the Mets were looking for at the trading deadline? No, but he is a better option that Guillermo Mota or Scott Schoeneweiss, at least in my opinion.

Is Zambrano On The Horizon?

Yesterday at Mets Trades (Shea Nation Network), Ed Ryan supplied us with a nice piece on Carlos Zambrano and what the Cubs are looking for in return for him. Cubs want one of either Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber, Aaron Heilman and Lastings Milledge.

To give up Pelfrey might take a heavy gulp and bring back memories of Kazmir, but this is the good Zambrano. Heilman would be a product of a pen that is about to be flooded with good pitchers in Sanchez, Padilla and Williams. Milledge is of course the odd man out in the outfield. Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez and now even Ben Johnson has over shadowed him in all respects, so Milledge would be the most likely player Mets fans can drop and not look back on.

This trade would just about guarantee the Mets for the Playoffs. Imagine if you will, a rotation of (after the All-Star break) Pedro Martinez, Carlos Zambrano, Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, John Maine and Oliver Perez (a six man rotation because I don’t know who they can drop from it). I feel faint just thinking about it. The Playoff rotation would consist of Martinez, Zambrano and Glavine, with Hernandez, Maine and Perez coming out of the bullpen. Any team that faced the Mets in the Playoffs would be committing mass suicide.

With the addition of Zambrano, the Mets would and should overmatch any team in the National League and the American League. A phenomenal pitching staff, backed by a slugging and stealing lineup is just what the doctor ordered to maybe bring a title back to Flushing.

I’m giddy with anticipation and news on this scenario.

The Fans Get On Heilman

David Lennon at On The Mets Beat, writes about Aaron Heilman and how the Shea crowd has taken a disdain towards him:

I was a little surprised to hear the crowd get on Aaron Heilman in top of the ninth inning. As soon as the strains of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Feel the Reaper" blared over the loudspeakers, the fans began booing loudly. I don't think they were screaming "More cowbell!" either. Despite the jeers, Heilman did his job, and needed only one pitch. With Ryan Theriot at second base, Heilman got Cesar Izturis on a bouncer back to the mound to end the threat -- and earn the victory.

Mets Should Go After Roberts

So now the Orioles want a starting pitcher? More so is they’re interested in Chan Ho Park.

Well the Mets got plenty of those in stock. The Mets Triple-A staff looks better than the Nationals. They’ve got Jason Vargas, Chan Ho Park, Adam Bostick, and Phillip Humber. Take your pick, seriously.

What I would like to see happen is that the Mets go ahead and trade The Orioles Chan Ho Park, Rubin Gotay and Aaron Heilman and the Orioles go ahead and give the Mets Brian Roberts and Triple-A pitcher Hayden Penn.

Baltimore is sitting in third place in the American League East and probably not going anywhere real fast. With that said, the Mets could take the bloated salary of Roberts and the O’s could play Gotay in his spot.

Roberts is going to be thirty this season and hitting .275, with 1 home run, 7 RBI’s and 12 stolen bases. He’s a little bit of a burden for the O’s, but a perfect fit for the two hole behind Reyes.

The O’s would get two starters in return for Roberts and the Minor League Pitcher (Heilman wants to start). That would solve a lot of the Orioles woes for the season.

What do you think?

Two to Go

Ken Davidof at On The Mets Beat, writes about the Mets and who is yet to shave their heads:

By late Tuesday, only two Mets had yet to take their turn in the barber's chair. Tom Glavine had his head shaved immediately after the Mets' 4-1 win over the Giants, as did Aaron Heilman.That left only Aaron Sele and Jose Reyes as the two remaining holdouts on the 25-man roster.

Sele at least had a plausible excuse, saying that he had to fly to LA on Thursday for a family photo session. For that, his teammates were willing to give him a pass, but he should expect to go bald or go home when he returns to Shea on Friday. The only other holdout was Jose Reyes, who did not provide a reason.

Reyes said before the game he would submit to the razor, but did not after batting practice and played with his full head of hair intact. Even manager Willie Randolph tried to get Reyes into the chair Tuesday afternoon, but the shortstop refused. Not sure what's going on with that, but it's probably a good idea if Reyes joins his teammates.

What If The Mets Did This?

I'm a huge fan of trading up for a team. In the fantasy league I'm in, I think, I've been involved in more trades than anyone else. It let's you know that your GM still cares (not that Omar doesn't).

So with that said, I’ll throw out a couple of trade proposals to make the Mets younger and better for years to come.

1. The Mets give Oakland Lastings Millege and Aaron Heilman for Dan Haren.

I know, I know. This trade has been bounced around more times than a pinball. But, I think Billy Beane is finally ready to pull the trigger. Call it a gut feeling. And as MLB Trade Rumors said it in a previous post,” Dan Haren on the other hand… could challenge for Cy Youngs as a Met.”

2. The Mets give Pittsburgh Rubin Gotay, Ricky Ledee and Ambriorix Burgos for Freddy Sanchez.

Sanchez is probably at the lowest selling point right now. He’s hitting only .258 and has only 4 RBI’s. A change of scenery will most likely do him good. The Mets need a second baseman with a decent bat and a good glove. Sanchez is both of these.

From the Pirates side of the table, Gotay could replace Sanchez at Second, Burgos would go to a pen that desperately needs help (28th in the Majors) and Ledee would go to a team that’s in need of veteran leadership.

It’s by far a win, win for each team.

The rotation would shape up like this:

Tom Glavine
John Maine
Dan Haren
Oliver Perez
Jorge Sosa

The batting order would shape up like this:

Jose Reyes
Freddy Sanchez
Carlos Beltran
Carlos Delgado
David Wright
Moises Alou
Shawn Green
Paul Lo Duca
Pitcher

Note From David Rubin: I think that, if we are willing to part with both Milledge AND Heilman, we could expect to receive Rich Harden back in a deal. Even though Harden has been chronically hurt, a la Mark Prior, he still represents a unique talent who, when healthy, is capable of becoming one of the top 10 pitchers in the game, a designation not unknown to Mr. Beane. Second, I HATE dealing with Beane, because he always seems to make one-sided trades. Finally, I think that the Bucs would want more than the package above for Sanchez, as he is, after all, the reigning NL batting champ. I know a bunch of folks who worked with the kid when he was a busboy back in SoCal, and they all said what a great person he is and what a student of the game he is as well. I'm sure the Bucs have no doubt that he'll pick up his pace soon, as he's probably not as good as he was last year, but is certainly far better than he's showing this year. I think we'd have to offer a better pitching prospect, as well as a good hitting prospect to acquire a talent like Sanchez, as the days of prying talent away from Pittsburgh for a song are now seemingly over. I would not mind Haren, but would want to give up less...I would definitely want Sanchez, but we'd have to give up more...and I DON'T want Cantu, unless he's our last option, for the reasons stated in another post on the site. But, GM-In-Training that he is, John is certainly guilty of one thing- Throwing good ideas out there to get the "hot stove league" spinning...keep it up, bud!!!!

Kind Of Ironic

Kyle at Mets Prospects (Shea Nation Network), writes about Aaron Heilman, Lastings Milledge and how he feels they'll be packaged together in the near future:

About Heilman I said, "...are going to be so important to the Mets success the next season and future seasons. I believe that Aaron Heilman will definitely not be traded."

About Milledge I said, "Lastings Milledges future is still vague. I do not believe he will be traded."

Boy is that different now. Heilman has pitched poorly this season. He is 1-2 with an era of 4.09 while giving up 8 runs, 11 hits, in 11 innings. He just doesnt seem right and his arm does not seem completly healed. Milledge is out for about 4 to 6 weeks with a sprained ligament in his right foot.

I have been thinking if the Mets will finally package Heilman and Milledge together because Heilman will probably not re-sign with the Mets and because of the outfield depth in the Mets farm system. But, we hear this almost every year that Milledge might get traded. Will this be the year?

Is The Elbow Really OK?

Ed Ryan at Mets Fever (Shea Nation Network), writes about Aaron Heilman and the troubles he's having:

Aaron Heilman swears that his elbow is fine but he certainly isn't pitching that way. Heilman generally gets off to a slow start but not this slow. Is there the possibility that he sees how good Joe Smith is and is trying to pitch through an injury. Regardless of what the reason is for Heilman's struggles, Smith has earned the set-up man's role.

Anyway, they wouldn’t be the Mets if there wasn’t something. The concern now is with Aaron Heilman. He says he’s fine, but I have to believe something isn’t right with his elbow. source Lo Hud Journal

Heilman Tries To Move Forward

Marty Noble at Mets.com, writes about Aaron Heilman and how he's trying to overcome a beginning of the season pitching slump:

"We were going to win that game ... probably," Heilman said. "But I took us out of it. All we needed was a clean inning. ... We had two, three, four [David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado] coming up in the bottom of the inning. If it's 3-2, there's a lot more pressure on [the Marlins]. [A 5-2 score] is completely different."

This one wore on Heilman more than the home run he surrendered nine days earlier to Kelly Johnson of the Braves. That one made him the losing pitcher. This one was worse if only because it extended his rap sheet.

"Probably, that's the reason," Heilman said, his face twisted.

The rap sheet includes the loss to the Braves two Sundays ago, and another to Atlanta two weeks earlier. And there have been too many fly balls, and that grab Jose Valentin made in St. Louis on Opening Night that turned runs into a double play that spared Heilman.

His pitches are up, and so is his ERA -- 4.09 -- and his number of fly balls. He averaged 1.31 ground-ball outs for every fly-ball out last season. In 11 appearances and 11 innings this season, the ratio is .77 ground-ball outs to one fly out.

Staff defying The Odds

So, once upon a time, critics were saying that the Mets starting pitching was either too old or too inexperienced. That Maine, Perez and Pelfrey couldn’t be counted on. That Glavine and El Duque were going to show their age. That the great offense the Mets possess wasn’t going to be enough to make up for erratic pitching and a depleted bullpen.

Now fifteen games into the season, the Mets pitching seems to be enormously sounder than the team critics said had the best staff in baseball (Phillies). So going down the list, here’s what the Mets starting rotation looks like so far:

Tom Glavine – 3-1; 2.70 ERA
John Maine – 2-0; 1.93 ERA
Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez – 1-1; 4.00 ERA
Mike Pelfrey – 0-0; 3.18 ERA
Oliver Perez – 1-1 3.72 ERA

With none of our starting pitching over the four earned run average mark, it seems that the Mets were right in staying away from, new Giants ace, Barry Zito and his ridiculous demands.

The bullpen has been equally effective in their efforts to remain one of the strongest in the Majors. Here’s a look at what the boys in the pen have been up to:

Ambiorix Burgos – 4.26 ERA
Pedro Feliciano – 0.00 ERA
Aaron Heilman – 4.91 ERA
Scott Schoeneweis – 0.00 ERA
Aaron Sele – 2.84 ERA
Joe Smith – 0.00 ERA
Billy Wagner – 0.00 ERA; 2 Saves

If you ask me, that’s a pretty solid pen.

So, critics, keep writing about how the Mets pitching is horrendous and keep writing about our weaknesses. The Mets will just keep proving you wrong.