Bannister was never getting a chance here...hes a #3 on KC which is like being a Minor league #1 on a real MLB team. Getting Burgos could eventually turn out to be a coupe. If this upsets you then you wont ever be happy with any GM. Its a minor deal where he took a chance on a power arm which our pen needed. Plus we may have a post Wagner closer. Too early to determine either way on this deal.
Actually, I liked the Bannister deal at the time, so I fully admit I'm Monday Morning QBing on this one. But then, I'm not paid to make decisions for the Mets. However, Bannister had a miniscule walk rate and a similarly tiny HR rate, and parlayed that into a 12-9 record with a 3.87 ERA in the AL last year. Burgos bounced between the Mets, New Orleans and the DL last year. It's possible that Burgos might turn into another Billy Wagner, and it's possible that Bannister's low K rate will catch up to him. But the odds of BOTH those things happening are slim, and that's what needs to happen for this to work out. A good, or even average, starter is worth much more than a good reliever. Minaya left the rotation relying on a lot of questionable pitchers, so he could take a flier on an injury prone kid, prone to wildness, with a good fastball.
Bell wanted out, hated Peterson, hated NY. He wasnt going to be successful here cause he didnt want to listen. Cant fault omar he got whatever he could get.
Bell can kick Peterson's dog and stick pins in a Jacket voodoo doll for all I care, as long as he throws strikes...which he does. Think about this for a second: they traded an adequate starting pitcher so they could get a live-armed reliever with a checkered track record. Then they traded a live-armed reliever with a track record that made him a very good bet for success for a spare part outfielder who played all of 9 games for the Mets and is (I believe) no longer with the team.
I didn't like the Bell for Ben Johnson trade at the time, and I flat out hate it now. I didn't understand what Johnson gave the team that Endy Chavez didn't.
The Lidstrom/Owens trade I cant defend, I hated that deal too. Kinda defeated the purpose of the Burgos deal.
Good God, that was a terrible trade. Indefensible at the time and worse in retrospect.
The Nady deal we've discussed in legnth numerous times. The only new info Ive since found out was that cameron did not want to play RF and apparently requested the deal. So again, not necessarily a bad deal.
I know we're just going to agree to disagree on this one, but let me fire one last parting shot: Cameron had more power, more speed, drew more walks, and was better defensively than Nady. It was a cost-cutting move on a team that didn't need to cut costs. The only reason it worked out for the Mets was because Sanchez got injured, forcing Minaya to trade Nady for Hernandez and Perez.
You also left out such coupes like getting Maine for Benson and Julio, getting Duque for nothing great, Marlon Anderson and Duaner Sanchez on the cheap, Castillo for nothing at teh deadline last year, and lest we forget the recruitment of Pedro, Beltran, wagner. I cant say that hes done a bad job at all.
For the record, Jorge Julio has pitched very well since leaving the Mets in the El Duque trade. I think there's something to the oft-overblown theory that he never would have succeeded in NY, but it's worth mentioning that he posted a 3.83 ERA for the D-Backs and then a 3.93 for the Rox after leaving NY. I'd still do the trade in a heartbeat, of course.
Re: Anderson, getting a guy with a career .713 OPS and no definable position, who happened to have a hot streak last year in NY doesn't exactly take away the sting of giving away Heath Bell for nothing.
Obviously, Seo for Sanchez was a good deal, and Benson for Maine and Julio remains one of Minaya's two crowning achievements (the Beltran signing is the other), for which he deserves a ton of credit.
But, that's why it's a checkered track record. I didn't say he's done a terrible job, but for every good trade, he's made one bad one. However, the Castillo move, while a good trade in terms of value for value, is going to turn out badly. The fact that Minaya handed him a four year contract boggles the mind.
And my point was that his trades have been uneven, not that he's been bad with big ticket free agent moves...which goes to ownership almost as much as Minaya.
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