As we enter the heart of the holiday season New York Mets General Manager Omar Minaya has, at the very least, insured himself of quite a few "Thank You" cards from overjoyed fans. This because only one day after signing the top closer available on the free agent market in Francisco Rodriguez, Omar was able to trade for arguably the top closer available on the trade market in Joseph Jason Putz (better known as J.J.).
And indeed the move upgrades the Mets pen from leaky to potentially "Dy-no-mite!", as no team in the National League sports a set-up man with the credentials of Putz. The team that was last seen with Washington Nationals castoff Luis Ayala closing out games in the heat of a pennant race, now trots out the 2007 and 2008 AL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year award winners. If all goes according to plan, the Mets will only need to scrap out some sort of lead by the 7th inning in order to put a win on the board. In contrast, last year the Mets lost 29 games in which they were tied or had a lead after 6 innings.
One man who is likely to get Minaya his holiday card sooner than later is Mets COO Jeff Wilpon. Jeff has been trumpeting the mantra of "addition by subtraction" for the last month or so in the media, and the Putz trade should help him get a little more mileage out of that maxim because the Mets traded reliever-scourge Aaron Heilman as the centerpiece of a sprawling 3-team, 12-player deal.
All told the Mets shipped out Heilman, Endy Chavez, Joe Smith from the major league roster, along with four other mid-level prospects to get the deal done. And while Endy is a fan favorite for his highlight reel catch in the 2006 NLCS, neither he or anyone else in the deal will be missed if Putz pitches like he did in 2006 and 2007 when he sported a 2.30 and 1.38 ERA respectively.
Thus far Minaya couldn't have scripted his offseason any better. He has managed to land two of the best relievers in the league, and has spent considerably less than expected in both money and player resources. He is doing his job, and doing it well.
Now how about that second starter?
