Cover: A Tale of Two Trades

[GaryG]

A Tale of Two Trades
By Matt Himelfarb
Published on Monday June 18, 2007

Read the entire article here.

When the Mets dealt Heath Bell and Royce Ring in return for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins, I can, with complete honesty, say that I smelled an inclusive disaster to come out of it, the same way I feel when I'm given a lot of artistic materials to work with.

Matt gives us his views of the Ring/Bell for Johnson trade as well as the Bannister/Burgos trade, one of which he was against at the time and one which he supported.

[MetsToday.com]

This is a monumental moment: I agree with Matt.

At least inasfar as the trading away of Heath Bell --- I also thought it was a terrible idea at the time.

As a Met, Bell threw strikes, didn't back down from any confrontation, and had a good moving fastball (despite the opinion of many partially blind onlookers that he threw a "straight" fastball).

If that's what translates into good BABIP / DIPs, so be it.

And -- omigosh -- Matt admitted that "makeup" was indeed a factor in performance (if an overrated one at that).

Matt, I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for you to cook up a formula measuring a player's makeup.

[carwashceo]

Joe,

That is hysterical. I was just thinking the same thing - maybe Matt can cook up a formula for defining a player's "makeup"...

HAHA too much...

With pitchers, it's obviously an emotional issue. The game is SO mind-oriented for them that every little thing can throw them completely off. What, if anything could make a guy like Armando Benitez look like he did not have the physical tools to be one of the most dominant closers of all time and then you get into his mindset... BAM...!

Now, I liked Bell and was sorry to see him get traded, but I can't say that I really miss him all that much. Bannister...? Don't care at all... Injury notwithstanding, I believe that the Burgos acuisition is going to be a very good one for us in the long run...

As for Heilman, whom Matt used to start his article, things are a bit different. The shelf life of a setup man or middle reliever can be a very fleeting thing. While we're getting complaints about him from all over the place now, it's very easy to forget what he did for us in 2005 and even last year. He had a stretch in 2005 where he did not give up a longball for almost 4 1/2 months (I think that's what it was) and he did almost the same thing last year. Now he gives up some runs and gets popped for a few HR's and we're all over him. Oh, how easily we forget...

There are too many people out there trying their damndest to say, "I told you so!" with regards to baseball players and trades these days. If Heilman gives us another 2 months without giving up a longball or nary an earned run, will we suddenly all be enamored with him again...?

[carwashceo]

Gary, never let it be said that you're a "No Nukes Luke" kinda guy...

(sorry, had to get that in there...)

[Mike McGann]

I'm a giant Heath Bell fan, not just as a pitcher, but as a person. I sat down with him a couple of years back in Scranton and had a really nice talk about baseball and life.

You have to root for a guy like that and he and Brian Bannister remain on my list of guys I root for no matter what uniform they're wearing.

[Ed in Westchester]

I have to ask, how long were we supposed to wait for Bell and Ring? I mean, each time I saw either of them come into a game, they would give up hits, and not get out of jams. Now, part of this may be simply the yo-yo, not getting consistent work. But Bell rarely got it done while here. His k/9 stats dropped from 2004- 2006. Opposing batters avg rose each year. OPS was 867last year, and 723 in 2005.

Some players just need a change of scenery to thrive. I am happy for Heath, but just didn't see much from him while here.

As for Bannister/Burgos, I liked that deal at the time, and hope that the elbow issue is nothing to be concerned about long term, though I have my doubts. Brian seemed to step back once the regular season started last year, nibbling as opposed to attacking. Good luck to him as well. My thought is that Omar and Co. probably felt Pelfrey was ready and has a higher upside. Too bad he isn't ready. Yet (crosses fingers).