Mets trade Schoeneweis

That's right everyone, Scott Schoeneweis is no longer a Met. Omar Minaya is absolutely gutting this bullpen. I wonder if anyone from the 2008 pen will be around next season...

The Mets have traded Schoeneweis to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right handed relief pitcher Conor Robertson.

From the press release:

Robertson, 27, was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in nine games with Arizona this past season. In 7.0 innings, he allowed eight hits, four runs, earned, with two walks and two strikeouts. In addition, the 6-2, 220-pounder went 7-4 with a 5.02 ERA in 47 contests with Tucson (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League. In 71.2 innings, he surrendered 69 hits, 45 runs, 40 earned, with 30 walks and 72 strikeouts.

My one issue is that the Mets need some sort of veteran leadership in the bullpen now. All these young guys in, or possibly in, the bullpen could lead to some strange issues.

Trevor Hoffman, anyone?

Anyway, so long Schoeneweis. I will not miss typing your last name.

Tidbits: Ibanez off the market, Mets look to Cora, choke artists

As I'm sitting here at a Starbucks on the corner of 40th and Lexington, piggy backing on someone's unencrypted internet, I figured I'd post a few tidbits of news from the day.

• According to ESPN, the Phillies and free agent Raul Ibanez agreed on a three-year deal today. Ibanez, who the Mets had shown great interest in, will take over for Met-killer Pat Burrell in left field for the Phils.
• The Mets are apparently targeting free agent Alex Cora to be 2009's Damion Easley. Cora spent the last few seasons with the Red Sox. He played seven games at second base and 69 games at short. Can't say I would mind Cora. How bad could a utility infielder be?
  
• Cole Hamels told WFAN yesterday that the Mets are "choke artists." I've heard such a hubbub over this. Too bad he's right.

Enjoy J.J. Putz's entrance music...

Manny will never stop being Manny

That doesn't mean I don't want him on my favorite team, though.

Manny Ramirez is a five-year-old. He feels ignored, so he's stomping around the playground making big, bold statements. According to Ken Davidoff, Manny is threatening retirement if no "good" deals come about.

What a goof ball, but darn can he hit.

I hope when Manny finally does retire, he becomes a coach. I'd love to see him go Ozzie Guillen on anything and everything.

J.J Putz: By the numbers

Here is a By The Numbers look at the New York Mets set up man J.J. Putz.

31: Age of Putz.

22: Career wins.

17: Career loses.

3.07: Career ERA.

337: Career strikeouts.

1: All Star appearance. (Francisco Rodriguez replaced Putz in the game after Putz allowed two runs in the 9th, and closed out the game. Johan Santana also appeared in that game, earning a hold for a scoreless 7th inning of work.)

77: Inches tall.

250: Pounds.

0: Career at bats.

308: Games appeared in.

323: Innings pitched.

101: Career saves. (I guarantee he gets at least one this season.)

0: Postseason appearances.

.955: Career fielding percentage.

1.38: ERA in 2007.

1: Set up guy.

Check out Francisco Rodriguez's BTN.

Still trying to make Marquis a Met

Omar Minaya will not rest, will not sleep for an instant until the 2009 Mets are ready to go.

Jon Heyman continue to bring up Jason Marquis to the Mets.

Marquis, a Staten Island native, would fill a need in the Mets' rotation at a reasonable cost. The Cubs are offering to pay some of Marquis' $9.5-million 2009 salary to defray the cost. The Mets could also consider sending reliever Scott Schoeneweis to the Cubs to further offset Marquis' salary.

For a second, I got very, very excited that the Mets were sending Schoeneweis for Marquis straight up. Darn.

I'm not quite sure what else the Cubbies need, outside of bullpen help. They might need a right-handed bat in the outfield, but I'm not quite sure the Mets have enough righties on their team as it is.

I'd like to see Marquis, as he'd be a solid #5 starter. Don't forget about Jon Garland, Minaya!

Mets pick two righties in Rule V draft

The Mets picked righthanders Darren O'Day and Rocky Cherry in the Rule V draft.

O'Day was selected from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim franchise. He appeared in 30 games for the Angels in 2008, he notched 43.3 IP and posted a 4.57 ERA.

Cherry, who sounds a lot like an ice cream flavor, has a career 5.77 ERA, and was selected from the Baltimore Orioles franchise. He's appeared in 40 games over two years with the Chicago Cubs and O's.

A sneak peek at Omar Minaya's notebook [Updated]

I was lucky enough to get a photo of Omar Minaya's notebook for the Winter Meetings thanks to a source in Las Vegas. Take a look!
Hopefully he can check off that first item very soon.
Update - 12/9: Deal is done, pending physical.

Update - 12/11: Bullpen help -- Check!

What's next for Omar? Stay tuned!

Rule V draft today

Today at the Winter Meetings the Rule V draft will be held.

You likely remember when the Mets picked up Steven Register from the Colorado Rockies last season. He almost made the team, but was eventually shipped back to the Rox with $50,000 payment.

Here's a primer on the Rule V draft:

Players who are not currently on their team's 40-man roster are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft, but only after a standard exemption period has elapsed.

If chosen in the Rule 5 draft, a player must be kept on the selecting team's 25-man major league roster for the entire season after the draft--he may not be optioned or designated to the minors. The selecting team may, at any time, waive the Rule 5 draftee. If a Rule 5 draftee clears waivers by not signing with a new MLB team, he must be offered back to the original team, effectively canceling the Rule 5 draft choice. Once a Rule 5 draftee spends an entire season on his new team's 25-man roster, his status reverts to normal and he may be optioned or designated for assignment.

To prevent the abuse of the Rule 5 draft, the rule also states that the draftee must be active for at least 90 days. This keeps teams from drafting players, then placing them on the disabled list for the majority of the season. For example, if a Rule 5 draftee was only active for 67 days in his first season with his new club, he must be active for an additional 23 games in his second season to satisfy the Rule 5 requirements.

Any player chosen in the Rule 5 draft may be traded to any team while under the Rule 5 restrictions, but the restrictions transfer to the new team. If the new team does not want to keep the player on its 25-man roster for the season, he must be offered back to the team of which he was a member when chosen in the draft.

Make sense? It's not too hard. Pretty much if you draft a player, he must be on your MLB team and active for at least 90 days, or he must go back to the team from whence he came.

There are a few rules and exemptions, so check out the Wikipedia article for the full story.

Why I want to do what I do

Last night, or all of yesterday for that matter, was a very exciting time for me and the blog. It was great to cover things real time and feel like a real reporter, breaking news and all that. Ben Shpigel has a really awesome post on The New York Times Bats blog, only making me want to do what I do even more.

Omar Minaya was set to hold his daily briefing with reporters on Wednesday, but the phone rang before things got under way. Here's Shpigel's take:

Minaya’s daily briefing with the beat reporters was scheduled to begin around then in his hotel suite. Soon after we walked in and settled into the couches and chairs, a telephone in the suite rang. Minaya walked behind the couch where I was sitting to answer the phone. His voice lowered instantly, but I heard him say, “Uh-huh, uh-huh.” He mentioned something about “players who we’d get” and I heard him say, “Heilman.”

He told the person on the other line that he’d get back to him and hung up. Then he asked John Ricco, the assistant G.M., and Adam Wogan, the team’s director of minor league operations, to join him in an adjacent room. Minaya closed the door behind him, and they stayed in there for about 15 minutes.

That is just too cool.

Along with a few of my friends, I'm already planning a trip to Indianapolis next December to attend the 2009 Winter Meetings. Not only will it be awesome to cover them live, but it's also a great place to land a job with a team.

J.J. Putz's reaction to his trade

Geoff Baker, on his Mariners blog for The Seattle Times, caught up with J.J. Putz soon after the trade.

A surprised J.J. Putz was working on his car outside his Arizona home an hour ago -- figuring he wasn't going to be traded any time soon despite the rumors here. Next thing he knew, his wife came out and told him: "Looks like we're headed to New York.''

"It's a new challenge and I'm excited about it,'' Putz said. "I'm going to a new team that's going to be very competitive. Frankie's a great closer and with Sean Green going as well, we should have a great bullpen.''

Contrary to the Ken Rosenthal report, Putz said nothing of not being able to close. The man seems excited and understands the situation, which is good.

So far, so good on this trade. Still yet to read or hear one negative thing about this from fans. The Mets did have to give up a few minor league players, who have a good chance to be very good players one day, but that's always a crapshoot.