Comments on: Opinion: Closer from Within

By: Joseph

Joseph — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:55:48 +0000

Keep writing insightful comments like these and there will be no need to quit your day job.

By: EV

EV — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:48:19 +0000

Joe, honestly I don’t care about two years ago. Heilman and Sanchez STUNK this year, that’s what matters to me, both need to get out of here. By the way two years ago wasn’t it Heilman that gave up that big homer to Molina? So Heilman hasn’t got the job done before. I don’t care if Heilman throws 96, 97, he needs to GO.

By: stickguy

stickguy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:31:07 +0000

Heilmann is just better suited to be a starter. IMHO of course.

to paraphrase yogi: 50% of pitching is 90% mental.

By: gomets019

gomets019 — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:10:53 +0000

I won’t disagree with you there. Most of them are a litte risky, but i guess thats what you get looking for a fourth starter. But actually, Looper pitched 199 innings last year and has turned into a decent starter. Lefties still hit him hard which is why his era was above 4.00 and the reason he never made it as a closer. But as a starter it looks like he’ll give you about 200 innings and keep you in the game. He’s Steve Trachsel with better stuff and way less of an a##hole. He’s only a type B and honestly, if we ended up prefering Maine in the rotation I believe Looper would would accept a move to the bullpen and be just as effective as he was in his first stint in NY-by which I mean not good but probably no worse than Fuentes but still a whole lot cheaper. I like loopers pricetag and versatility. And Zito? I guess I just figure the worst is probably over with him. He did have a decent second half last year and he could probably benefit from a change of scenery. If he can keep his era under 4.5 and eat his usual 220 innings I think he’s a fine fourth starter. The best part is I think you could dump Castillo and get enough cash back to to make his net cost in the 10 per year range. He’s still a lefty horse, relatively young, a former Cy Young Winner with playoff experience.Giants hate him and would leap at the chance to free up any portion of the contract owed to him. Its the kind of “creative” move I hope Omar is thinking of. In fact, you could easily fit Lowe(15 mill), Zito (11 mill) and Looper (6 Mill) into the budget and potentially get 1000 innings out of your starting 5 while Niese provides insurance at AAA.

By: atl0nym4

atl0nym4 — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:13:24 +0000

CLOSER FROM WITHIN?
Joe Biden’s response: “Are you joking? Is this a joke?”

By: Joe Janish

Joe Janish — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:06:52 +0000

That’s absolutely correct — Heilman and Sanchez ARE possible candidates for the closer role, among current pitchers in the organization. Another ten or so pitchers were listed in the article as possibilities as well.

Apparently my “dirty dozen” came from the fact that the Mets simply don’t have many more realistic candidates.

If you want to know why I picked Heilman and Sanchez among those dozen, it’s because Heilman is one of only three relief pitchers left in the organization who can reach 96 MPH. The reason Sanchez was included was because there wasn’t a better setup man in baseball in 2006, and — as stated in the post — IF he can regain that form, he’d make a good candidate.

Now, may I ask you: how is it that negative past history can remove a pitcher from candidacy, but positive past history can’t include him? In other words, why do you base 2008 performance as the sole indicator of Heilman’s and Sanchez’s possibilities for the future? Why are 2006 and 2007 thrown out of the equation?

Here’s something to chew on: Brian Stokes posted a 7.07 ERA in 2007. Based on your method of predicting the future, Stokes should have stunk in 2008 as well. Grant Balfour had a 7.66 ERA last year — was that indicative of his remarkable season this year with the Rays? Many Mets fans thought in 2006 that Heath Bell was just as bad as Heilman, and all he did the next year was establish himself as one of the best setup men in baseball. I could go on for days with examples if you’d like — I have no word counts for the comment section.

By: bucknersankles

bucknersankles — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:58:38 +0000

Aaron Heilman has shown some instances where he could shut down hitters outright, his stuff on paper (sometimes on the field) can be wicked therein lies the dilemma which is Aaron Heilman, that being said, considering the overall picture which of course includes the HR given up to the IMMORTAL YADIER MOLINA and subsequent HRS ,it is my humble opinion that for the sake of every true Met Fan’s SANITY and that of Aaron Heilman we trade him as soon as a viable trade presents itself.

By: mets16

mets16 — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:25:29 +0000

If Heilman ever pitches again for the Mets I may have to stop supporting the team. The guy is hopeless — at least in NY.

By: EV

EV — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:11:50 +0000

I know who makes the decisions Joe, but according to you, Heilman and Sanchez are two of the internal candidates for the closer role. My question again is how the heck could you possibly pick Heilman and Sanchez as close candidates from what happened this past year? I think you need to get a stronger radio signal in mom’s basement for next years games.

By: Joe Janish

Joe Janish — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:04:41 +0000

I think we’ve established that I listened to the games on the radio.

You can type as slowly as you want, it’s still not helping you understand that Omar Minaya is the person who suggested that the Mets’ 2009 closer could come from within the organization.