19
2011
With Carlos Beltran On The DL, Mets Looking Like Major Winners In The Wheeler Deal
An article by 
For those of you that haven’t heard, former Met (Wow still can’t get over that) Carlos Beltran was placed on the disabled list with a sprained right wrist retroactive to August 7th. All signs point to Beltran returning when eligible next week, leaving the Giants with 34 games with the 34-year old switch-hitter, a small return for dealing their top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler.
Since moving to San Francisco, Beltran has batted .244 with a double, a pair of triples, four runs and two RBIs in 11 games, nothing close to his .289 average, 16 home runs, 30 doubles and 66 RBIs this season that prompted the Giants to trade for him. More importantly, since acquiring the All-Star rightfielder, the Giants have gone 6-13, averaging an anemic 2.6 runs per game. Now the defending World Champs have not only fallen out of first place, have so far not gotten anything special out of Beltran, but they gave up their blue chip prospect in that of Zack Wheeler to do so.
On the other side of the trade, the Mets got the Giants 2009 1st round, sixth overall pick in that of Wheeler. Since joining the Amazin’s organization, the 21-year old hurler is 1-2 with an even 3.00 ERA, but the stat that stands out to me is the 4.67 SO/BB ratio. Getting Wheeler out of this deal from the start was a great return for the Mets, but now with the injury to Beltran, this deal is seemingly a steal.
With an electric fastball and a devastating, fall-off-the table curve, Wheeler is destined for great things. Now couple with Matt Harvey, the two are shaping up to be a promising, young 1-2 punch for the Mets in the not-to-distant future. Of course, we won’t know for sure for a few years, but so far, this trade is looking EXTREMELY one sided.
For once, it appears the Mets are on the winning side of a trade.
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
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Just to be fair, I criticized Alderson for the KRod trade, but this one I think he timed perfectly and exacted a huge return from the Giants. Good job here, but he should’ve held onto KRod.
Can Wheeler sport an ERA under 3 @ A ball before we tag him a blue chip prospect?????
ERA is not as important in the minors as SO/BB, SO/9 and BB/9. That isolates the pitcher himself, and not the quality, or lack there of, of relief pitching, defense etc.
And he has always been a borderline elite prospect. He was the 6th overall pick, 3rd pitcher picked, Strasburg was 1st obviously so that’s pretty significant. Not to mention he was ranked the 49th and 55th best prospect in the game and the 31st in the midseason rankings.
I consider him a Blue Chip.
ERA is not as important in the minors? Unbelievable
ERA has been forever and WILL ALWAYS be important. All the other stuff you mention is just used as an “out” or an “excuse”.
You can have an excellent SO per 9 inning and still not be good. Having good control is a good thing though….but depending on the specific pitcher having TOO GOOD a control can also work against you too.
All this over-analyzation does is create new excuses.
That was a RIDICULOUS comment saying ERA is not as important at…whatever level.
Time won’t lie. If he is able to sustain a good ERA as he progresses through each level i’m sure the rest of the stuff you say is more important will be there.
Everybody now thinks like a coach before they ever even need to.
Well I am not saying it isn’t important, just that you can’t take that as the only stat for a minor league pitcher. You want to isolate the pitcher himself, and ERA can be even more distorted in the minors, espcially the lower levels as defense is obviously less sharp and bullpen is much worse.
And he has a good ERA anyway. It can be inflated in the lower levels due to the aforementioned reasons, so I do not see it as reliable of a stat in evaluating the pitcher himself in the low minors.
You did say it wasn’t important and nobody said the ERA is the ONLY stat you judge a pitcher on. Trust me, you don’t have to tell me that.
Okay i’ll get right to the point. it is MORE important than the breakdown stats you mentioned. Over time those other breakdown stats can mean nothing but over time ERA will tell the true story, not SO or BB per 9 innings. OF COURSE those things are good to know but those things were always stored in the back of our minds growing up but now we have to explain everything whenever we have to talk about baseball and it’s really tiring.
Just look at his traditional stats in the minors like you would a baseball card and you’ll know if he’s progressing or not
This is what I said:
“ERA is not as important in the minors as SO/BB”
I did not say that ERA is not important because that is not true
Thinking like that is why the game has completely passed you by.
Clayton, you’re right about Wheeler and we all know it. ERA fluctuates drastically year in and year out because of some things pitchers have little to no control over and that phenomenon is far more exaggerated in the minors.
Keep doing what you do and writing as you write and you’ll be more than fine, while the people who criticize you because your smart enough to look for yourself and not regurgitate the same old outdated nonsense just because it’s there will simply have to accept what you write, or start their own blog to complain about it. I’m fine either way. The sick, snarky people who give traditionalists a bad name do more for your case than you do, if you can believe that. All the people who’ve been banned in the past year or so all have one thing in common.
I don’t agree with the premise of your article, but I’m happy for you that it’s what you think and not what you’ve been told. If minor league ERA was so telling, Dillon Gee wouldn’t be in the majors right now. His AAA ERA of 4.76 wasn’t exactly a “progression” of his low minors ERA. But his K/9 and K/BB improved from low minors to AAA and look……a good major league pitcher. Imagine that.
If Zack Wheeler has an ERA of 4.76 by the time he’s in AAA then that’s a problem. Gillon Gee is a different case. And of course there are all kinds of circumstances that can lead to people getting called up to start, i believe guys with ERA’s of 6 have been called up to start
And like i said OF COURSE most likely it won’t be the only stat you need to know but give me ERA ahead of the other stuff when talking about Zack Wheeler. OF COURSE I want to know his IP, H, BB, and K too – like always. The back of a baseball card as far as I know growing up didn’t just have the ERA on it and the rest just blank space. I’m talking common sense and not losing the forest for the trees. And it when it comes to sick and snarky you new breed people have the market on that.
And just because someone gets banned doesn’t mean they’re wrong baseball wise either so don’t concern yourself with that – just stick to your excel spreadsheets.
Dillon Gee is different because you forgot his ERA wasn’t pretty in AAA. Your game is tired and played out. Leave it alone. No one cares what you think anymore and no one cares that you capitalize things because you THINK it gets your point across.
What makes Wheeler any different from Gee? Both are young pitchers with bright futures. Why is it ok to worry about a 3.99 ERA in A ball and not a 4.76 ERA in AAA?
Don’t answer. It’s rhetorical.
that’s all well and good but getting back to the subject at hand which was Zack Wheeler – if he has a 4.76 ERA in AAA that’s gonna be a problem.
oh don’t worry…i haven’t forgotten – if that 4.76 ERA is in his 1st year of AAA but it gets down to 1.87 in May of his 2nd year then bring him UP!. I’m not even gonna ask the rest!
Rhetorical means “don’t answer.” Not “ignore the things that make you wrong because maybe they’ll go away.”
If you insist on continuing your charade, just tell us how Wheeler and Gee are different. What makes it ok to worry about a 3.99 A ball ERA and not a 4.76 AAA ERA?
“and nobody said the ERA is the ONLY stat you judge a pitcher on. Trust me, you don’t have to tell me that.”
“ERA has been forever and WILL ALWAYS be important. All the other stuff you mention is just used as an “out” or an “excuse”.”
Not a lot of room for interpretation there.
The fact is, ERA is a deceiving stat in the majors, where the environment is a lot more controlled. It’s almost useless in the low minors. Besides, its just result. It tells you what happened, but not why.
K and BB rates among other things tell you the why.
Besides, at the low levels, stats themselves aren’t overly important. Things like mechanics and velocity are what they are working on. Get those kinds of things down and the rest follows.
Quite an immature take on an injury isn’t it? Zack Wheeler is doing nothing for the Mets will do nothing for the Mets next year. Beltran’s presence alone in the Giant lineup has significantly improved their chances to return to the World Series.
So because Beltran has a sore wrist and will miss a handful of games that makes Zack Wheeler more valuable to the Mets?
Who would you rather have over the next 3 years a right fielder who averages 20+ home runs 90+ rbi’s 90+ runs scored and plays excellent defense or….. would you rather have a minor league pitcher, who never contributes to the team?
And who the f cares about Beltran costing 17 million a year as opposed to whatever a minor league pitcher makes. The Giants aren’t paying squat this year for Beltran. ANd will gladly pay him 17 million over the next 3 years for yearly 20+ HR, 90 rbi’s 90 runs scored and defense.
If Sanchez can come back next year healthy, Brandon P. devleops and the Giants sign Beltran they have a very formidable team.
Sanchez
Brandon Pelt
Panda
Beltran
With the Giant pitching staff if these guys produce they win.
So I’m thinking the Giants don’t feel too badly about trading a minor league pitcher in exchange for winning.
I wish Beltran the best, but no he hasn’t added anything to their offense yet. He has 2 RBIs and a .244 average, think Pat Burrell or Cody Ross could have done that in 11 games?
Beltran has not worked out so far for them, so my point was that is 34 games of a struggling Beltran equivilant to a highly touted, borderline elite prospect? I don’t think so.
Well you just don’t know the answer to that question yet do you?
maybe Beltran hits the game winning World Series HR for them and is resigned. There’s still a lot of baseball and LIFE to happen yet, man. What looks good today may not even be anything of significance next month. Easy now.
That is why I said we won’t know for sure in a few years.
This is a silly premise for an article (blog). Injuries are part of the game; and HIS injury has no effect on the value of the trade–or more accurately stated–has no effect on Wheeler’s value to the Mets.
So if Wheeler had gotten hurt, that would have made it a not-so-good trade? Absolutely not.
I like the trade and think Wheeler will do well, but it really is silly to say “just because Beltran got hurt” that it makes the trade a “steal”. It’s nonsensical.
Clayton, I find your analysis of the Beltran deal very, very interesting. We got rid of a financial obligation and so far we’ve nothing to show on the playing field.
Best wishes for both Carlos Beltran and Zach Wheeler.
No Reese Havens update? lol
We have very few studs, and if Reese stays healthy he may be one of them. Anyway two days ago, he went 2 for 5, and yesterday he was 1 for 3. But he got plunked by a pitch and didn’t play tonight. I’m not sure if he’s hurt. Maniac, it’s now in your capable hands.
i haven’t been around for a while but like the twilight zone fans are still cheering injury on players we give up(beltran) and kind sir des is still pushing reese havens.same ole same ole and yes the mets go another season under the wilpon mob not smelling the playoffs!
Thanks Des!
But as I said, the true value of the deal we will not know for sure for a few years, but so far it is looking good.
We have not WON ANYTHING on this deal until Wheeler makes it to the MLB and pitches well…
It would seem a rush to judge is in order around here to attempt to get a WIN on the trade record as quickly as possible…
Clayton don’t take this as a personal knock I know you had to write something and this is what you picked but it is quite obvious to me that there is a battle of philosophical EXTREMISTS going on around here and your just feeding that by creating yet another topic for them to beat each other over the head with!
Kind of like inciting a riot if you ask me! LOL
we haven’t lost anything on the deal either.
We did lose the 10-15 games before Beltran got hurt and the Veteran Leadership that might have rallied the troops after Murphy went down.
Other than that no we didn’t lose much…
So until Wheeler does something so far it would appear to be advantage Giants!
Slight yes, but they still got more out of the deal than we have so far on the MLB level!
Well, I expected carlose to see some DL time nbut not for his wrist. Can’t claim prescience on this one.
We should not be judging the value of this trade based on what happens to Carolos or his health. That is no longer relevant to the Mets. The only way in which Carlos’ health is relevant to the Mets is if consideration is given to signing him as a FA after the season. Otherwise, the measure of the trade’s success is in the progression of Wheeler towards the Majors. Let’s be looking for further development from Wheeler and not bad luck for Carlos. In fact, we should be hoping for future success for Carlos, because then the Giants will be more inclined to deal with the Mets again in the future and with their stock of quality pitching, that could be advantageous to us. So I say, Good Luck to Carlos and Good Luck to Wheeler! The trade is successful if Wheeler joins the Mets in less than 3 years time and pitches well here.