Interesting move. I didn’t know that Aaron Heilman wanted back into the rotation, so my initial thoughts from yesterday didn’t take that into account. With that, I still think we’re giving up quite a bit here. Kris Benson had a good but not great season, but these figures are clouded by a rough second half. In his first 100 innings or so, Benson hovered around the 3.20 ERA mark and it wasn’t until after a rough August and September that his ERA jumped over 4.00.
With that, the Mets now have one of the most explosive relief duos in the majors. Jorge Julio was tenth in the American League with 323 pitches above 95 mph, and a lot of the guys in front of him were starters. Billy Wagner led the National League with 18 pitches above 100 mph, so the Mets will be bringing some heat into the game after the seventh inning.
Heilman started the season in the rotation, then was relegated to the pen around the same time Kris Benson came back from the DL. He finished the season as a closer and threw very well, ending the season with 106 strikeouts in 108 innings.
I’m also glad we got something else, but John Maine is hardly impressive. He was hit hard after being called up to the big league club in August to the tune of a 6.30 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Command was definitely an issue as he walked 24 in 40 innings while striking out 24. In last years Baseball Prospect Book, John Sickels gave him a B- rating, which isn’t bad, but not great. He’ll turn 25 in May and he’ll probably be a spot starter/long reliever.
