Fernando Salas!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The Mets have traded for Fernando Salas. Rhrp, former Cardinal, tho most recently serving as closer for Angels.

[Frayed Knot]

He was one of the closers the Cards used (2011) when they had a different one every year*. It was by far his best ML season.
Not great numbers this year but I guess he'll eat up some innings when others aren't available. Seems odd on the eve of several other pitchers being called up.

A 31 y/o native of Mexico who'll be a FA at the end of the year. Listed at 6' 2" - 200 lbs, his name certainly isn't Fernando SalaD amirite folks?





* StL closers for this decade (save leader for that year):
2010 -- Ryan Franklin
2011 -- Fernando Salas
2012 -- Jason Motte
2013 -- Edward Mujica
2014 & 2015 -- Trevor Rosenthal
2016 -- Seung-hwan Oh

Edited September 1, 2016 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

Eric Manoah and his 5.37 Brooklyn Cyclone ERA heading out.

[seawolf17]

Nevin Ashley, husband of Ashley Ashley, to Texas for $ as well.

[Edgy MD]

That's an interesting deal. Good for the Ashleys. All three of them.

Salas will be the first Metsican since 2010, when both Ollie Perez and Elmer Dessens represented Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos for Los Mets. Tough break for you, Donald Trump.

[Lefty Specialist]

Did they have to drop anyone from the 40-man to fit him in?

[seawolf17]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Did they have to drop anyone from the 40-man to fit him in?

Ruggiero to the 60.

[Chad ochoseis]

Is he the first ever Met palindrome?

[Benjamin Grimm]

You could argue that Bob Miller was the first.

[Edgy MD]

Jim Mann's last name looks like a palindrome if you squint.

Players with palindromic last names that spring to mind:
Toby Harrah
Preston Hannah
Robb Nen (If he went by "Bob," he could have been a double.)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

They should give him No. 00 or 88 maybe.

He's a 59 in both STL and ANA, but that's Smokey's number now.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Frayed Knot wrote: He was one of the closers the Cards used (2011) when they had a different one every year*. It was by far his best ML season.

And this year-- even if you look under the hood, at the peripheral numbers-- is by far his worst. Like, below-replacement-level, plummeting strikeout and swing-and-miss numbers, uber-hittability bad.

On the other hand, he certainly is a major-league pitcher.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I guess a little redundancy and depth can't hurt, with Goedy, Hansel and Hendu all struggling.

But I swear it's all about the roles with these guys.

You get a "role" and you expectations that come along with it.

They let Fammy, for instance, work his way out of his slump. But when you're a "7th-inning guy" and you slump it's like, we need to replace him, immediately, even with a guy who might be demonstrably shittier.

[Edgy MD]

I think what the Mets are banking on, to the extent that they are banking, is his superior second half numbers.

If that fails, well, besides being a palindrome, his name anagrams to "salsa."

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Yeah, he's been pitching better in the second half... marginally.

The ERA's nicer (2.93 vs. over 5 in the first half), but there's a LOT of luck baked in. His FIP numbers are only slightly better since the break, at 4.20 vs. 4.61. His runner-strand rate has gone up from below-average to above-average, at over 80 percent. Plus, while he's striking out more batters (8.80 K/9, closer to his career numbers than in the first half), he's also walking a LOT more (4.11/9, vs. 2.63 pre-break).

I mean, he's an arm, and that's good. But what we need is someone who can soak some innings from Robles, Reed, and Familia, right?

[G-Fafif]

Salas gets 59, Smoker notches back to 58.

[Edgy MD]

Our offensive line of a bullpen totally needed a backup center.

[Edgy MD]

Just lowered his Mets ERA to 2.03.

He's totally positioned to make the cut for any post-season roster.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy MD wrote: Just lowered his Mets ERA to 2.03. He's totally positioned to make the cut for any post-season roster.

Yeah. Probably.

Gives off a little bit of a Clippard-y waft for me, insofar as he's put up nice surface numbers while the underlying stuff/eye test don't reveal any real change in performance. I'd be wary of using him in a high-leverage sitch in, say, Chicago.

[Edgy MD]

[Centerfield]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Edgy MD wrote: Just lowered his Mets ERA to 2.03. He's totally positioned to make the cut for any post-season roster. Yeah. Probably. Gives off a little bit of a Clippard-y waft for me, insofar as he's put up nice surface numbers while the underlying stuff/eye test don't reveal any real change in performance. I'd be wary of using him in a high-leverage sitch in, say, Chicago.

I'd be thrilled just to be in a high-leverage situation in Chicago.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I agree. Even if the Mets have to go into the NLDS with a rotation of Ynoa, Montero, Verrett, and Gilmartin I'd be happy to be there.

[Edgy MD]

I'd find it interesting to see the Mets trade a veteran guy who is modestly productive but sorta redundant on the bubble of not making a prospective post-season roster—Loney, De Aza, or even Bruce—at a cut rate to a team fighting the Cards or the Giants this last week.

Heck, how cool would it be if Bruce ended up back on the Reds, even for a clearly lesser package than the Mets purchased him for? Return to sender.

Votto would be delighted, and Jay would hopefully be so piqued that he'd club the shit out Cardinal pitching.

[Edgy MD]

Another strong inning lowers this creature's ERA as a Met to 1.65

Ignore the post above.

[Frayed Knot]

He's sort of been just boringly effective.
That's a good thing to be in a set-up reliever.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

He hasn't been walking anybody. Like, at all. Like, in 15-plus Metly innings, he's got no walks.

[Edgy MD]

It's their theme, man. The last two years, even as they've swapped so many personnel in and out of their pitching staff, have featured some of the least-walking-est seasons in team history. At least, the least-walking-est teams without a Saberhagian factor.

They've been easily the top two seasons in team history in terms of SO/BB ratio. Like, .95 and 1.65 standard deviations above the third place Mets squad (1990).

I think they've found something of a formula for success.