"Oh no. I've ripped my hamstring apart running the bases.What if I'm really hurt, and can't work?
This is not good.
Wait! I have Aflac!
They give me cash, which is just as good as money!
And it won't hurt to miss work...since I know that I can't lose my job due to injury and get traded to the Royals, right?
Right?"
Wrong, Brian Bannister. You tore your hamstring running the bases against the Giants...and in the "What did I do to deserve this" category, your reward is being banished to the Kansas City Royals a mere 7 months and change later.
Your Aflac duck, apparently, has failed you. If it was up to you, Brian Bannister, that duck would be sizzling on top of that "hot stove".
Perhaps the new guy has a better plan.When you get a pitcher from the Rockies, you have to take into account park factor. When an A.L. team gets a pitcher gets a pitcher from the N.L., you have to take into account the DH factor.
The Mets now have a pitcher from the Kansas City Royals. They have to take into account the Royal factor. As in, how much of Ambiorix Burgos' stats have to do with the fact that he was with the worst team in baseball?
And how much of it was the fact that Burgos was, as Omar Minaya believes, was rushed to the big leagues?
Well, considering he was a Royal (you know, the team that brought you a ten run first inning only to lose the game...and guess who blew that save), probably a lot more than you think. After all, Burgos has averaged about a strikeout per inning over the last two seasons, and he did save 18 games for Kansas City which is a feat onto itself.
He did, however, blow 12 saves, which is a feat on any team. But luckily, Burgos isn't going to be asked to save games, hold games, keep games close, and for his own sake...pinch run. He may not be asked to do much more than be the 2007 version of Jorge Julio to begin with.
And that's...comforting. I think.
17 comments:
Let's just make a couple of tweaks to the above comment.
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Duaner Sanchez?? This is the best that Omar can do so far this offseason??
Yeah, Seo is an unproven commodity, but he is a starter (and the Mets need starters). He doesn't have a very long track record, but he established (I think) that he is a decent option as a back of the rotation starter on a team with a rotation that should be a flashback to 1997, not for 2007.
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Point is, based on track record, maybe we should trust Minaya's judgment.
Sorry Metstra, I can't get all worked up over Bannister being dealt. I know he was 2-0, but he walked an awful lot of guys in his starts. There is more than enough young pitching depth to take over. Plus, we have "The Jacket".
I feel for Bannister, going to the shithole that is Kansas City, but in the end, he might be better off. He won't have to worry about running the bases at least.
This is probably a good move. They get a young, hard-throwing reliever in exchange for a pitcher who, at best, could be a decent number 4 starter. We had a log jam of young starters competing for one starting slot anyway - Ollie, Maine, Pelfrey, Humber.
Can Ambiorix take good pictures like BB?
Metstra,
Unrelated but I'm curious as to what you think. What's your opinion on Jorge Cantu? He's only 24, and hit the crap out of the ball his first full season (28HR and 117RBI). He got hurt and had a bad sophomore slump last year, playing in only about 100 games. Still, as soon as I heard he was hurt last year, I immediately started thinking: "Man, this guy's trade value is going to be way down, and he seems to have the hitting chops to be a David Wright at second base." Now there's buzz the the Rays are willing to deal him. If you're Omar, is this a guy you might want to throw the dice on?
The Mets will miss Bannister's photography skills...
I will spend the remainder of the year trying to learn how to pronounce this new guy's name...
I like this deal. Bannister's K/BB data last year was awful, and there's little in his minor league record that excited me.
But Burgos has 137 Ks in 136 big league innings. Change the AL to the NL, the Royals' D to the Mets' D (Beltran chasing down fly balls), and add one year of age & experience, and this dude could be a STUD.
See ya later, Al. Don't walk the door on the way out.
Dodgers are close to signing Schmidt to a 3-year, $47 million dollar contract....
What is Zito worth at this point?
The FAN quoted an AL GM who said he can't believe the Royals dealt Burgos. Lots of ability. A little wild. Plenty of upside. Bannister?
Kansas City? Damn good BBQ.....
This proves OMar is a RACST! He hates all creedes!
The Sarcastic Idiocy Forum would like to endorse our good pal Chuck Amato for any job that you might know is currently available.
http://www.thesif.net/SIF/index.php?
BB was terrified of NL hitters and took to nibbling. Now that he is in the Al, what will he do? Wet himself on the mound? I believe that Perez, Maine, Pelfrey and Humber and the drafting of Mulvey rendered BB out of the team plans. Good trade. The big A throws 100 MPH (sometimes) and is only 22. A Peterson special. what is this Harden talk? I keep reading blogs that would trade Pelfrey, Humber or both for him. Question: Has he done anything except cement a spot on the DL? Get him for a decent price considering his physical failings and take a chance on him. There is always surgery and he is young. But not two number one draft picks.
Sean,
With the wild money and wild trade requests (i.e. teams overvaluing their talent because the free agent starters are going for so much), who knows what the Devil Rays will ask for in return for Cantu. Everyone seems to want one or both of the young pitchers in return for everybody, so I shudder as to what a team that employed Chuck Lamar would ask for.
Cantu is a talent, but I want no part of trading the young pitchers unless a stud pitcher came back. And who is really out there? (Vazquez doesn't count).
Metstra,
Clearly, Vazquez doesn't count. All the White Sox talk has been making me cringe quite a bit. Buehrle is the only one of the lot I'd even remotely consider, and I'd have to think about it.
All the A's buzz seems a bit more intriguing. What do you think about Milledge and one of the pitchers for Dan Haren, of Milledge and both for Harden? I'm not sure, especially given Harden's injury history, but these guys at least seem worth mulling over...
[Edit: I wouldn't think about Milledge and both Humber and Pelfrey for Harden, but maybe Milledge, Heilman, and one of the two...]
I'd love Harden if he wasn't so gosh darn injury prone. Then again there was a time that Reyes had that tag too and he shook it.
Haren's good control and decent WHIP intrigues me. Those are the kind of guys you would think about trading Pelfrey OR Humber for. Not both, and not for Vazquez.
Hahaha, the Phils just got Freddy Garcia, and the comments section on Metsblog is full of "Oh no, they beat us! We're screwed!" moaning. I say "Thank God it was them and not us".
Yeah, Reyes shook the injury-prone bug, but pitchers always seem to have a harder time with it than position players. Look at Prior and Wood...
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