4 $ale

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Rubin in the Snooze this morning says the "buzz among scouts" indicates the Mets are trying to trade Heilman and seeking set-up relief in return.

[metirish]

What or who could Minaya expect to get for Heilman at this point , I would think some one else's struggling reliever is about it , change of scenery and all that.

[seawolf17]

[soupcan]

Isn't 'Mando hurt?

[Benjamin Grimm]

metirish wrote: What or who could Minaya expect to get for Heilman at this point , I would think some one else's struggling reliever is about it , change of scenery and all that.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. They could get a change-of-scenery guy.

I think a better course would be to ask him to accept a temporary demotion to New Orleans. It helped Steve Trachsel back in '01 or '02 and may be helpful to Heilman now.

It's worth a shot. He seems lost out there, and right now I'd only be comfortable using him in lopsided games.

[seawolf17]

No, he just got called up by Toronto last week. Three games, 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 HR (to pinch-hitter Jason Kubel in a meaningless spot), 2 BB, 2 K.

[Gwreck]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think a better course would be to ask him to accept a temporary demotion to New Orleans. It helped Steve Trachsel back in '01 or '02 and may be helpful to Heilman now.

That won't work because Heilman is out of options and would have to clear waivers. Unlike Trachsel (at that time), he's not signed to a big contract and therefore is likely to get snapped up by someone.

[TransMonk]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Yeah, that's what I was thinking. They could get a change-of-scenery guy.

I would guess that Heilman would net us Derrick Turnbow...not that it would be a good move, but that's the value that Heilman has right now IMO.

[DocTee]

Mebbe we can get Chad Bradford back.

[Guest AG/DC]

I'm sure they can move him if that's what they want to do, perhaps as part of a package. I'm for giving him a start, maybe in Colorado.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Barry Zito. Reunite him with Peterson. Giants would have to deal with some of the salary, but teams have been creative with Hampton, AWuss and others in such situations.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

AG/DC - "I'm for giving him a start, maybe in Colorado."

They stopped feeding people to the lions almost 1500 years ago, but for Heilman's now fragile psyche, a start in Coors Field would likely kill his spirit and leave him further demoralized.

Since the Mets can't send him down without likely losing him to waivers, I think they should let him try to find himself in lopsided laughers. Hopefully, he can have some success in low leveraged situations and eventually regain his form. If not, then the Mets are at least using him in situations where he can cause the least amount of damage to the team.

[HahnSolo]

="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Rubin in the Snooze this morning says the "buzz among scouts" indicates the Mets are trying to trade Heilman and seeking a warm body in return.

Fixed

[Guest AG/DC]

Coors Field isn't what it used to be.

[Zvon]

I say let him start a game before ElDook and Pedro return.

Or talk to the Cards.
They'll take him and make him a starter.

[Fman99]

AG/DC wrote: Coors Field isn't what it used to be.

Neither is the ol' grey mare, from what I hear.

[Guest AG/DC]

Well, his absence in today's boxscore may be telling. (Or not.)

It's something. Willie and Omar let the season get away from them last year before giving up on Mota. How can his players not love him? At least, the ones who are struggling.

[smg58]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Barry Zito. Reunite him with Peterson. Giants would have to deal with some of the salary, but teams have been creative with Hampton, AWuss and others in such situations.

The Giants would have to deal with MOST of his salary. But I think you could only get a bigger and/or more expensive question mark in return for Heilman at this point. You're not going to get a better reliever than Carlos Muniz for him.

It's possible that the 86 innings Heilman threw last year took a toll, but if that's true then I don't think starting him will help.

I'd have no problem at all with asking him to accept a demotion. But Sosa opted for a release, and Heilman actually has more value.

[Guest AG/DC]

I'd claim Heilman in a second if I'm a young second-division club with options on other pitchers.

[seawolf17]

Heilman just doesn't have the trade value that he once had. It's either he accepts a demotion to N'awlins or he has to suck it up and keep going out there. (Or you cut him, which isn't happening.) You're not going to get anything worthwhile for him from another team.

[Guest AG/DC]

Again, he'd most likely get claimed if they tried to demote him.

Guys like him get traded all the time. You get either somebody else's problem, a bloated contract, or a minor league project.

Some guys with diminishing prospects that the Mets have traded:

• Rey Ordoñez (traded for a mental patient)


• Rey Sanchez (traded for a football player)


• Mel Rojas (traded for Bobby Bonilla)

[metirish]

Would any team be desperate enough to think that Heilman can be a starter now without being sent to the minors to get built up for the job , as has been made clear Heilman is without options so sending him down is a no go.

[DocTee]

To heck with starting, I still think he can be a closer for someone if he gets straightened out.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Any team in baseball would be wise to take a chance on Heilman. Good-to-great performance for 3 years up to and including opening day this year, and 1.5 months of shaky performance, usually related to an inability to concentrate on getting the 3rd out. He's way on the wrong side of goodness this year but it's a very fine line.

Unless he's hiding an injury or something, a change of scenery may be what he needs. I don't think the Mets should sell him short.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I received this e-mail last night:

]PLEASE INFORM RANDOLF THAT HIS COACHING ON ERIC HIELMAN HAS BEEN PATHETIC. HE COULD NOT DO THE JOB LAST YHEAR AT THE END OF THE SEASON, AND CAN NOT DO IT THIS YEAR. YOU SHOULD REPLACE HIELMAN. ANY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER COULD REPLACE HIM.

[Guest AG/DC]

WILL DO. NOW GET BACK TO YOUR HOMEWORK.

[metirish]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I received this e-mail last night: ]PLEASE INFORM RANDOLF THAT HIS COACHING ON ERIC HIELMAN HAS BEEN PATHETIC. HE COULD NOT DO THE JOB LAST YHEAR AT THE END OF THE SEASON, AND CAN NOT DO IT THIS YEAR. YOU SHOULD REPLACE HIELMAN. ANY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER COULD REPLACE HIM.

Hilarious .

Cleon would be proud.

[seawolf17]

Eric Heilman?

[Centerfield]

Yancy,

When you have that conversation with Randolf, tell him that his players should avoid making errors, pitch better in key spots and hit more consistently.

I mean, if we could just get that message to them I think we'd be ok.

Oh, and ask him when he's going to return my Dazed and Confused DVD. He's had that like forever.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Let me write this down...

Avoid... making... errors...

I'm also going to mention that it would be helpful if he could get his team to win 20 of the next 25 games.