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-