Just when you thought it was safe to do some Christmas shopping, the Mets pulled off another trade, sending Scott Schoeneweis and $1.6 million to the Arizona D’backs for righthander Connor Robertson.

As you may recall, it was Schoeneweis who gave up the go ahead homer in the last day of the season and much like Aaron Heilman was a bullpen pariah when all was said and done.

And the Mets get back Robertson, 27, who 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.

Posted under New York Mets

Mets Get

J.J. Putz, Jeremy Reed, and Sean Green from the Mariners

Mariners Get

Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Jason Vargas, Maikel Cleto, Ezequiel Carerra and Mike Carp from the Mets and Franklin Gutierrez to the Indians.

Indians Get

Joe Smith [Mets] and Luis Valbuena [Mariners]

All in all the Mets give up seven - although none of consequence and get back three.

A good trade.

Posted under Hot Stove, Trade, Winter Meetings

LAS VEGAS - According to Newsday, the Mets, Indians, and Mariners are going over medical records and the deal may be announced soon.

Ken Rosenthal, who first reported this, wrote the deal will look something like this:

Under terms of the deal, the Mets would get Putz, outfielder Jeremy Reed and reliever Sean Green from Seattle. The Mariners would receive reliever Aaron Heilman, outfielder Endy Chavez and first baseman Mike Carp from the Mets. They’d also get Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians and minor leaguers. The Indians would get reliever Joe Smith from the Mets and infielder Luis Valbuena from Seattle.

All in all a good deal for the Mets, because they lose no one of consequence and get back equal value.

Posted under Hot Stove, Trade, Winter Meetings

LAS VEGAS - Both the Star-Ledger and MLB.com are reporting the Mets are in serious discussions to acquire closer J.J. Putz to pitch in the eighth inning.

The 32 year-old lost his closer job last season when the Seattle Mariners elevated Brandon Morrow to the ninth.

The names be tossed around on the Mets end are Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith and Mike Carp and there could be a third team [Cleveland] involved as well.

If consummated, this would be a great deal for the Mets as Putz only makes $5.5 million next season, which is perfect for an eighth inning guy. He also has a team option in 2010 for $9.1 million [or a $1 million buyout]. Also the Amazins will get a setup man with closer experience which is something they are looking for, since they got burned last season when Bill Wagner went down with an injury.

Last season Putz went 6-5 with a 3.88 ERA and 15 saves in 47 games for the Mariners. But in 2007, he had a banner year with a 6-1 record, a 1.38 ERA and 40 saves in 68 games.

Posted under Hot Stove, Trade, Winter Meetings

LAS VEGAS - Mets manager Jerry Manuel arrived at the Bellagio late last night [around 11:30 p.m.] in advance of his conference with the media at 4:00 p.m. today.

- The Yankees will reportedly offer Ben Sheets a two-year offer today.

- The Mets will meet with free agent reliever Chad Cordero today. They met with closers Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman yesterday. They will probably want Cordero in a set-up role.

- The Red Sox seem to be interested in Brian Schneider.

- Adam Rubin reports in the Daily News, Fuentes could also recieve a two-year deal.

- There seems to be a lot of clubs asking the Mets about Aaron Heilman.

Posted under Free Agency, Hot Stove

Steve and I did an hour long show discussing the Mets and what to do in the offseason.We also had a nice discussion about Aaron Heilman and Jerry Koosman.

Matt Cerrone from Metsblog also called in with some kind words.

If you didn’t get a chance to listen please do so on the player to the right.

Our next show will be on Monday Dec. 8 at 10 p.m. I will be live from the fabulous Las Vegas.

Please tune in.

Posted under Pro Baseball Central

Joel Sherman wrote on his blog, the Mets offered Aaron Heilman to the Rockies for Huston Street, but Colorado refused and countered with Heilman and Pedro Feliciano.

Although they said no, they could go back and revist the trade at another time. Sherman goes on to say, the Mets want to have Street as an eighth inning man because of the experience as a closer. They learned a lesson from Billy Wagner. If a closer goes down they want someone who will be able to take over the ninth. Street gives them that.

Posted under Hot Stove, New York Mets

In an article published by the NY Daily News, Mets reliever Aaron Heilman said - through his agent - he wants to start or be traded.

“The object the entire time has never been to get out of New York,” Heilman’s agent Mark Rodgers told the Daily News. “The object is to get out of the bullpen. The most success he’s ever had as a pitcher has been as a starting pitcher. He was drafted by the Mets as a starting pitcher.”

Now, Heilman has made it no secret he wants to start and the Mets do have room in the rotation. But after last season where the righthander was one of the more ineffective relievers, which made him a Shea Stadium pariah, I don’t see how the team should reward him with a spot in the rotation.

Fortunately, he still has value and the Mets can get some quality back for the 30 year-old, so I think it’s time for him to move on.

Posted under New York Mets

The following relievers will be available this winter in the free-agent market. Joe Beimel and Juan Cruz are intriguing, but are they worth throwing piles of money at? I’m not so sure.

Unquestionably, the Mets’ bullpen was horrible last season, but GM Omar Minaya’s analysis is wide ranging. Were the individuals simply bad and past their prime, or just had a bad season? To what degree were injuries a factor (Aaron Heilman)? How much did throwing out of their roles determine the results?

The Mets will add a body or two from this list, but I don’t see a major overhaul. If they don’t deal Heilman, and I’m starting to lean in the direction of them keeping him, the set-up relievers might not change that much.

I can see Heilman, Schoeneweis, Ayala, Feliciano and Smith coming back. I can also see Parnell or Kunz getting a shot. Then there’s the closer they’ll add, and the more I think of it, the more I can visualize it being Trevor Hoffman.

Here’s the list of available free-agent relievers:

Jeremy Affeldt CIN
Luis Ayala NYM
Joe Beimel LAD
Joe Borowski CLE
Juan Cruz ARZ

Brendan Donnelly BOS
Alan Embree * OAK
Scott Eyre CHC
Kyle Farnsworth DET
Casey Fossum DET

Brian Fuentes COL
Aaron Fultz CLE
Tom Gordon * PHI
LaTroy Hawkins HOU
Mark Hendrickson LAD

Trevor Hoffman SD
Bobby Howry CHC
Jason Isringhausen STL
Steve Kline SF
Brandon Lyon ARZ

Damaso Marte * NYY
Tom Martin COL
Julio Mateo PHI
Guillermo Mota MIL
Will Ohman CHC

Darren Oliver LAA
John Parrish SEA
Chris Reitsma SEA
Dennys Reyes MIN
Juan Rincon CLE

Francisco Rodriguez LAA
Brian Shouse MIL
Rafael Soriano ATL
Jorge Sosa NYM
Mike Stanton * CIN

Salomon Torres * MIL
Derrick Turnbow MIL
Oscar Villarreal ATL
David Weathers CIN
Dave Williams NYM

Matt Wise NYM
Kerry Wood CHC

Posted under New York Mets

When you come down to it, it’s not a “must have’’ list of the Mets’ own free-agents. Sure, they’d like lefty Oliver Perez back, but nobody really expects it, and truth is they can live without him.

The follow is a list of the Mets’ free-agents to be and those players arbitration eligible.

FREE AGENTS

-LF Moises Alou: Say good-night, Moises.

-INF Marlon Anderson: Nice knowing you.

-RHP Luis Ayala: Could be brought back.

-OF Endy Chavez: Could be brought back, but never as a starter.

-2B Damion Easley: I like him, but Mets should go younger on the bench.

-RHP Orlando Hernandez: Time to write his autobiography.

-RHP Pedro Martinez: Doesn’t want to retire, but is only fifth starter caliber right now.

-2B Ramon Martinez: Made impact, but age won’t let Mets consider him for job.

-LHP Oliver Perez: Wants mega bucks. Doesn’t deserve them.

-LHP Ricardo Rincon: Won’t be missed.

-OF Fernando Tatis: Deserves to return.

-RHP Matt Wise: Good-bye.

ARBITRATION ELIGIBLE

The following are arbitration eligible: RF Ryan Church, LHP Pedro Feliciano, RHP Aaron Heilman, RHP Duaner Sanchez, RHP John Maine and OF Angel Pagan.

Posted under On the Table