The recent debate of whether or not the Mets should pick up the $8.6 million dollar option on J.J. Putz shouldn’t even be a debate at all.
With all the problems the Mets have right now, why would they even consider paying almost nine million bucks to a setup man who hasn’t been effective since 2007?
We’ve been bashing Omar for over spending on players for the last three years, and now some of us would encourage him to engage in yet another disastrous signing? Haven’t we had enough of those already?
At a time when the Mets should be stocking up on value picks, throwing good money at a pitcher who is coming off surgery and has yet to prove he is healthy is sheer insanity. Especially when a healthier and more superior option like Joe Beimel can be had for less than $3 million dollars per season.
Of course Putz wants to stay with the Mets… He has 8.6 million excellent reasons for wanting to setup for K-Rod… Too bad that not one of those reasons is because he can actually help the Mets win a championship.
If there was no option hanging in the balance, Putz would be putting so much distance between himself and the Mets that you’d need the Hubbell telescope to see him. The bottom line is that no team will give Putz a closers job until he proves himself as a $2 million dollar setup man first next season. Enter the Mets and Putz’s newfound love for the setup job.
It’s bad enough that we overpaid tremendously for Putz last off season, especially when it was no secret that the Seattle Mariners were desperate to unload him. Additionally, he was damaged goods then, and now he’s even more of a risk.
If the first move Minaya makes this off season, is to pick up the option on J.J. Putz, strap yourself in for another bumpy ride in 2010.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
You’d have to be a friggin’ Putz! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
I think I had read something about picking up that option on Metsblog this past weekend and I thought it was a crazy notion too. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
100% correct! It’s amazing how many fans want to keep this guy! Putz,Delgado,Sheff,Cora,Schneider,Reed, and Maine should be let go. Maine has done little the last two years and the Mets should move on.
BE CAREFUL OLDTIMER THERE’S A BABY IN THAT BATHWATER, HIS NAME IS JOHN MAINE. HAVE U NOTICED HIS LAST 4 GS?
DATE GAME W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB
SEP 13 @PHI 0 1 4.45 1 1 0 0 0 0 3.0 2 1 1 0 1 2 57-35 1-6
SEP 20 WSH 1 0 4.13 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.0 2 0 0 0 1 1 75-50 5-9
SEP 26 @FLA 0 1 4.72 1 1 0 0 0 0 4.2 7 7 7 1 2 3 79-47 7-4
DATE GAME W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB
OCT 02 HOU 1 0 4.43 1 1 0 0 0 0 7.0 5 1 1 0 0 7 106-72 8-5
ARE WE SO DEEP IN QUALITY PITCHING AS TO TOSS OUT AN INEXPENSIVE SP THIS POTENTIALLY EFFECTIVE/TALENTED WHILE IN HIS 20s?
THAT WAS 2-2 RECORD PITCHING 4 BB, 13K, 4.2 ERA JUST GETTING HEALTHY & PAIN FREE WHO EARNED 2.6M LAST YR. WHERE’S THE PATIENCE NEEDED FOR YOUTH? FOR A TEAM OF REPLAEMENT PARTS. WHO’S YOUR “GUARANTEED” BETTER REPLACEMENT? I’VE NO PARTICULAR ISSUE WITH YOUR OTHER DISCARDS; BUT A SP UNDER 30 WITH 90+ HEAT @ UNDER 4M IS NOT JUNK.
Don’t know what to say to about you using the phrase “baby in the bathwater,” but you’re right the Mets should definitely keep Maine. Since he barely pitched this season, he most likely will not get a raise from last year’s $2.6 million dollar salary. This is a very cheap price for a guy who was worth $2.8mil last season according to Fangraph’s WAR (0.6 for Maine last season). In addition, he posted up respectable WAR figures in 2007 and 2008 (2.7 and 1.4). He is an around 4-4.5 ERA guy with 3 decent pitches (FB, SL, CH).
Plus, the Mets lack any sort of organizational pitching depth. Why would they non-tender any pitcher they can get at a fair (and in Maine’s case, arguably cheap) price?
CHRUIS, MY BABY COMMENT WAS A RESPONSE TO “OLDTIMER” WHO HAD THIS TO SAY,”Putz,Delgado,Sheff,Cora,Schneider,Reed, and Maine should be let go. Maine has done little the last two years and the Mets should move on.”
THUS I WAS HUMORLY POINTING HE WAS TOO ENCOMPASSING WITH HIS THROW AWAYS.
wouldn’t Octavio Dotel be a better, cheaper option that Putz?
I think Dotel is a good option despite his years. Plus, it would be good to have him back as a Met. The guy is proven, just don’t ever put him in a closer role.
Weren’t they talking about restructuring the contract?
Yes, there taking about re-working the option so that, they knock Putz’s salary number down to a lower number, guaranteeing him a roster spot in exchange for a lower salary and putting the money they money they take off in incentives, so for example say they lower Putz’s salary number from 8.5 million to say 4 million, the 4 million they took off would be in incentives.
The second I read that the Mets overpaid for Putz in the off-season is when I disagree with the post.
The Mets overpaid to get rid of Aaron Heilman. A move that was driven in most part by the fans wanting him out of NY. They were LUCKY to get the deal they did for a guy everybody knew the Mets were trying to unload by any means necessary.
If your reason for not wanting Putz is because you think Joe Beimel is a setup man then we have different definitions of setup men. A guy that gives up a hit an inning, striking out less batters than innings pitched and walking a batter every other inning isn’t some lights out setup guy that we need to rename Citi Field for.
Beimel is above average I’ll give you that… but I don’t think he’s any more of an answer than Putz in terms of talent.
Compare every single year of Putz v. Beimel up until this season and there’s no reasonable thought to say Beimel would be a better setup man. None.
If the Mets feel as though Putz’s arm is fixed and he restructures even for 1 yr he is better than Beimel.
Who cares what their career numbers are if Putz hasn’t pitched good in two years? Plus he isn’t even healthy right now? And even if he was, he’s not worth 6 million dollars more than Beimel or any other setup man no matter how you try to spin it.
Do you really think that a team should overpay to get rid of a player because the fans don’t like him? Do you really think that a nearly billion dollar business should cater to the sentiment of overreacting fans?
The Mets gave up a lot risking that Putz would go back to his 2006-2007 form, which was a pretty substantial risk that obviously didn’t work out too well. The lost a great defensive outfielder and a decent prospect who showed in Mike Carp. Jeremy Reed was a disaster. And both Smith and Heilman pitched better Green.
he has had TWO surgeries this year. only a mental case would think there is a logical reason to re-sign him. Someone probably will, but cheap and with their fingers tightly crossed.
I love the thought of adding Joe Beimel. If the Mets want to go with a right-handed reliever (since Beimel is a lefty), perhaps they could look at Brandon Lyon. Lyon is a Type B free agent who is coming off a great year with the Tigers. His ERA was 2.86 and his WHIP was 1.11. The best part about his 2009 season was that he held lefties to a .205 batting average and he held righties to the same .205 average. He could pitch full innings and not have to be taken out to bring in a situational lefty, thereby not taxing the bullpen. He also has closing experience in case Frankie Rodriguez gets hurt.
Or Lyon can close when the Mets realize that BB-Rod’s contract is a disaster and finally trade him away.
jerry would take him out. It tells him to do that in his “Managing for Dummies” book.