Revisiting the J.J. Putz Trade

On December 10th, the Seattle Mariners traded their closer, J.J. Putz, to the New York Mets in a three team deal, involving 12 players.  After two weeks since the Mariners traded their closer, who had 91 saves in three years of closer service for the Mariners, let's see how new GM Jack Zduriencik did on this trade.

The Mariners traded Putz, reliever Sean Green, outfielder Jeremy Reed to the New York Mets, second baseman Luis Valvuena to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Endy Chavez, reliever Aaron Heilman,  minor league first baseman Mike Carp, pitcher Maikel Cleto, outfielder Ezequel Cabrera, and pitcher Jason Vargas from the Mets and outfielder Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians.

Bringing two defensive outfielders, Chavez and Gutierrez, will help loosen Ichiro Suzuki's workload in outfield.

Chavez, who robbed Scott Rolen's HR in game 7 of the NLCS in 2006, will be a free agent after the 2009 season. He is great defender, but he needs to improve on his offense.

Gutierrez, who is also a great defender, also needs help offensively. If he can hit better in Safeco Field, it was worth it for Zduriencik to trigger this trade, but if he struggles in Safeco, this trade was a horrible one.

Aaron Heilman, who is the Mets first round selection in 2001, had 5.21 ERA in 2008. He said that he wants to start, but the Mariners have no spot for him to start. Since the Mariners traded Putz, new skipper Don Wakamatsu might try him at closer. He said that he wants to start, but he will close if the team needs him to.

The four prospects the Mariners got are not rated very high, but Maikel Cleto has a great fastball and the potential of becoming the Mariners closer in the future.

Jason Vargas has experience at the big league level, but his injury history would block him making the big league.

Mike Carp, who made the AA Eastern League all star team, has a high on base percentage and power that might make him a big league call up in September, or earlier depending on the Mariners first base situation.

Ezequel Cabrera is an Endy Chavez type of outfielder, who can play defense and has speed.

Overall, the Mariners did fine in the deal, but they need help offensively. Let's hope Zduriencik can get hitting prospects in a trade possibly dealing Adrian Beltre. Or he can pick a hitting prospect, using the Phillies first round selection, after Raul Ibanez signed with the Phils.