An early Christmas from the Mets to you
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- November
- 20
This will be good news to many of you. The Mets just traded Guillermo Mota to the Brewers for catcher Johnny Estrada.
Estrada hit .278 with 10 homers and 54 RBI in 120 games.
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on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 6:31 pm by John Delcos.
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Tells you had much the Brewers wanted to get rid of Estrada.
Now we should all send Omar Christmas cards for this trade.
I guess miracles do happen.
Wow! How in the world did Omar pull that one off? I haven’t seen Estrada play in a few years, but his numbers look solid enough—and for Mota?!!
Thank You Minaya, now trade for Haren. John what do you think of this trade; Fernando Martinez, LM and Heilman for Haren?
Holy crap!!!
Well done Omar, well done!
Wow!! Hooray!!! What’s the catch?? There has to be a catch. I would have settled for a used baseball but Estrada?
Well.. this is a surprise but again, I believe Estrada had surgery done this year I beleve?
Actually I believe that Estrada is scheduled for surgery on his knee and a clean out of an elbow. Even so – this gives the Mets a catcher without having to lose someone they truly didn’t want to.
Estrada got in a fight (I beleive in a game against the Mets) w/Ned Yost. Usually players who fight w/the manager don’t hang around.
So The Brews wanted to get rid of Estrada as much as the Mets wanted to get rid of Mota. They wanted to get rid of him so much that it was rumored that they were going to non-tender him. So they at least got something for him. I also beleive he has two yrs left on his contract so they freed up some money w/this deal.
Plus, he had surgery on his knee for a torn meniscus and had some bone chips removed from his throwing elbow. So don’t get too crazy excited.
He also is not know for being the best game caller and this past yr his throwing went way down (hopefully only b/c of his elbow).
But he hopefully will recover and be a decent split time guy with Castro. Most importantly I hope he comes to training camp in a little better shape than I’ve seen him of late. He is getting chubby.
In any event Mota is gone. I gotta hand it to Omar to convince another GM to take him, although out of the NY spotlight he might be ok. I never thought it was his physical stuff but the lack of brain cells b/w his ears that got him into trouble.
um we need picthing we just lost glavine, albeit he’s talespinning but watch him spank us next year. :-\
Actually, scoopcoop, I think it was the lack of physical stuff that did Mota in. Steroids, specifically.
Nicely done. I would have settled for a bag of balls for Mota but heck, getting a catcher with decent numbers is pretty good. Sounds like we got ourselves a new Captain RedAss.
I will miss Paulie though. Good luck to him wherever he goes, so long as it’s not the Phillies.
steroids might make you be able to throw the ball w/more velocity or recover so you can pitch back to back days but it can’t make your ball change direction.
It could have a psychological effect to improve your confidence. If it did anything for Mota maybe it was psychological.
I saw no evidence that the speed of his pitches was down this yr. His problem was location. and a lack of confidence.
A guy can only be a cpt redass if he is respected by his team. Loduca was liked by some in the clubhouse but not by all. Plus respect at that level comes from performance.
That is why I beleive Delgado’s drop off in performance and pedro out for most of the yr had an effect not only on them but the rest of the team.
And I thought Omar would have to non-tender Mota… Brewers can’t afford Cordero and Linebrink were desperate for proven relievers (can Mota be called a proven reliever, proven to blow a lead and wipe his forehead I guess. Not only had Estrada fought with the mgr. but they picked munson off waivers…One of Omar’s best right there
This will be Estrada’s fourth team since 2002. The word on him is he’s a bit of a clubhouse lawyer and doesn’t play nice with others. He clashed with Yost and the pitching coach. Considering the lack of catching, good ones don’t move around like he has.
Health wise, he had surgery on his elbow and knee after the season.
Estrada is no day at the beach, but the flip side is Mota is gone. You take your victories where you can get them.-JD
I guess JD nailed it. But they must have really hated Estrada to get Mota. I guess they’ll sell him to their fans just like Omar will sell Estrada to us. I give Omar credit. He found a body to catch and he improved the bullpen. Not so bad.
Won’t put us over the top but we are better for the loss of Mota. Think there’s another lousy GM who will take Schoeneweiss?
John, I have never heard a good explanation as to why the Mets wanted to rid themselves of LoDuca so badly? This is a great trade for the mere fact that we don’t have to see Mota jogging in from leftfield anymore but why a clubhouse lawyer when we need an attitude upgrade next year? I would also like to know John what is Rickey Henderson’s status next year? I heard we were bringing in Rudy Jaramillo and getting rid of Henderson, an experiment that failed miserably, but haven’t heard anything on it of late…
Gus, your questions and here are some answers…
John, I have never heard a good explanation as to why the Mets wanted to rid themselves of LoDuca so badly? He wants 3-4 yrs contract and the Mets did not want to give a 35 yr old C 3-4 yrs. Plus his jumping up and down makes the fans happy (most fans who are dumb enough to think that has some positive effect on the rest of the team) but not the bosses (Wilpons).
This is a great trade for the mere fact that we don’t have to see Mota jogging in from leftfield anymore but why a clubhouse lawyer when we need an attitude upgrade next year? No one else available at such a cheap price.
I would also like to know John what is Rickey Henderson’s status next year? He is gone.
I heard we were bringing in Rudy Jaramillo and getting rid of Henderson, an experiment that failed miserably, but haven’t heard anything on it of late. No Jaramillo. He wanted a multi-yr and Omar said b/c he was a candidate for manager along w/Willie he did not want to create a story for the papers.
slop, put it this way. If you had a fist fight w/your boss would you still have a job? a guy who gets into a fist fight w/his manager does not hang around.
Melvin is not a lousy GM. He got rid of his problem and the mets got rid of theirs.
Hopefully Estrada will not cause any issues. Omar may have already put down the law by publicy stating that estrada adds depth-ie., he is not necessarily the starter. Maybe this is a way to get him to tow the line.
Show was hurt most of the yr with a bad knee. Hope that clears up. They won’t be able to find a GM to take a two yr contract at 3MM+/yr.
its not hard to figure out why Lo Duca isn’t sticking around. Everyone, including a bunch of idiots who call themselves radio talk show hosts on WFAN, keep coming up with ludicrous reasons why Lo Duca is being run out of town. Oh, he must have reallypissed someone off, what could it be? You want to know? He’s 36 and seeking a 3 year deal. Even 2 years is too much for this fading catcher with more and more injury problems. I mean, when a guy like Lo Duca, who said he wanted to come back to the Mets, tells the mets after the season, Hey I want a 3 year deal, the Mets did the right thing and said, SEE YA. Lo Duca is old and doesn’t have it anymore. GOODBYE.
Another classic Garbage In-Garbage Out trades.
Glad to get rid of Mota, but just what we need another catcher who can’t throw, and is coming off two surgeries. Here is a stat on Estrada :
“He threw out just 7.6 percent of runners attempting to steal, the worst among NL catchers.”
“Estrada is no day at the beach, but the flip side is Mota is gone. You take your victories where you can get them.”
It would have been a great trade if all Minaya got back was the bill for Estrada’s bone-chip-removal surgery. Getting another team to take on Mota’s $3.2 million salary AND getting a player back? Outstanding!!!
If Mota does for them what he’s done for the Mets then Mota better make sure he turns those urine samples over to MLB representatives rather than employees of the Brewers!
Estrad threw out 7 % in 07 b/c of his elbow. In 05-06 he was better than league avg.
Hopefully the elbow will be better now that he had surgery in Oct.
Dr Andrews did the surgery. I would expect the Mets got a pos report from Andrews who has some affiliation w/the team.
from Omar, “Johnny adds depth to our catching situation”
I see this as a shot across Johnny’s big belly that he better be in shape and not tick off his teammates or the coaches b/c if he does he won’t start.
And I did not realize that he is only under contract for 08 (arbitration will give him 5-6MM). This will costs Mets about 2MM after subtracting Mota’s bill.
Hence, Johnny is not going to get himself a nice big FA deal after 08 if you don’t start the majority of games.
Estrada is arbitration elgible. Has no contract for 2008.
If the Mets wanted they could nontender him. I doubt they would do this. So they actually dumped Mota’s contract without having to pay one cent. Pretty damm creative.
Omar has been able to save all his trade chips.
Maybe he can still pickoff an almost #1 SP.
From what I read scoop has it right. The other GM approached us in trying to rid themselves of a problem so we swapped problems.
The only thing I hear is the $$ and years Paulie wants is not something Omar is willing to negotiate. So now we have yet another former Brave. Very interesting.
Perhaps sometime next year we will be able to pickup a real catcher.
Now onto our real priority – Pitching.
To call this trade “outstanding” is ridiculous. Crap in crap out. The Brwers were going to non-tender the guy so that’s an “outstanding” move.
An outstanding move is getting a superstar on your team.
This move was OK. That’s all.
Scoop: Reggie didn’t get moved when he had his fight with Billy Nartin. And how about those Knicks. Heard Marbury’s punishment for threatening blackmail was to get his starting job back. If Fielder punched the manager, he wouldn’t be gone today.
From the NYTimes:
“During a Mets-Brewers game in Milwaukee last August, television cameras caught Estrada yelling at Brewers Manager Ned Yost in the dugout. It was later revealed that Estrada was defending a teammate and did not instigate the argument. ”
ok Mel, their are exceptions that you can find. And the ones you pointed out were/are stars.
Estrada is no star. Hence, he was tossed out even if the Met game was not the issue. He did clash w/the manager and coaches and some players.
Mel – To call this trade “outstandingâ€? is ridiculous. Crap in crap out. The Brwers were going to non-tender the guy so that’s an “outstandingâ€? move.An outstanding move is getting a superstar on your team.
Mel – Even though they probably could have Estrada for free it would have cost them by non-tendering Mota. This is a WIN for the Mets and Omar as they dumped that salary instead of eating it and Estrada is a short-term cost that can either prove himself worthy or be dumped.
Sloppy…- Think there’s another lousy GM who will take Schoeneweiss?
Sloppy – Shoeneweiss is probably worth hanging on to. Once he became healthy he was actually one of the better relievers we had. Could go either way though.
All-in all I think this is a good move. Getting rid of Mota and bringing in a catcher all at the same time means Omar can turn to the pitching now with all else set, especially with Castillo back at second. Some reports are coming in that say Duaner Sanchez is coming along well. If he comes back healthy and ready to play like 2006, Shoeneweiss is back healthy, Heilman, Smith and Wagner are still here, you are looking at a good bullpen, maybe great. IF . . .?!?!?
Starting pitching – a #1 or #2 and we could be back perched in 1st. IF . . .?!?!?
One comment on Paul LoDuca. You gotta love Paulie. Fiery yes, newsworthy yes. Worth another year? Yes. Not 3 or 4. However, all reports indicate that there were never any discussions on a contract so who knows if he would have taken a year to come back.
So far Omars offseason C+ just for getting Estrada, Castillo in the fold and dumping Mota. Still a lot of time and work to get The Mets finished. I just hope we don’t overpay for mediocrity and call it great pitching.
Trading a pitcher who was ineffective and was never going to get any break from the fans at Shea because of it for a position player where the Mets are extremely thin is good move. Estrada has baggage, but, if we all look back a few years ago there was concern that Delgado had baggage and Pedro was maybe going to be a problem, etc….. None of that materialized then. We can only wait and see what happens next year. Hopefully, Estrada’s defensive numbers will improve post surgery and we will actually enjoy seeing Mota at Shea, in a Brewer’s uniform. He is now officially allowed to shake off the change-up for his explosive fastball any time he wants to!
Perhaps you are right.
I had doubts about Pedro. Don’t watch the Sox so I never saw him.
Delgado I had no concerns about. His first year and the post season were great. Hope he can get last year behind him and have a much improved year.
Estrada for me is a shrug. He has moved around a lot for a reason. Good catchers are rare commodities. He is not one of them or else someone would hold onto him.
Happy Thanksgiving
Want to wish everyone here a happy holiday.
Talk to you Monday.
My faith in Omar has returned!!! Getting rid of Mota…what a Thanksgiving present!!!
Happy Thanksgiving Eve –
Welcome Johnny Estrada. If he can throw the ball, hit the ball and catch the ball, and Dr. Andrews did his surgery that works for me.
Thanks Omar.
And, while I’m here, thanks to everyone on this blog who followed all the Mets games here and made each one of them much more fun with all the comments and discussions.
Enjoy the holidays and it’s not that long until ‘Pitchers and Catchers’. Maybe Omar will have some other presents for us by Christmas. :)
It was a good move but to call it outstanding is not correct. That was my only point.
And the quote I printed showed the guy may be a team player. Yost lost the Brewers last summer, and I’m sure thst it was more than 1 yelling session on TV.
CLM: I cannot beleive a defense of Schoeneweiss. He had an awful year and he was pretty awful in 2006 also. At best a mop up man down 14-2.
To all: getting rid of Mota is a wash on the Omar slate. He signed him for two years. He was a significant part of us not making the playoffs. so getting rid of him doesn’t erase the total failure that was called the Met bullpen in 2007. The move was good but to give this praise is uncalled for.
Putting things in perpective,the Brewers would rather pursue Jason Kendall rather than hold on to Estrada,who,incidentally is a jelly donut or two away from 300lbs.
i would’ve been happy to get a Single A ball boy for Mota. It’s possibly the best move Omar makes this entire postseason, a trade for Johan Santana not withstanding.
jay: if this is the best trade omar makes this winter then be prepared for a 3rd or 4th place finish. I think pounder understands the significance of this trade.
As I stated earlier, and now confirmed by a former teammate, Mota was not made for NY—-
One of Mota’s ‘07 teammates, contacted Tuesday night, suggested the trade will benefit Mota and the Mets. “He wasn’t comfortable pitching at home. The booing got to him,” the player said. “It wasn’t going to work out.”
Happy Turkey Day to all
Just a thought…
When the Brewers come in to Shea, will Mets fans
– boo because they remember what Mota’s done for the Mets?
– cheer because Mota’s no longer a Met?
– boo when Mota quickly gets the first 2 outs?
– cheer in anticipation of Mota blowing the game for the Brewers?
I don’t believe the Mets not wanting any part of LoDuca was all about money and years because this started way before a contract was brought up. The younger girls? The disparaging words about the Latin players?
No defense of Shoeneweiss. Just thinking he looked better at the end of the year. He’s signed and not going anywhere. And what is out there that is better? That’s the key. Headed to Canada to hunt whitetailed deer. Enjoy everyone.
How’d Schoenwesiss look better? Was his hat cleaner than Mota’S?
What’s out there that’s better? Virtually any and every relief pitcher whose name isn’t mota.
How do you know he isn’t going anywhere? There was a dope who took mota there could just as well be a dope to take Schoeneweiss.
Maybe the Mets didn’t want LoDuca because he became a crap player.