It was a busy night at the Bellagio, with several notable trades grabbing headlines this morning. The Phils entered the fray, dealing catcher Jason Jaramillo to the Pirates in exchange for backup backstop Ronny Paulino. Acquiring Paulino makes it pretty crowded behind the plate for the Phils; Chris Coste now has competition in a big way, and he may be dealt as a chip in a larger deal, or swapped in a small one. All indications are that Chooch Ruiz is this team's starting catcher, although Ruben Amaro Jr. indicated that there could be some competition there too as the season plays out.
It's tough to get excited about the acquisition of an underperforming catcher, but that's the only concrete Phillies news we have from the Winter Meetings today. The Mets, on the other hand...
After missing the 2008 playoffs due primarily to their terrible bullpen, the Mets have made a second major move to sure up their late inning crew. They've already signed a closer who set the MLB record for saves last season, and now they've brought in JJ Putz to set him up. It took a three-team, 12-player deal, but at least in the short term, it looks like the Mets made out pretty nicely. They didn't have to give up any impact players, and perhaps worst of all for us, Aaron Heilman's 5.51 ERA is gone from New York. His career could be resurrected to previous heights elsewhere, but he was just awful last year.
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Putz was shelved with significant elbow issues for a long stretch of last season, but he was outstanding in 2006 and 2007. The question now is whether his elbow holds up in 2009. Rotoworld's take:
The Mets will be praised for this, and they might even deserve it.
However, Putz never did recover his best stuff after last season's
elbow problems, and it's an open question of how he got his best stuff
in the first place. In 2006 and 2007, he was about as dominant as any
reliever in the game, amassing a ridiculous 186/26 K/BB ratio in 150
innings. However, he never showed that kind of potential in previous
seasons and he didn't ever look like the same guy last season, even if
he did finish with 56 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings. Odds are that the
Mets are getting a very good setup man. However, he'll probably never
again be the pitcher he was in 2006 and 2007 and he'll be quite
expensive to keep beyond next season. He's due $5.5 million in 2009 and
$9.1 million if his option for 2010 is picked up.
In short, it's going to be a tough road to the division title again this season. As it should be. The Mets' improvement doesn't take away from the fact that the Phillies have a scary lineup, a starting rotation that proved to be their strength last season (but will possibly change), an outstanding bullpen, and solid role players. If they can retain or replace Jamie Moyer and Pat Burrell, they're still the team that won the World Series. But the Mets don't appear to be as likely to contribute to the cause again this season.
Still, there's always the possibility they will. After signing baseball's top starter in Johan Santana, the Mets were the odds-on favorites to win the East, the NL, and probably the Series. We all know how that went. Also, simply adding star talent doesn't always work out as planned (ask the Yanks the last handful of seasons), and chemistry can be an issue. Will K-Rod's decreased velocity be a big factor? How will Putz respond to being a set-up man, when he's spent the last few seasons as one of the league's best closers? Here's hoping the word "disasterously" is involved in some way.