Thursday, December 11, 2008

Suddenly a Bullpen

After the Mets season ended, I dropped away for awhile. There's no Mets news where I am unless I go and find it, so it's easy to put them out of my mind for awhile. What I knew before I left was that Minaya was going to make some big deals to address the 'Mets-holes'. So it was with a sense of shock that I returned a couple of weeks ago to hear the news that Heilman was going to be moved to the 5th starting spot. This was a solution to what, exactly? The only thing this would accomplish would be to alleviate the tension of wondering when Heilman was going to blow the game. He could get that done a lot earlier, and then we could all head home.

But, just as I was about to give up hope, Minaya got perhaps the top saver in baseball, Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod). Anybody with a 'Rod' nickname has to be great, although, admittedly, there are more and more baseball players receiving variations on that nickname every day. The only question mark over K-Rod is: did the Angels burn out his arm last season by using him five days a week at times?

That deal was a great start; and now, Minaya has added J.J. Putz as a setup man for K-Rod. Putz had an off-year due to injuries, but in 2006 and 2007, he was one of the best relievers in baseball.

Things are looking up today!