July 2008 - Seattle Mariners Wiretap

Less than two weeks after they cut him loose, the Mariners re-signed catcher Jamie Burke to a minor-league deal. "The best gift would have been a major-league deal," Burke, the team's backup catcher the past two seasons, said on Tuesday. "But I'm pretty happy about this. This is a place I wanted to be. It's a situation I like and one that I think could work out very well." The Mariners are still pondering what to do with catchers Jeff Clement and Kenji Johjima.

For the first time in years, the Mariners could put two catchers in their starting lineup next season. First-time manager Don Wakamatsu said both Kenji Johjima and Jeff Clement figure to be in the lineup regularly in 2009. Even with the two, Seattle also plans to carry a third catcher on their active roster. "We're talking about it," Wakamatsu said. "And as we go down the road, Jamie Burke isn't out of the question. Rob Johnson is a possibility, too."

Raul Ibanez has played almost his entire career in relative, unappreciated obscurity. He now gets a chance to join the World Series champion Phillies with a $30M contract over the next three years. He came up with the Mariners in the late 90's as a fourth outfielder and then signed with the Royals for the 2001 season when Seattle then won 116 games. Since that 2001 season when he became an everyday player, Ibanez is ranked 33rd in OPS+ amongst players with at least 4000 plate appearances with a mark of 118. He has been incredibly consistent over that time span, with a low OPS of .791 and a high of .883. His just wrapped up his finest three-year stretch (.869 in 06, .831 in 07 and .837 in 08). Historically, he has struggled against lefties (.733 OPS against), but had actually was better against them in 08 (.866) than he was against righties (.824). Ibanez has never played at Citizen's Bank Park, but he should thrive in its cozy confines. There were several contenders also pursuing Ibanez, such as the Mets, Cubs, Angels and Braves, but Philadelphia genuinely seemed to be his top choice. He has never been a stellar outfielder, but the market for corner outfielders defensively is incredibly weak between Adam Dunn, Manny Ramirez and Pat Burrell. At least he isn't playing right field as he would have been asked to do for the Cubs, but he will unquestionably be a liability defensively. Ibanez has been one of the best bargains in the game during his tenure in Seattle, topping out at $5.5M. In 2008, he was ranked 111th in season FIC and 'deserved' to make $8M, giving him a Reina Value of +45%. His $10M annual salary is a nice raise for Ibanez, but is a figure that he can be expected to be deserving of, at least offensively, for Philadelphia. But I think the Phillies might be a little too left handed heavy with the loss of Pat Burrell and will need Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz to produce as much as ever, but they still should have enough overall talent to still rank in the top three or four in OPS in the NL. Most importantly, I believe the Phillies erred in being so eager to cut ties with Burrell. He is younger, better offensively, better defensively, right handed and with the way the market looks for him, he won't cost a whole lot more. A three-year deal for a 36-year-old is typically worse than a five-year deal for a 32-year-old. Burrell is a better on base hitter and has a lot more pop and though his time in Philadelphia was tempestuous he was always great against the Mets and stayed relatively healthy. Grade for Phillies: C- Grade for Ibanez: A

The Minnesota Twins were one of the teams expected to pursue Adrian Beltre this winter. But when they attempted to investigate a possible deal, they discovered that he's added the Twins to a list of teams on his limited no-trade clause. When a player sees a team showing public interest in trading for him, they will sometimes amend their no-trade to include that club and then use it as a bargaining chip down the road.

Signing Francisco Rodriguez and subsequently trading for J.J. Putz may not add up to as big of a splash as measuring CC Sabathia for pinstripes, but the Mets excessively improved their club in their area of greatest weakness this week. If this 8th inning/9th inning combo remains healthy, facing the Mets will become a seven inning proposition. Alhough probably closer to Carlos Marmol/Kerry Wood of 2008 than John Wetteland/Mariano Rivera of 1996, they probably now have the best late inning relief unit in baseball (assuming Joba Chamberlain remains in the rotation). The 12-player, three-team trade plays out like this: New York Receivers J.J. Putz Jeremy Reed Sean Green New York Sends Aaron Heilman Endy Chavez Jason Vargas Joe Smith Ezequiel Carrera Mike Carp Maikel Cleto Seattle Receives Franklin Gutierrez Aaron Heilman Endy Chavez Jason Vargas Ezequiel Carrera Mike Carp Maikel Cleto Seattle Sends J.J. Putz Jeremy Reed Luis Valbuena Cleveland Receives Joe Smith Luis Valbuena Cleveland Sends Franklin Gutierrez After saving 40 games in 2007 with an excellent 1.38 ERA and 36 saves with a 2.30 ERA in 2006, Putz fought rib and elbow injuries in 2008 and finished the season with a 3.88 ERA and 15 saves in 46.3 innings of work. His WHIP skyrocketed to 1.597 from 0.698, as did his BAbip from .200 to .347, not surprisingly. But he finished the season strong, posting a 2.70 ERA in August and 2.25 ERA in September. Perhaps most importantly, Putz was able to keep his K rate over one per innings throughout the entire season. He will be 32 in 2009, and he should be preserved a little better in the setup role, and even though his agent is unhappy about the move, he will fall into the 'ultra setup man' which has become a growing trend for the richest teams. Kyle Farnsworth was signed to be that guy for the Yankees, replacing Tom Gordon, who played a similar role. Rodriguez was initially that guy for Troy Percival and Scot Shields eventually replaced Rodriguez for the Angels. Reed, similar to Chavez, is a better defensive player than he is a hitter so that part of the deal lets Minaya essentially break even. Sean Green is an innings eater reliever without dominant stuff, but is far more equipped to retire righties (.682 career OPS) than lefties (.830 career OPS). He had a 4.67 ERA in 2008 and will work many of the innings allocated to Heilman over the past few seasons. Overall, nothing that cannot be replaced was lost and the Mets improved their odds of making the postseason and really thriving in October when bullpens are increasingly crucial exponentially with this deal. Grade for Mets: A Gutierrez, for me, is the most important part of the trade from the Mariners perspective. Historically he has been a horrible on base guy with a horrible walk/strikeout ratio, but he had an outstanding finish to 2008 and his .248/.307/.383 line looks like less of a problem when you look at his August and September in which he seemed to turn a corner and had an OPS of .878 and .842. He can play all three outfield positions and has the capability of being much more than a fourth outfielder. Heilman always wanted to be a starter and the Mets always resisted and the Golden Domer never seemed to like pitching for the club. He had a 5.21 ERA and 1.592 WHIP, but I think his numbers from 05-07 (3.17, 3.62, 3.03 with a good WHIP) are more representative. He doesn't fare well against lefties and was especially bad in 2008, but he did have more strikeouts than innings for the first time in his career although a surge in walks was the price he paid for that. As mentioned above, Chavez and Reed are essentially a wash. Vargas last pitched in the majors in 2007 and gave up 14 earned runs in 10.3 innings. He looks like a definitive bust after being drafted in the 2nd round by the Marlins in 2004. Carrera has good speed with a little pop, hitting .263/.344/.393 in high A in 2008. Carp has lurked in the Mets' system since 2004 when he was a ninth round pick out of high school. He was hurt in 2007, but he came back with an excellent 2008, hitting .299/.403/.471 with 17 homers. His ceiling isn't incredibly high, but he could evolve into an everyday player at some point. Cleto is very young and throws hard, but his minor league strikeout rate hasn't been encouraging (81 K's in 135.2 innings in 2008). Putz was no longer needed for a Mariners team that is in no position to require a top closer, and with this haul, they get two definite big leaguers (Gutierrez and Heilman), a temporary utility man (Chavez), and a couple guys to chance on in Carp and Cleto. Grade for Mariners: B Gutierrez became a spare part due to the emergence of Shin-Soo Choo and Ben Francisco, as well as the lurking presence of Matt LaPorta. I trust Mark Shaprio as much as just about anyone and although he, of course, could have received more for Gutierrez a year ago, he sold him at a time where he had that late season uptick. Cleveland's bullpen was utterly atrocious in 2008, ranked 29th with a 5.11 ERA. By grabbing Kerry Wood and trading for Smith, the Indians leapfrog over probably seven or eight teams in one fell swoop of a week's time. Smith has made 136 appearances for the Mets over the past two years and fared well with a 3.51 ERA. He works from behind in the count too frequently but is certainly a solid young arm to have. Valbuena has some occasional pop and speed as a middle infielder. He made a big stride in reducing his strikeouts in 2008 and had an OBP over .380 in both AA and AAA. Grade for Indians: A-

The Mets have acquired the hard-throwing reliever J.J. Putz from the Mariners. The deal involves three teams and sees the Mets trading seven players, including Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez and Joe Smith. The Indians have dealt Franklin Gutierrez to the Mariners. Putz was the closer in Seattle and will set up Francisco Rodriguez on the Mets. "All I kept on hearing on the streets of New York when I go get bagels in the morning: 'Omar, address the bullpen,'" Minaya said. "Well, to Mets fans: We've addressed the bullpen." Putz talked to the media about the trade. "It's not the ideal situation, but having the two of us at the back of the bullpen will be pretty strong. I will not change my approach at all. I will close the game in eighth and give the ball to Frankie. The Mets organization is built to win right now and that's new for me." Click here to read RealGM's Grading The Deal for this trade.

J.J. Putz could be headed to the Mets in a three-team trade with the Mariners and Indians, according to major-league sources. Mets right-hander Aaron Heilman, outfielder Endy Chavez and first-base prospect Mike Carp would be in the deal, as would Indians outfielder Franklin Gutierrez.

The Tigers are interested in J.J. Putz, and the Cardinals have offered center fielder Rick Ankiel and a prospect, according to a rival general manager.

New Mariners' manager Don Wakamatsu has finished his coaching staff for the 2009 season, hiring Alan Cockrell as hitting coach, according to an Associated Press report on Sunday.

The Twins are in the market for a third baseman and have inquired about Seattle's Adrian Beltre. Minnesota had discussions with the Mariners about Beltre last offseason but felt it would be too expensive to acquire him. Beltre, who made $19 million last season, will make $12 million in 2009. The Twins could also target Colorado's Garrett Atkins.