Ten Great Pickups by Omar Minaya
Everyone knows that the Mets are having a great year. Much of the focus has been on the big-name players, including Carlos Beltran’s MVP year, David Wright’s and Jose Reyes’ breakout years, Billy Wagner’s closing and Carlos Delgado’s batting and leadership. Mets general manager Omar Minaya deserves a lot of credit for making some big, splashy moves in the offseason that have proved to be very productive indeed.
But have you also noticed that (almost) every little move Minaya makes is magic? Consider the following relatively minor pickups he’s made this year …
Chad Bradford
A few days after Christmas, the Mets signed free agent Chad Bradford to a $1.4 million deal. Bradford is a side-arming righty, a good guy to have in a bullpen. But his performance in 2006 has been his best in the last three years, on a par with his glory years in Oakland.
Year Tm G W L ERA S Op H IP K BB HBP WHIP 2004 OAK 68 5 7 4.42 1 4 14 59 34 24 5 1.27 2005 BOS 31 2 1 3.86 0 1 8 23.3 10 4 3 1.41 2006 NYN 59 4 2 2.98 2 3 10 51.3 35 11 0 1.13
Of all the free agent relievers signed for less than $1.5 million, only the Twins’ Dennys Reyes and another Met have had better years.
Darren Oliver
Darren Oliver is that other Met. Oliver actually retired in 2005, when he couldn’t make the Rockies out of spring training. However, the Mets signed him to a minor league contract last winter, which called for a $600,000 salary if he made the major league roster. He did, and he’s had a great year as a long man out of the bullpen.
Year Tm G W L ERA IP K BB WHIP 2004 FLA 18 2 3 6.44 58.7 33 17 1.57 2004 HOU 9 1 0 3.86 14.0 13 4 1.14 2006 NYN 36 4 1 2.83 66.7 50 19 1.05
Duaner Sanchez
Last January, the Mets picked up Duaner Sanchez from the Dodgers in exchange for starter Jae Seo. Sanchez had been a fine reliever for the Dodgers, but he was having an excellent 2006 for the Mets before a car accident ended his season prematurely. Take a look at his 2006 ERA and Slugging Percentage Against (SLGA):
Year Tm G W L ERA IP K BB WHIP SLGA 2004 LAN 67 3 1 3.38 80.0 44 27 1.35 .398 2005 LAN 79 4 7 3.73 82.0 71 36 1.35 .403 2006 NYN 49 5 1 2.60 55.3 44 24 1.21 .316
Meanwhile, Seo posted a 5.78 ERA for the Dodgers before being traded to the Devil Rays, where he’s compiled a respectable 4.40 ERA.
Pedro Feliciano
After spending all of last year in Japan, Pedro Feliciano was signed to a minor-league contract by the Mets during the offseason. He didn’t make the team out of spring training, but he has turned in a tremendous year since being called up in mid-April.
Year Tm G W L ERA IP Hit K BB WHIP 2004 NYN 22 1 1 5.40 18.3 14 14 12 1.42 2006 NYN 54 6 2 1.92 51.7 48 46 16 1.24
At a salary of $500,000, Feliciano is another great Mets bullpen bargain.
Jose Valentin
Not every superb small pickup of Minaya’s has been a reliever. In fact, Minaya’s best pickup of all may have been his free agent deal (for roughly $1 million) with infielder Jose Valentin. Valentin was a very fine shortstop for the White Sox for many years, but he’s played a vital role filling in for the injured-and-then-traded Kaz Matsui at second base for the Mets.
Year Tm G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K BA OBP SLG OPS 2004 CHA 125 504 73 97 20 3 30 70 43 139 .216 .287 .473 .760 2005 LAN 56 184 17 25 4 2 2 14 31 38 .170 .326 .265 .591 2006 NYN 109 334 43 84 19 3 12 49 28 54 .282 .339 .487 .826
Valentin is averaging 6.1 runs created per game and would be among the league leaders in Zone Rating if he qualified.
John Maine
The Mets’ weakness this year has been the fragility of their starting pitchers. Injuries have felled Pedro Martinez, Victor Zambrano and Brian Bannister. These injuries were somewhat predictable, so it was a bit surprising that Minaya dealt both Seo and Kris Benson prior to the season.
In exchange for Benson, the Mets received reliever Jorge Julio (who was later swapped for starter Orlando Hernandez) and minor league starter John Maine. Maine had always been a promising minor leaguer but had never put it together in the majors, until this year.
Year Tm GS W L ERA IP K BB WHIP SLGA 2004 BAL 1 0 1 9.82 3.7 1 3 2.73 .688 2005 BAL 8 2 3 6.30 40.0 24 24 1.58 .440 2006 NYN 10 4 3 3.50 61.7 48 18 1.09 .407
Kris Benson’s ERA this year is 4.88.
Really, Maine has been a lifesaver for the Mets. Fourteen different pitchers have started games for the Mets so far, and Maine has answered the call better than anyone of them.
Endy Chavez
For me, this is the real shocker. Endy Chavez signed a $500,000 free agent deal with the Mets just before Christmas, and has compiled the sixth-highest Win Shares Above Bench total on the team. Before this year, Chavez’s career OPS was .659; this year, it’s .791. Plus, he’s done an outstanding job in the field.
Year G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS 2004 132 547 502 65 139 20 6 5 34 .277 .318 .371 .688 2005 98 130 116 19 25 4 3 0 11 .216 .260 .302 .562 2006 107 302 273 40 84 20 4 3 33 .308 .348 .443 .791
With Cliff Floyd on the disabled list much of the season, Chavez has been a key contributor to the Mets’ record.
Roberto Hernandez
When Sanchez was injured, Minaya pulled off a last-second deal with Pittsburgh, picking up reliever Roberto Hernandez and left-handed enigma Oliver Perez for outfielder Xavier Nady. Although Hernandez’s ERA is about the same as it was with the Pirates (and with the Mets last year), he also gave up a lot of unearned runs with the Pirates.
Not with the Mets, so far.
Year Tm RA DER LD% IF/F K/G BB/G HR/G 2004 PHI 6.19 .678 13% 14% 6.6 4.3 1.34 2005 NYN 2.58 .733 22% 14% 8.0 3.7 0.66 2006 PIT 5.02 .695 18% N/A 6.4 4.6 0.58 2006 NYN 2.89 .875 12% 27% 6.9 3.4 1.15
The Pirates aren’t complaining, by the way. Nady is hitting .351/.406/.464 for them.
Guillermo Mota
Still nervous about the bullpen in late August, the Mets decided to take a flyer on another reliever. Guillermo Mota had once been an infielder in the Mets system. He couldn’t hit, so the Mets tried him on the mound, with good results. The Expos liked the results so much that they picked him in the minor league draft.
Mota has been the utter definition of an enigma, most recently with the bullpen disaster in Cleveland. However, Minaya saw something he liked and pulled the trigger on a deal. “Our scouts have seen him, feel that the velocity is good. He’s healthy,” Minaya said. “Hopefully a change of scenery, change of leagues can hopefully produce better results.”
Indeed. So far (admittedly just five innings), Mota has struck out eight and walked none.
Year Tm RA xFIP DER LD% IF/F K/G BB/G *HR/F 2004 LAN 2.14 3.93 .730 18% 17.5% 7.8 4.0 8% 2004 FLA 4.81 3.63 .765 16% 17.6% 9.5 2.9 16% 2005 FLA 5.10 4.27 .692 19% 11.3% 7.9 4.2 8% 2006 CLE 6.45 5.66 .695 20% 3.1% 6.0 4.2 15% 2006 NYN 1.80 0.86 .875 11% 33.3% 18.3 0.0 52%
Dave Williams, not Jose Lima
Minaya hasn’t had a winner on each deal—witness Jose Lima. But he’s willing to try things, and he particularly likes to take relatively risk-free chances. I haven’t even mentioned Dave Williams (two decent emergency starts), Michael Tucker (.395 OBP in 38 plate appearances) or Shawn Green (Nine Runs Created per game so far). Oliver Perez may turn out to be a steal.
The players I’ve listed have contributed 33 Win Shares Above Bench (as of August 30), or 11 more wins than a typical bench player. And most of them have cost the Mets less than a typical free agent bench player.
It may be luck, it may be skill. It may be the result of a team with money taking good calculated risks. Whatever it is, Minaya’s had it this year.