Why do you think the Mets front office continues to be stupid?

[moebarguy]

Aaron Heilman to the Bullpen
Sure, Heilman did great in the bullpen last year, and he'll probably do well in the bullpen again this year, but for god sakes, the guy would make a very good starting pitcher. I mean, we traded Jae Seo and Kris Benson to free up a spot for him, right? We did trade two solid starting pitchers for relievers so that Heilman could stay in the rotation, right? Wrong. We did trade two solid starters for relievers, but they are both so mediocre, that we have to put Heilman in the bullpen. It's funny, there were a lot of good relievers on the market during FA, but Omar Minaya refuses to sign any middle-relievers. The same thing happened last year too. Minaya felt that signing a bunch of journeymen relievers would do the trick, but after Felix Heredia, Manny Aybar, Dae Sung Koo, Mike DeJean, and other didn't work out, our bullpen was pretty depleted. When something happens to one of our starting pitchers this year, and Heilman takes their spot (which he should), it's going to be hard to get to Wagner in the 9th...

I disagree with you here... heilman is better in the pen than Bannister and like you detailed above ... middle relief if we need Heilman in the rotation should be had in the farm system if needbe

Omar Minaya
If you think that Omar Minaya is a smart GM, you should get yourself checked out. When he was the Expos GM, he traded Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Phillips for a month of Bartolo Colon. So, he traded 3 of the biggest prospects at that time, for one month of Bartolo Colon. How on earth can you justify making that deal?

Hmmm... I think the jury is still out. You CANNOT judge what he did in Montreal under the conditions he found himself there. He got us Pedro and convinced Beltran and Delgado to come here when nobody wanted to, so he HAS had his moments.

HOWEVER... I really don't care what Nady does... there was a premium market for Centerfielders during the off season and he HORRIBLY undersold Cammy.

Just my 2c[/QUOTE]

I agree that we need Heilman in the bullpen, but the reality of the matter is that he would be our 2nd or 3rd best starter in the rotation. He is a better reliever than Bannister would be, no doubt, but I think that the Mets are being really unfair to him. They decide to trade Benson and Seo to free up a spot for him, and the relievers they receive in return are so mediocre, that they can't even let him in the rotation.

Minaya's circumstances in Montreal were to spend as little money as possible. But, since he likes to make splashes, he thought that by trading 3 of the better prospects in the game for a big name starter, he would be putting the Expos in the headlines. As a result, he ended up trading Colon a month later, and Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore became the stars they were supposed to be. Funny enough, the most highly touted of the prospects in the deal, Brandon Phillips, didn't pan out.

There's no doubt that if the Mets somehow win the World Series or something, it will be hard to crap on Minaya for making the trades/signings, but the chances of that happening are pretty slim in my eyes. Realistically, with our rotation and thin bullpen, we'll probably make it into the playoffs, but get bounced out early.