A Foolish Arrangement

This is #4 of 5 Key Mets Players for the 2008 Season.

Last season, I named the entirety of the Mets Bullpen as one of the Five Key Mets players for the 2007 season. This unit was one of the strengths of the Mets in 2006. Changes were made before 2007, although many of the major pieces remained. But there were questionable moves made, notably the departure of Chad Bradford, the injury to Duaner Sanchez and the inclusion of Scott Schoeneweis, Ambiorix Burgos and Guillermo Mota.

As we saw, the Bullpen didn't even sniff the success of 2006. In fact, the bullpen as a whole pretty much became a giant liability as the season wore on. Sanchez missed the entire season with a shoulder injury. Heilman was grossly inconsistent. Guys like Schoeneweis, Burgos, Mota and Aaron Sele were either injured, or frighteningly horrible. Even Billy Wagner wasn't immune from shaky performances as the season wore on. And finally, come September, the Bullpen was exposed, beaten down and thoroughly embarrassed with regularity.

It's safe to say that even taking the offensive struggles of Reyes and Delgado into account, the Bullpen was by far and away the leading culprit in the September collapse.

So, moves were made. Not many, but some. Gone were Sele and Mota, given away for songs. Schoeneweis was only retained because of a massive, idiotic contract. Spare parts such as Steven Register, Ruddy Lugo, Matt Wise and Brian Stokes were brought in, if only to give Willie some more faces to look at in the spring. This bullpen will eventually be cobbled together, but it's a gigantic question mark as to how effective they'll be over the course of the season.

Of course, it's a far cry from 2005, when the Mets started the season with Manny Aybar and Felix Heredia, two pitchers whose inclusion on the Opening Day Roster made my blood pressure jump 20 beats. But nonetheless, it's going to be an adventure.

Going down the line, we're going to see:

1) Aaron Heilman
I'll give Heilman credit for not caving in completely after the Molina disaster in '06. I was afraid, briefly, that he might go Brad Lidge on us. But aside from being a little too prone to the longball, Heilman was, for the most part, fairly reliable as the 8th inning guy. But without a reliable compliment to spell him every so often, Heilman eventually hit a wall and wasn't so effective down the stretch. One such game against San Diego in August saw Heilman nibble and nibble against Adrian Gonzalez in the 10th inning, but, unable to put him away, finally grooved a pitch that Gonzalez hit out of the ballpark. Another Sunday in Florida saw Heilman receive a 3-run lead and promptly hand it back to the Marlins. We know what we'll get out of Heilman at this point. But unless there's another righty who can be trusted in a key spot late in games, it'll be up to Heilman to run out there game after game...consequences be damned.

2) Pedro Feliciano
Feliciano has basically re-invented himself over the past two seasons, and has become the most reliable lefty arm in the bullpen, if not the most reliable guy, period. But for some bizarre reason, Willie kept using him as if he were merely a lefty specialist, not allowing Feliciano to finish innings or games at times, when it was clear that he was by far the better option than whoever was replacing him. Feliciano has been effective enough over the past two seasons that I'd feel comfortable letting him face a right handed hitter in a key spot. He's one of the few pitchers the Mets have in the bullpen who actually exhibits a keen head for pitching, and not someone who will just run out there and try to throw the ball through a brick wall. He'd be a good compliment to Heilman if Willie would use him that way. He just needs a chance, that's all.

3) Duaner Sanchez
The Most Key Met of the Season, as far as I'm concerned. We don't know what the hell we have here. After his great 2006 season was curtailed because of the now-infamous taxi accident, Sanchez showed up in 2007 overweight and undermotivated, got sent home for oversleeping one too many times, and eventually broke down and missed the entire 2007 season, which was a key blow because if Sanchez had been in the ballpark of his 2006 numbers, it probably would have been the difference between the Mets and Philly come the end of the season. He was, in '06, and should have been in '07, the perfect righty compliment to ease the burden on Heilman in the 7th and 8th innings. One of Sanchez's overlooked strengths was the best rubber arm the Mets could trot out there since Turk Wendell. This year appears to be a different story with Sanchez. This year, he showed up thinner and with a renewed resolve to prove his past behavior an aberration. He says he feels as good as he has in years, and so far, the early results have been encouraging.
But what will it translate to? Can he re-capture his previous success? Does he have anything left? Can his arm hold up over a full season? There's enough questions regarding Sanchez to warrant its own blog entirely. If Pedro Martinez is going to be the key to the starting rotation, and whether or not he can pitch deep enough into games to preserve the bullpen, then Sanchez is the key to the bullpen, whether or not he can answer the bell and be effective after missing a season and a half, and take some of the pressure off the other guys in the bullpen by finishing up what Pedro (and the remainder of the staff) starts.

4) Scott Schoeneweis
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I have to talk myself down just to write about him. Schoeneweis was given an absurdly large contract, and then came in and proved himself the second coming of Rich Rodriguez for pretty much the entire first half of the season. Especially at home, Schoeneweis was routinely hammered by both lefties and righties, which was interesting because Willie continued to use Schoeneweis in the role that Feliciano should have been used in. By the end of the season, Schoeneweis had righted himself, somewhat, this after the revelation that he had been pitching with a torn tendon in his leg, and actually came up with a pair of saves in September, which shocked the hell out of me, but they came in instances where he was, quite literally, the last remaining serviceable arm in the Bullpen. The hot word is that the Mets are willing to deal Schoeneweis and the remaining $7+ million he's owed, but I can't imagine any GM is stupid enough to make a deal for him. Then again, someone took Guillermo Mota. Then again, he's left-handed, he's breathing, and we know he can put the ball over the plate...

...It might save my sanity in the process.

5) Jorge Sosa
Sosa pretty much came out of nowhere and pitched better through the months of May and June as an emergency starter than anyone probably thought he would. In fact, after one particular outing in Detroit, Sosa was probably the best starter the Mets had going. Then, he came back to earth. He had some success in the bullpen last year, but again fell into that Heilman-like trap of being the only reliable guy out there for a time, which meant that Willie was going to run him into the ground. And, he did. Basically, I'm not sure how long we can count on Sosa to be effective in any given role. He's likely going to slide into that Aaron Sele long-reliever role for a time, which is fine, but this means that he's likely only going to work in blowout situations. If Sanchez is effective and Heilman is Heilman, then Sosa will certainly be counted on to carry less of a load. That may not be a bad thing.

6) Matt Wise
A lot of people I know seemed to really like the Wise pickup. Although Wise has never posted eye-popping numbers, and he had a pretty bad second half with Milwaukee last year, he's been, for the most part, a guy who has good stuff and gets outs. That's all I really know about him. If the first five guys I mentioned are going to make the team bar none, then Wise is really the only guy here who could conceivably be fighting for a job, despite his experience. That, or he's more likely just here for insurance in case Sanchez can't go or Heilman's arm falls off in May. Or, my theory, he's just here because Omar wanted to have at least one new face in the bullpen to make us think he's done something productive.

7) Joe Smith
I'd like to think Joe Smith has a better chance at making the team this year. He started off like a house afire after surprising the hell out of everyone in Spring Training last year, but the league caught up to him after a while and he ended up back in the Minors, and didn't seem to get much use when he was recalled. He was pretty up and down after May. I'd like to think that was due mainly to hitting the proverbial wall because he hadn't pitched so many innings before, and he might be better conditioned for more use this year. I have a feeling he's going to play a bigger role in the Mets bullpen this year than people are willing to give him credit for right now. Keep an eye on him.


8) Ambiorix Burgos
A co-worker of mine kept asking me if we were going to have some Burgos on the days after Burgos pitched last year. I thought he was making some sort of idiotic reference to Burgers, until I found out that Burgos is apparently a type of Polish Hunter's stew, a horrendous mishmash of ingredients thrown into a pot and boiled until it resembles the structure of Burgos' arm by the end of last season, after he had accomplished little more than reminding us of Kane Davis. Sigh.

The Rest: (Register, Lugo, Stokes)
I would have thought that Register might have a better shot at making the team since he's a Rule V draft pick. He still might make the team, although it may only be holding the baseballs for Billy Wagner out in the Bullpen. Lugo I know nothing about except that he's just another slop-throwing reliever who can put the ball over and might get an out here and there. Stokes managed to get himself booted out of Tampa Bay which really gets me excited about his prospects here. I'd expect to see the three of them at Shea at some point, but they might as well have the staying power of Jon Adkins. There's also Willie Collazo (not Colazzo) and Carlos Muniz, although Willie seemed to think that he would be summoning the furies of hell if he actually let them pitch last season, so that probably means neither of them is ready yet.

Man, there's a lot of crap at the back end of this bullpen.

I don't know. Yes, spring training is supposed to be a time for Optimism, but for some reason, this Bullpen continues to give me a very queasy feeling.

I hope it's just gas.

Pen-ciling Them In...

This is #4 of 5 Key Mets for 2007.

Last season, the Mets finished the season with a bullpen that logged the 3rd most innings out of any bullpen in the Major leagues. The Bullpen carried the team over most of the season, and was expected to do the same in the playoffs. Many of them succeeded. Some of them failed, in a most disturbing fashion. In 2007, many of the members of the Bullpen will return, but some of the names have changed. What has not changed is the role that the Bullpen is expected to have. With a starting staff loaded with names over 35 or under 25 years old, it will be the Bullpen that is expected to carry a huge load over the course of the season, and will likely make or break the team. Let's examine the turnover and the players:

Billy Wagner, the closer, remains the same, and since his role, for better or worse is secure, he does not bear mentioning in this column.

Starting from the top:
1) Aaron Heilman
Replacing: Aaron Heilman

There is still a contingent that seems to believe that Heilman is better suited to be in the Starting Rotation. And it's a valid point--Heilman is a starter by trade and we all know that is where he wants to be. A bit of noise was made, mostly by Heilman himself, about being in the starting rotation, and perhaps his poor performance over the middle of the season was indicative of his pouting a bit.

Doesn't matter. Heilman's role is in the pen for now, where he is most valuable to the team.

Yes, it was Heilman who gave up that Home Run to Molina last year in Game 7. But one pitch does not a season make, and Heilman's efforts over the season went a long way towards getting the Mets to that point. Following his Midseason slump, and following the injury to Duaner Sanchez, Heilman was stellar out of the pen working as the primary setup man for Wagner. Having had success retooling and redeveloping his delivery (working from a sidearm motion as opposed to a 3/4 or over the top motion), Heilman was able to spot his fastball better, mixing it with a changeup and slider that proved tough to pick up from his delivery.

It remains to be seen whether or not he'll have the same bad reaction to being in the pen again. I'd feel inclined to believe not, since it's not up for any degree of debate. Heilman will be in the bullpen, working as the key setup man for Wagner. He hasn't shouldered the blame for the Home Run, and he didn't deserve to. We expect, and will hopefully receive, another fine season from Heilman.

2) Duaner Sanchez
Replacing: Duaner Sanchez/Roberto Hernandez

Hold that thought...Sanchez is still recovering from the separated shoulder he suffered in his ill-fated late night search for Caribbean food in Miami last July. He has yet to throw off a mound and now I'm not so sure if he'll be ready for opening day. But we know he will be back this season, at some point.

It's a shame, especially when you consider how good Sanchez was, especially early in the season. He worked as the Anti-Heilman, throwing hard and fast, making a name for himself getting out of jams, and not giving up an earned run until early May.

You have to wonder if the Mets fortunes in the postseason would have been different if Sanchez were available to them.

Can't look back now. You can only look forward. And hope that Sanchez is healed and ready to answer the bell come April 1st. And ready to pick up where he left off, serving as a complement to Heilman, the two top right handed arms out of the bullpen.

3) Pedro Feliciano
Replacing: Royce Ring/Pedro Feliciano

It's easy to overlook someone like Feliciano. Used mostly as a lefty specialist, Feliciano would often come in to pitch to a batter or two, and then was out of the game. Still, he was huge for the Mets, especially late in the season and in the postseason. Usually it was Feliciano coming into the game with a man on, one out and a tough lefty coming up, and usually Feliciano responded by getting the batter to strike out or hit into a double play.

Yes, I lumped Feliciano in with the even more indistiguishable Royce Ring, mainly because the two of them more or less split time in the Majors last season (with Feliciano getting the lion's share of time with the club--not surprising considering Ring's slop-throwing tendencies) as the lefty specialist, but also because, coming into last season, neither of them was thought to amount to much. Ring didn't, and now he's gone. Feliciano did. Now he's got to keep it up.

4) Scott Schoeneweis
Replacing: Darren Oliver

In 2006, the Mets brought in Darren Oliver to be a sort of swing man, maybe making a start, usually coming in as a long reliever, mopping up when a starter (usually Jose Lima or Steve Trachsel) were pasted. And Oliver was dominant in that role all season. In fact, he never made a start (although his name was bandied about to start Game 7 of the NLCS). And his stellar season was rewarded by a large contract from the Anaheim Angels.

Considering that pitchers of that ilk tend not to have great seasons like that for 2 years in a row, you can forgive letting Oliver go.

Now, we have Scott Schoeneweis, signed away from Cincinnati, stepping in to fill the long reliever role from the left handed side.

I'll be honest, I don't know much about Schoeneweis, other than he's bounced around most of his career, and when he was on the Angels, I used to confuse him with Jarrod Washburn. And he's Jewish.

As recently as 2004, Washburn was a starter. He started 19 games for the White Sox that year. He's worked primarily out of the bullpen since then, and his numbers were pretty good with the Reds last year, and absolutely awful with the Blue Jays. He got a pretty sizable contract, especially for a middle reliever, but given the asinine contracts being thrown around this offseason, maybe it wasn't so surprising. But we'll see if it was worth it. I'm skeptical...

5) Ambiorix Burgos
Replacing: Chad Bradford

Burgos is the wildest of all the wildcards. Literally. Here is a 22 year old righty, who throws pure, unadulterated gas. He steps out of the Armando Benitez mold as far as pure heat. And, like most young flamethrowers, he is wild and erratic. He closed games last season for the miserable Royals and created as many fires as he put out. He struck out nearly a batter an inning, and also blew 12 saves in 30 opportunities. He won't be counted on to close games for the Mets, which is a relief. Perhaps spotting him in low-pressure situations will help him find his niche.

But consider that he is stepping into a role vacated by Chad Bradford, and that doesn't settle any Met fan's nerves. The Knuckle-scraping Bradford was rock solid for the Mets all season last year, getting as many key outs as Feliciano, especially in the playoffs, mixing in a middling fastball with a bewildering 63 MPH curveball.

Ambiorix Burgos, you're no Chad Bradford.

In fact, who can even pronounce his name?

The mere comparison to Benitez is enough to scare the bejeesus out of me.

6) Guillermo Mota
Replacing: Jorge Julio/Guillermo Mota
Now, we won't know what we have until June, because Mota is under suspension for steroid use. Most Mets fans wish this suspension went into effect during the 6th inning of Game 2 of the NLCS. Mota came over to the Mets from Cleveland in August, where he had been having a miserable season, and was great for the Mets. But in the playoffs, he seemed to be somewhat misused or overused. However you want to look at it, Mota turned into a 2-batter pitcher. He would get 2 quick outs and look unhittable, and then start walking batters, and nibbling, and getting into trouble he couldn't get out of. He figured heavily in 2 blown leads in the playoffs, one in Game 1 of the NLDS, which the Mets rebounded to win, and in Game 2 of the NLCS, which the Mets went on to lose. And then he got suspended for juicing, all the while being a Free Agent. The Mets resigned him, knowing they wouldn't have him until June at least. Given the upside he has displayed over the years, it seemed like a worthwhile gamble. But he could also come back and simply be the 2-batter pitcher he was in the postseason, and that doesn't make him worth much at all, especially if he's going to be another key righty in the Sanchez/Heilman mold. A recycled comment: I'm skeptical...

7) Dave Williams
Replacing: Dave Williams

Dave Williams had a few successful outings for the Mets, working mostly as a starter. But he only pitched in 6 games for them. Doesn't it seem like he pitched a lot more for them? Still, given the look over his career and he amounts to little more than another slop throwing lefty who can spot start from time to time, and not kill you, except that he might kill you. He could be a long reliever in the Oliver mold but I don't think he's good enough to fill that role either. I'm not even sure he has a spot on the Major League roster. We shall see...

I was told after the fact that Williams had surgery on a herniated disk in his neck and is likely out for the season. So I guess you can take that previous paragraph and either toss it out the window, or sit on it until 2008. Your choice.


8) Juan Padilla
Replacing: Heath Bell
Everyone forgot about Padilla. That's what happens when you lose an entire season to Tommy John surgery. In case you forgot about him completely, he's #28 in that photo. Padilla pitched in 24 games for the Mets in 2005 and was nothing short of brilliant. He wore those silly yellow goggles like Sanchez, and came out of nowhere to post several solid outings. He is someone who, unlike others in this group, seems to really have a good head for pitching. And if he hadn't gotten hurt last season, he likely would have been a key member of the pen last year. I expect Padilla to once again come out of nowhere and surprise a few people, and he should be a much welcome and much needed addition to this year's bullpen.

And considering he is being counted on to fill the role of Heath Bell, there's not a huge amount of pressure on him to succeed.

Others worth mentioning:
Alay Soler: Soler is in camp looking like a shell of his former self. Seriously, he's much thinner and determined to do well. Another one who can easily be overlooked but could surprise.

Jason Vargas: Another who could surprise, and seems much more suited for the swing man role from long relief to spot starter. The Mets think highly of him but I don't know much about him.

Jon Adkins: Looks like he needs a visit to Dr. Atkins. Heath Bell Part 2? No Thank You.

Jorge Sosa: A likely candidate...FOR ME TO POOP ON!

I remember in 2005 when the Mets broke camp with a Bullpen that boasted names like Felix Heredia, Mike Matthews and Manny Aybar. I knew that spelled instant disaster, and I was right, for the most part. None of those 3 lasted until the All-Star Break. Fortunately, more emphasis has been placed on developing a Bullpen. Because, as we have all found out over time, the Bullpen is far too important to be overlooked. Especially on this team.