Bannister Wins Achievement Award From Royals

At the Eyewitness News 12 site they relay the Royals' awards of the year:

Right-hander Brian Bannister was given the Joe Burke Special Achievement award. The awards were voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Bannister, 26, was 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA in 27 starts after being acquired in a trade with the New York Mets. His ERA was the seventh-best all-time by a Kansas City rookie.

THe Mets and Royals

Jeffrey Flanagan at the Kansas City Star, writes about the trade history between the Mets and Royals that dates back to 1969:

Did you know that the Royals have made more trades with the Mets than any other team in baseball? The Royals and Mets have made 19 trades — the next team the Royals have traded with the most is Pittsburgh at 12.

Last week’s deal to acquire Brian Bannister from the Mets for Ambiorix Burgos was the latest in the long line of curious and often risky deals between the clubs.

The relationship started in 1969 when the Royals stole Amos Otis from the Mets for Joe Foy. The Mets, of course, got even in 1987 with the whole Ed Hearn-David Cone swap.

The Mets seemingly hoodwinked the Royals again 1992 with the Bret Saberhagen deal, but then again, Sabes, sadly, was never quite the same pitcher after the trade. And a couple years later, the Royals were able to unload one of the players they got for Sabes, Kevin McReynolds, for Vince Coleman.

After that, the Royals came out on the better end in 1998 when they got back Joe Randa (who'd been traded to Pittsburgh two years earlier) for former first-round pick Juan LeBron, who was a total bust.

You can view the entire history through the link up top.

My thoughts on the Bannister deal

Well now the Bannister trade just shot down my theory of him being the Mets new long relief man. I saw this as a good idea for him as he suffers from the same thing that Heilman does. After the second or third time the hitter sees him, they can read what he is about to throw. This is ultimately a good move for him, as he now gets a guaranteed spot in the Royals rotation next year. Maybe he can meet up with Jeff Keppinger for a couple of drinks and talk about times with the Mets.

On the reverse side of the spectrum Burgos was 4-5 with a 5.52 ERA for the Royals in 2006, his second season. Overall, he is 7-10 with a 4.81 ERA. He could be a good addition to the pen if Peterson can work his Zen magic.

Mets trade Bannister

Mark Hale and Joel Sherman at the NY Post, writes about the Mets and them trading Brian Bannister to the Royals for Ambiorix Burgos:

The Mets made a trade yesterday that sent righty Brian Bannister to the Royals for Ambiorix Burgos, a hard-throwing but erratic righty reliever, The Post has learned.

Burgos, who turns 23 in April, went 4-5 with a 5.52 ERA in 68 games in 2006, serving up 16 home runs. He had 18 saves but blew 12. The Mets believe they have a formula to fix talented pitchers by combining a pitchers' park in Shea Stadium with their cerebral pitching coach, Rick Peterson.

The state of the bullpen

While other sources will tell you that there is a void in the Mets bullpen with the departure of Chad Bradford, Roberto Hernandez and probable departure of Darren Oliver. On top of this is the 50 game suspension of Guillermo Mota for testing positive with drug enhancements.

I don't see it this way at all.

What about Duaner Sanchez? If I remember correctly, we got Hernandez to fill the void that Sanchez left when he got into the taxi accident.

Also, what about Juan Padillia? Padillia Posted a 1.49 ERA with the Mets in 2005. He didn't make an appearance with the Mets in 2006 because of Tommy John surgery. All indications say he will be 100% by spring training.

Then there is the long relief role that will be left by Darren Oliver. How about sticking Brian Bannister in that role? That seems to be the smartest move the Mets can make. If that doesn't work out, then they could put any one of the Mets emerging pitchers that don't fit on the roster in the beginning of the season in that role.

With the returning pitchers and the addition I suggested, the pen would shape up like this:

Pedro Feliciano
Juan Padillia
Duaner Sanchez
Aaron Heilman
John Adkins
Brian Bannister
Billy Wagner

This is a pretty solid bullpen as of right now. I really have no idea what everyone is getting nervous about.

Rangers want Maine and Bannister

Adam Rubin at the NY Daily News, writes about the Rangers wanting to trade reliever Akinori Otsuka to the Mets for John Maine and Brian Bannister:

Minaya met with Rangers officials yesterday, and the sides discussed the Mets acquiring reliever Akinori Otsuka, multiple sources told the Daily News. Texas asked for 2005 first-round pick Mike Pelfrey in early discussions, but Minaya is believed to have indicated neither he nor '04 first-round pick Philip Humber is available. The starting-pitching-starved Rangers were apparently willing to consider a swap that includes Brian Bannister and John Maine, but that price was too high.

Otsuka, 34, went 2-4 with a 2.11 ERA and 32 saves in 63 appearances for Texas in 2006, after he arrived from the Padres with Adam Eaton last winter for Adrian Gonzalez, Terrmel Sledge and Chris Young.