Q: How severe is Duaner Sanchez’s injury?
A: Too soon to tell. The Mets are saying they’ll know in a few days if he needs surgery. If he does, Omar Minaya said he would be out for the year.
Q: Is Roberto Hernandez the answer?
A: He’s not Sanchez, that’s for sure. The Mets hope he has something left. His ERA is good and he’s still able to punch out hitters. The key to the Mets’ bridge to Billy Wagner is Aaron Heilman now more than ever. He has not pitched well. That’s got to change.
Q: How close were the Mets to making a deal for Barry Zito?
A: Depends on your perspective. All he had to do was say “yes’’ to Lastings Milledge.
Q: Did they give up too much in Xavier Nady?
A: Their thinking was the bullpen hole was potentially more damaging. They do have enough power to get by, and defensively, Endy Chavez is an upgrade.
Q: What happens in right?
A: When Milledge was up earlier, the thinking was he had to play. However, it is a different time in the season and Willie Randolph could go with a platoon.
Q: What happens with Oliver Perez?
A: He’s 24, lefthanded, and has a live arm. He’s a guy you can build with. He’ll go to the minors, but will get a chance next spring to compete for a job. The Mets aren’t looking for him to help them now.
7 Comments
Hi John –
Was the accident involving Duaner Sanchez the impetus for the Nady, Hernandez Perez deal? If so, I think Omar made the best of an unfortunate situation. WFAN has had varied reports about the accident – what do you know about it?
As far as Barry Zito is concerned, I can live without him – I’d rather keep a kid with an attitude and talent, than take on a flaky pitcher who only works ‘part time’, has BORAS for an agent, and will be a free agent soon. When pitchers are good – Gibson, Koufax, Seaver – they are very good, but when they are not – they’re just a crapshoot.
So much for an off-day, huh?
I think it was the best that could be done in a bad spot. You didn’t give up too much for Hernandez and Perez in Nady that you can’t get back with a Chavez/Milledge platoon. And like you all said earlier, if Perez turns out to be decent next year and going forward, then this might be a trade you look back and realize that the Mets got a good deal.
Sanchez is a tough loss.
Nady isn’t. He’s below-average to poor defensively, he’s not clutch, and he’s got a long swing prone to strikeouts.
It looks like the 8th inning will be “by committee” from here on out, but I agree that Omar did fairly well in light of the circumstances. It will be interesting to see Milledge the second time through, and I think that platooning him and batting him 8th could help to cool his apparent attitude issues a bit.
Perez is interesting. Veeeerry interesting. He hasn’t been hitting the mid-90’s on the radar gun this year, and he hasn’t thrown anything over the plate since 2004. But he’s 24 years old, he’s a lefty, his ‘04 season had “star” written all over it, and he’s a bit of an immature kid coming from an organization (the Pirates) who might be the worst-run franchise in the game, to a much more stable and nurturing environment with veteran leaderhip and a pitching coach who has helped a number (though not all) of the guys he’s worked with to successfully deal with mechanical issues. If there’s nothing physically wrong with the kid, he could have a huge upside.
As for this season, let’s just be thankful that the difference between Duaner Sanchez and “the committee” is unlikely to be 13 games in the standings over the next couple of months. Now, as for the playoffs…
As Met fans we should sue the Taxi commission. ;-p
this rings of a certain met pitcher who felt it necessary to trim hedges and lose his finger. sigh I actually liked Nady , he’s no millege true but he wasnt as cocky. Millege needs some more humility, like Reyes finally got. Hopefully the team dynamic didnt change too much, but i would have liked to see all the mets hit the pennant before seeing themselves on a losing team. Lets hope the coaching staff can get thee guys in the same groove. Lets Go…
Steve C.
I think Milledge raises cockiness to a new level. The team dynamic in the bullpen will have a greater bearing on what happens to the Mets than in right field.
AJSMITH …
You’re right. The key to this could be Oliver Perez. He’s lefthanded, 24, and supposedly has a live arm. He’ll definitely get a shot in spring training. Roberto Hernandez said a change of scenery could turn him around. He said the Pirates tried to make him into a finesse pitcher.