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In a report for Newsday, David Lennon details a phone call made from Aaron Heilman to Omar Minaya, during which Heilman once again asked that he be a starting pitcher.
“We talked and he expressed himself,” Lennon quotes Minaya as saying. “He told me that he’d like the opportunity to start. 
But my job is to make sure I do what’s in the best interest of the team, and we still see him in the bullpen.”
Last night on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove, SI.com’s Jon Heyman again referenced Heilman’s ‘high-back elbow,’ which Mets officials believe could lead to injury if he throws more than 100 innings in a season, similar to Mark Prior.
In other words, according to Heyman, the Mets are looking out for Heilman’s health…by keeping him in the bullpen.
That said, the Rockies and D’Backs, among other teams, still believe that he can be starting pitcher, Heyman wrote in his blog for SI.com in early November.
…i still get the sense heilman will be traded for a relief pitcher, who has experience as a closer…to the Mets, it would be swapping out relievers…to the team getting heilman, they would be swapping a reliever for a starter…so, it makes sense on both sides, especially heilman’s, who would get a much-needed change of scenery and the opportunity to start, which he has earned…
By the way, to watch clips from last night’s Mets Hot Stove show, courtesy of SNY, click here.
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This obviosuly is no surprise at all…
tell me something I don’t know
I went to sleep, and woke up, but it still seems like yesterday…
“But my job is to make sure I do what’s in the best interest of the team”
…which is why I signed Luis Castillo to a 4 year contract.
It wasn’t in the best interest of the team to sign a guy clearly on the downside of his career? Who knew?!?!?!
is it groundhogs day already?
lovethe sarcasm iamatwork
love the sarca-sm i am at work btw guys u can’t write sarca-sm ne more
Pretty soon the word “crony” won’t be allowed either.
or jeff wilpon
castillo is the word that should be banned from the blog… ugh!!
kinda like te name MOTA!!
“Castillo” will be the new “Mendoza” phrase. It will be used when speaking of a horrible contract.
i thought that was argenis reyes lol
For the life of me I still cannot understand why Heilman was never given a real shot at being a starter. It almost seems like Omar is keeping him in the bullpen to spite him, not that he would have a reason to…
1) Tommy John, He’ll likely need it sometime in the next 200-500 IP.
2) $ - starters earn a lot more in arbitration, Heilman could have a decent year as a starter then spend the next two blowing out his elbow and rehabing his elbow.
I agree with Nate, especially on point number one.
Heilman’s mechanics, specifically his arm action, are extremely risky. A lot of relievers (i.e. Billy Wagner, B.J. Ryan, Joel Zumaya, Huston Street) tend to get away with arm actions that a starter never could. When said starters do have risky arm actions, they’re usually either more on the borderline (i.e. Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Smoltz, Oliver Perez) or simply considered so talented that they can’t afford to be put in the bullpen their whole careers (Francisco Liriano, Brandon Morrow, Max Scherzer). Then there are the guys who are seemingly injured about every other year. A.J. Burnett, Anthony Reyes, Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Ian Kennedy, Chris Carpenter, etc. (although I admit the latter two have more to do with arm timing problems vs. the kind of arm action Heilman has). You’d basically be turning Heilman into one of these guys if you moved him into the rotation. Oh, and you’d be suddenly upping his workload per game and workload per year into a danger zone, considering his mechanics.
He’d likely experience problems with shoulder impingment as well as problems with his elbow. The latter would be of extreme concern to me, especially considering how much Aaron has had tendinitis in his elbow over the past three years. That’s a BIG red flag. Another thing to consider is just how much Aaron would be throwing his slider. The slider isn’t bad when you combine it with good mechanics, but it is somewhat tough on a pitcher’s UCL (i.e. the ligament that gets replaced in Tommy John surgery) and when a pitcher with injurious mechanics throws it enough, it actually becomes a potential cause of injury. That’s why you had Peterson deleting the slider from Heilman’s repertoire for so long.
The irony of course is that Rick Peterson got Heilman back to pitching with the mechanics he used in Notre Dame. The starts he made throwing straight over the top vs. sidearm were with a completely different, less risky arm action and one that frankly Heilman wasn’t very good with. But once Peterson had gotten Heilman back to his old windup and by virtue of that, old arm action, he realized what an injury risk it would present. Since a relief pitcher throws a lot fewer innings and ultimately disperses his pitches more evenly over the course of a season, Aaron was converted into a reliever. And the rest is history.
Oliver Perez actually has pretty good mechanics. He seems to flap but that’s because his arm whips in a way - he isn’t throwing across his body as much as others do (like Prior). But Prior and Wood are bad examples, Dusty Baker ruined them.
like girardi ruining olsen and jobba ?
Thanks for the insightful detail that I didnt have the time (or insight) to expound earlier…
Oliver Perez’s mechanics were rescued by Petersen. The baseball think factory did a video breakdown of his resurection. His velocity has to do with an extreeme shoulder load and not over exertion of the elbow of shoulder. Think touching your elbows together behind your back.
I of the belief that Heilman was allowed to return to his poor mechanics because he couldnt figure out how to pitch with his good mechanics. Sometime after being drafted someone in the Mets player development team correctly changed his mechanics so he could develop as a healthy effective pitcher. At some point he just couldnt develop enough to get big league hitters out, so they let him go back to the poor, but more effective mechanics and started touting him as Don Drysdale 2.0… But they were really concerned about the injury potential.
Im not a medical person to know how accurate that is but if that is the case..he has got to go. Heilman cannot succeed as a relief pitcher anymore and the atmosphere in ny will be vicious regarding heilman. I think it would be best for omar to trade him if this elbow thing has weight. Let some other team experiment since it seems the mets are unwilling to. Lets just hope we get something in return that is valuable.
just like we did with Kazmir!
I would kill to get Victor Zambrano for Heilman.
Well he IS a free agent.
Maybe we can trade Heilman to free agency for Victor Zambrano?
In all seriousness, I don’t see the harm in keeping Heilman around to be a 5th starter. At least give him a shot.
If he starts and he failes, his value is nil. That’s the harm.
very true - say trade him to colorado or chicago - if he suceeds as a starter good for him - if he bombs - meh not our fault
We’ve all been held back from doing what we really want at some point in life.
At this point, I really just want to see him succeed, even if it’s for some other team. I know this is metsblog and all, and we’re supposed to be rah rah Mets all the time… but I do feel for the guy and I want him to get his shot.
Somewhere in all of this, there is a Disney movie to be made.
THE TRUE STORY OF AARON HEILMAN……
The script would be simple:
-Enter the game in the 8th inning.
-Leadoff walk.
-Single.
-3-run bomb off the scoreboard.
-Walks off the mound as the screen fades to black and the credits start rolling.
u forgot the dumb look on his face after the 3R bomb.
don’t forget the sniper missing the shot from the bok depository
*book
Animated movie right? Little beetle on the peak of his cap telling him what pitch to throw?
except luis castillio eats him
and the weak hitting princess said “Take you over to the ball? I thought you said take you over the wall.”
I see your point but he was not to impressive as a starter. Not like he pitching great as a starter and the Mets just moved him to the bullpen.
I agree they should trade him and it will be good for Heilman and for the Mets.
He was never given a real chance as a starter for anyone to honestly say he failed.
Pelfrey went through the same thing (if not worse) to start his career, but he was given ample time to right the ship, heilman was not given the same opportunity
Heilman has more time in the minors Pelf was rushed up here … Heliman had 2 seasons.
are you sure ? i remember him up with in a year and a half
For the love of all that is holy Omar just set Heilman free already! Clearly he wants to be a starter, so trade him to a team that wants him rather than keeping him (and us) miserable as a reliever.
I agree with Omar…Heilman doesnt have the talent to be a starter…and he is an injury waiting to happen…Trade him for Huston Street or to the Rays for Sonnestine and Bradford.
I would take either of those trades in a heartbeat. I think you are overvaluing Heilman however. For Street, Omar would probably have to throwin a prospect; for Sonnestine and Bradford, that would most likely be an eitehr/or proposition for Heilman rather than both.
Then send Heilman along with Delgado for Jackson and Bradford. Then make a play for Tex.
Tampa could use another hitter.
Tampa doesnt want that kind of contract….I would take him straight up for Sonnenstine or for Bradford…and I would be willing to include Evans to get Street
look delgado isn’t going anywhere like castillio isn’t going anywhere like heilman aint goin anywhere - u see the trend?
I am all for keeping Delgado around, but to think we will get Brardford and Sonnastine for Evans and Heilman, makes me say why don’t we trade Murphy straight up for Pujols?
Not even close.
lol yeah a-reyes al reyes and val pascucci for brandon webb or whats his name from the astros lol
if the Mets could trade Heilman, Kunz and Evans for Street that would be a great move.
Sign Lowe and K-Rod, and give an incentive laden deal to Pedro or Penny or Mulder for the 5th SP or sign Jason Marquis.
Trade castillo for anything and go get Freddie Sanchez and that is a great offseason
Yes, Oleosmirf. Freddie Sanchez would be a terrific second base solution if we were able to get him. Post the All-Star break, he batted for a .346 batting average.
not to mention he plays solid defense and doesnt strike out much, now if would learn to walk more he’d really be a fine player
Sign Marquis so he can hit us a grand slam down the strech lol