The Mets have acquired RHP Luis Ayala from the Nationals in exchange for 2B Anderson Hernandez.
Ayala is expected to join the team in Pittsburgh tomorrow.
Ayala had a 5.77 ERA this season with Washington.
The Daily News reported earlier in the week that the Mets had expressed interest in Ayala, who SI.com’s Jon Heyman mentioned the Mets had been trying to acquire during the Trade Deadline.
Hernandez’s time had clearly expired with the Mets, who now turn to Argenis Reyes in such spots, not to mention the four other second basemen on the team’s roster.
So, to trade Hernandez, and buy low on Ayala, given the recent struggles of the bullpen, makes total sense to me.
Ayala plus Stokes will hopefully be a fix, especially given yesterday’s news regarding Billy Wagner.
{ 112 comments }
well done!
a pitcher even washington doesn’t want.
The league average ERA is 4.29. Ayala’s is 5.77.
and AH is hitting 200 in AAA ..
Don’t be silly. In his career he has 76 walks compared to 213 strikeouts. Career ERA of 3.33. Used correctly he could be an effective cog.
2003/04 expos
Omar and…
Brian Schneider
Endy Chavez
Fernando Tatis
Claudio Vargas
Tony Armas
Luis Ayala
Val Pascucci
Ryan Church
Ayala instantly becomes the best reliever in the pen until he blow the game tommorrow. This is a good move. They were not using kunz, so send him down and get a fresh arm like ayala up who has had a good career
hahah rememebr when he was a futur star like 5 years ago hahahahah. whta happened?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’D RATHER HAVE BENNY AYALA THAN LUIS AYALA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a-hern we hardly knew ya on that note LETS GO METS!!!! AND DOES N1 HAVE TIX TO SELL FOR THE LAST GAME LOL
We don’t need Hernandez so at least we got Ayala for very little . can’t hurt
bring back doug sisk
the life of a relief pitcher…
he hat too many chimichurros
You mean chimichangas, right?
Ayala sucks……but let’s see what he can do.
metskin id rather lure dough sisk out of retirement
isnt ayala very close to the top in appearances….not sure “fresh arm” is the best way to describe him. i guess we’re just going with quantity over quality in the pen.
Good point. It seems like many people consider someone a “fresh arm” just because they hadn’t been pitching in the majors for the Mets. However, I still think this could be a good move. He was very consistent for the past three years, and even though April/May this year. We’ll just have to see what happened since June to cause his recent struggles.
I meant March/Apri, his struggles seemed to start in May.
wb hit the weights i wondered what happened to ya
thanks, yea i had a little hiatus but I’m back
Ayala is having a rough season, but with that said, if before the season started you told anyone the Mets could get Luis Ayala for Anderson Hernandez, we would have all been very happy.
Not sure what the cause of his poor pitching has been (mechanical, bad luck or injury), but he had been excellent the past three years.
I think I found what the problem appears to be (and this is mostly good news.)
Most of Ayala’s stats appear to be in line with his very solid career numbers such as strikeouts, home runs, and BABIP. He is also throwing just as hard on his fastball (91mph) as he did before his injury in 2006, so velocity is not an issue. The one thing that is off is his walk rate, as he is now 3.43 batters per nine innings as opposed to his career norm which is 2.06 batters per nine. Now, this is a problem, but I believe this is something that can be fixed and this will most likely drop back down to his career norms.
But now the good news. His LOB% is a rediculously horrible 59.6%. Why is this good news? Well, just as a good player who is replicating his career norms in most every category can’t sustain a incredibly high LOB% the same goes for one who has an incredibly low LOB%. As the sample size gets bigger, and especially if he starts throwing a few more strikes, this number should shoot up fast.
And, to top this all off, his FIP (Fielder’s Independent Pitching) is 4.53, which is still not great, but it shows that he has been let down so far this year by many factors that are out of his control.
Thanks to fangraphs for the info.
his era with washington this year is 5.78. not 4.29. where did that come from?
the same place where people see the visions of jesus in cats fur – la la land
…he pitched yesterday and let up 1 ER (2 runs) in 1 inning. that’s how…
Huh? Ayala’s ERA has been way above 5.00 sine early June. I also wonder where 4.29 came from.
Wrong.
Let me guess…you are–or were–captain of the debate team, right?
Is it that obvious?
isn’t he 1-8 this season??
Yes.
fantastic, he fits right in.
Good luck A-Hern!!
yeah good luck andy and good luck luis
Thats a great way to judge a reliever. By wins and losses.
Seriously, you know who sucks? Mariano Rivera. Stupid sub .500 pitcher is 4-5 on the year. He was also really horrible in 2002 when he went 1-4. I can’t believe people say he should be a hall of famer.
Wins and losses are reflections of the team, not the pitcher. Ayala has not had a good season, but his won/loss record is not an effective way to make that point.
I think it’s a good move by Omar. Ayala has good stuff and we needed another reliever.
Agreed. As I tried to say above (but the post never showed up), as bad as Ayala has been this year, he had been a very good reliever for a few years before that. As long as his problems this year are not injury-related, there is a good chance that he just needs a change of scenery. Plus, as bad as the Mets’ bullpen has been lately, they needed someone–*anyone*–new in there. The fact that they got someone new for merely the useless Anderson Hernandez is great. Hopefully Ayala will turn things around with the change of scenery and playing on a team in contention.
Ayala has been downright awful this year. But at least he’s a fresh face (clearly not a “fresh arm” as he does have 57.2 IP this year already).
If a change of scenery and a new perspective gets him back to what he was in years past this is a great move, if it doesn’t, well then at least you got AHern out of the way in the minor league system.
“Ayala had a 4.29 ERA this season with Washington.”
- When I check his stats for Washington it shows he has a 5.77 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.
Yuck.
When you give up the equivilant of nothing, you’re going to get someone with some warts. But he has upside, he has had an ERA under 3.20 for 4 straight years before this year. Hopefully Schneider (His former catcher) will be able to realize where he’s gone wrong and fix it.
Great point. A change of scenery, playing for a winning team and reuniting with Schneider may be just the ticket to get Ayala back to the form of the previous 4 years
hop u r right chimets u musta had a bad time being a mets fan in chitown in the 80’s
hop u r right venom
Good points. I’m pulling for Luis.
Good luck, A-Hern.
Wait, our pitching coach will fix him in 10 minutes!!!!!!
Oh no, shoot, that was the other guy.
Warthen will just tell him to push off from the middle of the rubber. Hope that helps!
It’s a good move. We didn’t need Anderson anymore and remember that Ayala came from The Nats, the worst team in the majors both defensively and offensively. Hopefully by getting on a winning team his real talent may so. Hopefully that means he’ll get better, not worse.
coincidentally, I looked at AHern’s stats yesterday in the minors. he was never going to see a Mets uniform again.
good luck to him and as much as Ayala has struggled, this is still a good trade. they didn’t give up anything that was going to help them now or down the road, and if anything, it is just another pitcher to eat up innings.
Ayala had a serious arm injury. That’s why his performance dropped off.
Matt must have seen his *lgEra on baseball-reference. This year for him seems like a hiccup for other relievers such as Heilman and Rafael Betancourt.
rotfl
I think this is a great move, believe me guys, a-herm cant even hit in the dominican winter league, he is not even a bench player.ayala has good stuff and could pitch well on a contending team. sometimes players need motivation. great move!!!
dominican u think his nasty era is only from bad feilding??? come on!!
i wish we goy bradford from the o’s
He’s in Tampa now.
got not goy damn yiddish spellcheck :)
He’s a free agent after this year so what do we have to lose. Hopefully he does good. The Mets need all the help they could get in the pen.
in all seriousness what is ayalas scouting report?
This is his first year back after having Tommy John surgery.
He had TJ early 2006 but came back in June 2007.
is he a power pitcher ? was he will he ever be?
No, no.
so, who goes down? kunz?, is ruddy lugo still on the team?
Kunz will go down, which is good cause he needs to work consistently and is not here. D Wright day off today. Easley at 3rd and batting 3rd
okay let me breath wright off EASLEY batting third? somethings wrong here….
I usually hate when managers rest a star and put the fill-in in the same spot in the lineup, like Manuel did with Easley today, but Gary Cohen said on the telecast that Manuel felt that, with the team hitting well, he didn’t want to take a lot of people out of their usual spots in the batting order, so he just put Easley in Wright’s #3 hole. I still don’t know if I agree with it, but it makes more sense after that explanation.
Supposedly Ayala requested to be traded to the Mets because he wanted a change of scenery.
really
yo no quiero el washington? no paella y chimmichurras
Looks like a previously banned racist commenter has resurfaced under a new name.
no 1976 i was just trying to be funny – unsuccessfully
time for our weekly confidence report yet :}
He’s not having a good year but we needed another arm and his success in the past makes him worth getting. Let’s not forget he’s costing us a middle infielder who will never hit.
You know the expression “knocked the bat out of his hands”? Well, I never actually saw a hitter look like he was going to get the bat knocked out of his hands by a pitch before Anderson Hernandez.
Well, maybe Jeff Duncan, after his fast start, but nobody right from the start like Anderson Hernandez.
A minor move, but not the worst move. The Mets need an arm who can step in right away and do a halfway competent job. 2008 has come down to scoring early big and taking blood pressure pills when we hit the 7th. Kunz looks nervous and he’s been underutilized; some AAA for two weeks until the rosters expand may do him good. Ayala may be a touch better with the Mets—he’s backed by a better defense.
I don’t know that Kunz was nervous. He certainly isn’t ready to pitch in the majors for good, but I think his struggles yesterday were just due to rust (and somewhat due to a need for further minor league experience). He got the Willie Randolph/Aaron Sele treatment–didn’t pitch for a long time, even though there were a couple of blowouts in which he could have been used, and then was somehow expected to be sharp when he finally was used.
Peterson can fix him in 10 minutes.
Warthen told him to step a little to the right on the mount, DONE!
I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Warthen had an idea about the source of Ayala’s problems. I would think the trade would’ve been run by him before it was executed; he’s probably looked at some video, etc.
I mean, I guess I don’t actually know how ballclubs work, when it comes down to it, but if the Mets run like any other organization I”ve ever been a part of, that’s how it would’ve gone down.
So my guess is that Warthen has already had a look and has at the very least not pronounced Ayala worthless.
Hernandez was hitting .203/.262/.307 in triple-A. so this move make sense. I am even surprise that the nats made this move.
Best of luck to Anderson Hernandez, but the Nats probably would have been better off getting some bats, or balls, or pine tar rags, or something.
Certainly can’t complain about the trade. The Nats needed an infielder and I guess they believe Ayala won’t return to his pre-Tommy John form. Let’s hope he proves them wrong.
Garbage for garbage.
It had to be done but I’ll wager we get better quality bullpen help once the rosters expand
Referring to Ayala as “garbage” is much too extreme. Ayala was very good for several years before this one, so there is a good chance that the poor performance this year is an aberration.
Hernandez, on the other hand, has never had anything close to success, so the label unfortunately fits him well.
I should add that, not only had Ayala pitched well for several years before this one, but he also pitched well last year, when he first came back from Tommy John surgery. So, there is no reason to think that he cannot pitch following his surgery.
Ayala is far from garbage. He’s been lights out every season prior to this.
not sure if it’s been mentioned already, but the article on mlb. com claims that “Ayala requested the trade weeks ago because he wanted a change of scenery, due to personal problems.”
maybe that, wahetever it may be (girlfriend dumped him? a street gang is after him?), was the main problem, and not mechanics or anything strictly baseball-related. Hopefully he’ll flourish, his career numbers are VERY good. And as it is now, he can still make Aaron Heilman feel better about himself: he no longer has the highest ERA on the mets staff
Too funny about making Heilman feel better about himself. Hey, who knows…maybe it will help! :)
wright getting today off and easley playing 3rd and batting 3rd.
Ayala is a three-pitch (fastball, slider, split) pitcher who has a reputation for throwing strikes.
split…. nice, a new pitch in the bullpen.
Nice complete game 3-hit shutout for Johan today. more outings like that, and our bullpen issues won’t be particularly relevant. :)
As for Ayala, Gary Cohen said that, before the Tommy John surgery, he had a sweeping slider, and now it is more of a cutter. I doubt that is the source of his problems, though, since he pitched well last year, when he first came back from the surgery.
Another plus…he has a good Chris Berman nickname; Luis “We All Live in” Ayala “Submarine.” :)
Whatever, he will take some innings away from Heilman which should help a little… but they sure are filling up the 25 man roster with guys who have no options.
if Castillo, Church and Trot Nixon (ugh) all come back soon we’ll have seen the last of A. Reyes, Evans, and …Murphy? …for a while.
No way Murphy goes down, and Jerry seems to have taken a shine to Argenis. I doubt either of them will go down. But even if they do, they’ll be back in September.
I don’t think there is any chance of Trot coming back before September call-ups. And, frankly, I think the Mets are going to at least try to hold off bringing back Castillo until September, too. Unfortunately, they may bring back Luis sooner, though, which would likely mean Argenis Reyes goes down for a bit. I do think that the September 1st roster expansion eliminates the need for waiting 10 days to bring a player back up, after being demoted, though, so it might be a brief demotion for Argenis. Also, they could send down Evans, who seems overmatched so far, as they could always play Easley in the outfield.
street gang is after him? rofl
nate w, manuel said once church comes back, Tatis will be the odd man out (meaning riding the pine) and Murphy becomes the LF, so he stays. AReyes and Cancel can go down, im fine with that.
Then they will just have to find a way to avoid Nixon’s return so Evans can stay. Shouldnt be a problem I guess.
I like Evans, but it wouldn’t hurt to send him down. He seems overmatched so far. He needs more time in the minors.
if murphy continues the way he has been playing i will not have a problem at all.
He’ll basically resume the role he started with – spot starter/utility guy/RH bat off the bench. If they can get everyone back healthy, this team’s bench is going to be diverse and deep with speed, defense and options from both sides of the plate…
As far as the bullpen goes, if they make the postseason (big if), Pedro becomes a key – if he’s healthy, either Pelfrey or Maine (likely the former) will have to move to the pen for the playoffs. Of course, they have to make it through the next month and a half to get there. September call-ups should help get some innings-eaters in to get the key guys some much-needed rest…
I don’t know that it would be such a certain that Big Pelf goes to then pen, if the Mets make the playoffs. As much as the Mets are concerned about his innings pitched this year, Maine has shown an inability to keep his pitch count down, which could make him more effective in the bullpen–especially if he continues to battle shoulder problems for the rest of the year.
Of course, if the Mets make the playoffs, I’ll be happy and won’t care which starter goes to the pen.
If the season ended today, I think the Mets would go with Santana/ Pelfrey/ Perez/ Martinez and Maine would be the odd man out. We would host the NLDS against the Brewers and think Pelfrey pitching at home would factor in the playoff rotation.
As bad as Ayala’s numbers are this season, I wonder if his statistics from previous years would put him in a position to be a Type B free agent this off-season. If so, Omar might have done a marvelous job with this acquisition. Even if he would accept arbitration though, it wouldn’t be necessarily a bad move to give this guy a chance. He has had a successful career in relief.
they only count the last two years, So I dont think he would rank very high amoung relievers.
I see him as someone they could invite to ST on a minor league deal. Unless he starts showing signs that he is an effective pitcher post surgery he isnt worth a guarenteed deal, imo.
He did well in his first season after surgery (2007), so I would bet he will have a number of guaranteed deals.
I wouldn’t give him a big Schoeneweis-type deal (of course, I wouldn’t have given Show that deal, either), but he’s a good reliever and, depending on how he does for the rest of the year, I would have no problem giving him a 1-year major league deal–maybe even 2 years, for a reasonable price.
Remember when we got Guillermo Mota and his 6.21 ERA, then he came over to the Mets and pitched great (1.00 ERA in 18 IP)? Maybe Ayala can do the same thing.
…just gotta find him some steroids
with his outing vs. the Yankees today, Ayala’s ERA is now lower than Brian Bannister’s. A. Burgos pitches in rehab this week.
ayala is 4-1 with a 1.47 era in 35 career games against the phillies
he probably will end up pitching like mota when the mets got him off waivers 2 years ago but then the mets will want to sign him long term and he will suck next year just like mota
well if ayala doesnt work out how about a trade for jim hoey from baltimore 95-98 mph fastball and overpowered aaa hitters.they already have sherrill to close anyway.
Is he on their 40 man roster? If so then he would have to go throught waivers.
I wonder if Omar realizes that he doesn’t have to make a certain percentage of his trades/moves/etc. for players he once had in Montreal. There are lots of players out there who were never once under Omar’s reign. I wonder if he knows he can just as easily go after one of them? Ayala has potential, but his numbers this year are terrible. I hope this works b/c the pen needs help and it looks like Frail Billy is going to need more time before he comes back and blows games in the 9th.
Comments on this entry are closed.