July 31 Has Provided Many Infamous Days In Mets History

Before 1986, the trade deadline used to be June 15, a date Mets fans most associated with the Midnight Massacre in 1977 and the acquisition of Keith Hernandez in 1983. Over the past 25 years, teams have been allowed to make non-waiver trades up to the July 31 deadline.

This year, there have been a frenzy of deals in the last days and hours before the non-waiver trade deadline. Carlos Beltran was traded by the Mets to the Giants. Kosuke Fukudome was dealt to the Indians by the Cubs. Hunter Pence, born and raised in Texas, was shipped off by the Astros to the one place in America that's the polar opposite to the politeness of the Lone Star State, Philadelphia. Michael Bourn became a Brave, Derrek Lee became a Pirate and Ubaldo Jimenez pitched one inning for the Rockies, was traded to Cleveland during his start, and was spared getting his final loss as a Rockie while being a member of the Indians when Colorado rallied to defeat the Padres.

Got that? Those were only a few of the dozens of trades made throughout major league baseball over the past few days. Even Joey Beartran considered trading away his colleague (yours truly) to a different Mets blog for Rich Harden and a toasted bagel with cream cheese, but that trade was pulled back once Joey realized that Harden would probably get injured picking up that bagel.

The Mets haven't been strangers to the last-minute deal since the trade deadline was pushed back to July 31. In fact, the team has made 13 deals on July 31 in the last 25 years. Unfortunately, most of the 13 have proven to be unlucky for the Mets. Let's review some of these trades (with thanks to Ultimate Mets Database for providing the trade details).

On July 31, 1989, the Mets engineered two deals, neither of which worked in the long run. They traded Rick Aguilera, David West, Kevin Tapani, Tim Drummond and Jack Savage to the Minnesota Twins for former Cy Young Award winner and Long Island native Frank Viola.

Those shades can't hide you, Frank Viola. We know you weren't worth Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani.

Although Viola went on to win 20 games for the Mets in 1990, becoming the last Met pitcher to accomplish that feat, his stay in New York was short. Viola finished 38-32 in 2½ seasons with the Mets. In his final year in New York (1991), Viola struggled, going 13-15 and leading the major leagues in hits allowed (259). He also lost the ability to strike out batters, finishing the season with 132 strikeouts, after registering at least 182 whiffs in each of his previous five seasons.

Meanwhile, two of the players he was traded for flourished in Minnesota. Kevin Tapani won 75 games in six seasons as a Twin, finishing fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1990 and seventh in the Cy Young Award balloting in 1991 when he finished 16-9 with a 2.99 ERA. Rick Aguilera was turned into the Twins' closer and became the franchise's all-time saves leader. (His 254 saves have since been tied by Joe Nathan.) Aguilera's 42 saves in 1991 tied Jeff Reardon's club record and was one of the main reasons why the Twins went from worst to first, as they won the World Series that year over the Atlanta Braves. The 1991 season also marked the first of three consecutive years that Aggie was selected to the American League All-Star team. Aguilera's 318 career saves (of which only seven came as a Met) rank 15th on the all-time saves list.

On the same day the Mets traded away the winning pitcher in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, they also dealt the man who hit the little roller up along first that enabled Aguilera to be credited with the win, as fan-favorite Mookie Wilson was sent to Toronto for Jeff Musselman.

This picture is wrong, just wrong.

Mookie would end up helping the Blue Jays win the 1989 American League East division title, even garnering consideration for the 1989 AL MVP award. Jeff Musselman, on the other hand, didn't do quite as well with his new team. After a decent end to the 1989 season (3-2, 3.08 ERA for the Mets), Musselman was downright atrocious in 1990, going 0-2 with a 5.63 ERA for a Mets team that won 91 games. Although he was only 27 years old in 1990, Musselman never pitched again in the major leagues following that awful season.

Ten years to the day after the trade for Frank Viola and the trading of Mookie Wilson, the Mets conducted another ill-fated deal, sending Jason Isringhausen (and Greg McMichael) to the Oakland Athletics. In return, the Mets received A's closer Billy Taylor, who was 37 at the time. After coming to the Mets, Taylor showed his age, appearing in 18 games for New York and registering an ungodly 8.10 ERA and 2.18 WHIP. In only 13.1 innings, he allowed 29 baserunners (20 hits, 9 walks) and opponents hit .345 against him.

Meanwhile, Jason Isringhausen became one of the best closers in baseball over the next decade. He pitched two years in Oakland, saving 33 games (and making the All-Star team) in 2000 and 34 games in 2001. He then signed a free-agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals following the 2001 season and became the all-time saves leader of that storied franchise, surpassing such greats as former all-time saves leader Lee Smith and Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter.

Isringhausen is now back with the Mets, becoming the de facto closer after the trade of Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers. Interestingly enough, Izzy's next save will be the seventh of his Mets career (he saved one game in his first stint as a Met), which will tie him for 31st on the Mets' all-time saves list. Who will he tie? None other than Rick Aguilera, the other player the Mets traded away on a July 31st who became his new team's all-time saves leader.

At least we got Izzy back, even if it was a decade too late.

We could stop here, ending this piece with the symmetry of the Aguilera and Isringhausen deals, but there's one more July 31 non-waiver trade deadline deal we have to discuss. It happened only five years ago, but the Mets are still paying for it today. In this case, they're paying for it quite literally.

On July 31, 2006, the Mets traded rightfielder Xavier Nady to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Roberto Hernandez and some guy you might have heard of. His name is Oliver Perez.

At the time of the deal, which was only made because Duaner Sanchez had a case of the midnight munchies and was injured in a taxicab accident on his way to sate his grumbling tummy, Nady appeared to be on his way to his finest season in the major leagues. He had 30 extra-base hits (15 doubles, one triple and 14 home runs) and had driven in 40 runs. All of those numbers were compiled in only 75 games and 265 at-bats with the Mets. To put this into perspective, two years earlier, a Mets player was called up from the minor leagues in July and also picked up exactly 14 and 40 RBI, doing so in 263 at-bats, or two less than Xavier Nady needed to achieve the same statistics in 2006. That player was David Wright.

Over the next two full seasons after the trade, Nady blossomed, hitting .278 with 20 HR and 72 RBI in 2007 for Pittsburgh. He followed that up with an All-Star-caliber year in 2008, splitting his year between the Pirates and Yankees, and hitting .305 with 37 doubles, 25 HR and 97 RBI, all of which were career-highs. Meanwhile, while Nady was having excellent years in 2007 and 2008, the Mets were choking away their seasons, employing rightfielders Shawn Green (.291, 10 HR, 46 RBI) in 2007 and Ryan Church (.276, 12 HR, 49 RBI) to replace Xavier Nady. Green and Church combined to produce 22 HR and 95 RBI over those two seasons, numbers that were surpassed by Nady in 2008 alone.

As for the pitchers the Mets received in the Nady trade, Roberto Hernandez pitched in only 22 games for the Mets before signing a free-agent contract with the Cleveland Indians following the 2006 season, while Oliver Perez...ah, you know the rest.

Because Duaner Sanchez wanted the plate on the right, we got a plateful of Ollie.

Sure, the Mets made some decent deals on July 31, like the trade that brought them Shawon Dunston in 1999, who engineered one of the most important at-bats in franchise history, leading off the bottom of the 15th inning in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS with a base hit, setting up the inning that ended with Robin Ventura's Grand Slam Single.

That same day, they also traded for Darryl Hamilton, whose biggest moment as a Met came in Game 2 of the 2000 NLDS against the Giants, when he ripped a two-out double in the 10th inning and eventually scored the winning run on Jay Payton's single.

You know what? Come to think of it, if the only good trades the Mets have made on July 31 have involved players who were only known for one at-bat with the team, then maybe the Mets shouldn't make last-minute trades at the non-waiver trade deadline. Let other teams make moves for the Hunter Pences, Ubaldo Jimenezes and Michael Bourns of the world. We'll make do with what we have. We don't need any more Billy Taylors, Jeff Musselmans or that Other Pitcher whose name escapes me at the moment.

Zack Wheeler: Is He Nolan Ryan Or Oliver Perez?

The trade of Carlos Beltran to the Giants became official earlier today, as the longtime Mets' outfielder agreed to join the NL West leaders. In return, the Mets received top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler, who was the sixth overall pick in the 2009 Amateur Draft.

Wheeler was ranked No. 55 among all prospects prior to the 2011 season, but moved up to No. 35 in the recently released mid-season rankings. Clearly, Wheeler is expected to someday produce at the major league level or else Sandy Alderson wouldn't have asked for him when he traded away his All-Star rightfielder.

Right now, Wheeler has a slight problem controlling his pitches. Okay, slight might be an understatement when you consider his career minor league numbers.

Since playing in his first professional game in 2010, Wheeler has pitched in 37 games (29 starts). In 146.2 innings, he's walked 85 batters, averaging 5.2 walks per nine innings. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Wheeler has also thrown 19 wild pitches and hit 11 batters.

Let's put these numbers in perspective. There are six pitchers in the National League who have already surpassed 146.2 innings this season. Therefore, it's fair to say that Wheeler has pitched the equivalent of what some National League pitchers have pitched this year.

Currently, J.A. Happ is leading the National League in walks, handing out 60 free passes this season. That's 25 fewer than Wheeler.

Those 19 wild pitches thrown by Wheeler? That's almost twice as many as the National League leader, Hiroki Kuroda, who's uncorked 11 wild ones. No one else in the NL has more than nine.

Wheeler's 11 hit batsmen would also be pacing the National League, as that total surpasses NL leader Randy Wolf by one.

Of course, Wheeler still has plenty of time to work on his control, as he is only 21 years old and will be pitching for the St. Lucie Mets. Still, one can't help but wonder if Wheeler is going to someday challenge for the Triple Crown of Pitching (leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts, as Dwight Gooden did for the Mets in 1985) or the Triple Crown of Wildness (leading the league in walks, wild pitches and hit batsmen).

Nolan Ryan was also wild in the minors, walking 200 batters in his first 291 minor league innings. Then again, so was Oliver Perez, (you thought you'd never see his name in a Studious Metsimus post again, didn't you?) who issued 150 walks in his first 322 professional innings.

Of course, Nolan Ryan learned how to harness his talent and translated it into a Hall of Fame career. Oliver Perez has used his talent to teach his minor league teammates which fast food restaurants are the best in and around Harrisburg, PA, which is where he has toiled as a member of the Washington Nationals Triple-A squad.

Hopefully, the Mets won't promote Wheeler through their minor league system until he has shown improvement with his control. Yes, he's managed to strike out his share of batters (168 Ks in 146.2 innings), but so did Ollie (554 Ks in 517.1 career minor league innings).

It is imperative that the Mets take their time with Zach Wheeler. In a few years, Wheeler might be part of a young pitching staff that includes fellow prospect Matt Harvey, along with 10-game winner Jonathon Niese and nine-game winner Dillon Gee. That staff could rival the 1986 staff, or it could be the second coming of Generation K.

Zack Wheeler is expected to be a big part of the Mets' future. For that to happen, he'll have to put his wild past behind him and focus on improving his control in the present. Nolan Ryan was able to do it. Oliver Perez was not. It's up to Zack Wheeler to figure out if he wants to take a limo to Cooperstown or a bus to Harrisburg.

My Memories of Memorial Day

For many people, Memorial Day represents the unofficial beginning of summer. From spending the day at the beach (unless if you grew up with Mike Pelfrey and spent hours looking for the perfect beach until you realized there were no beaches in Kansas) to firing up the barbecue, Memorial Day is a day for relaxation and for some people, baseball.

I have many fond memories of Memorial Day. The game that turned me into a Mookie Wilson fan for life occurred on Memorial Day (May 25, 1981) when I watched Mookie reach base four times on two walks, a single and a two-run triple against former Met Tug McGraw. He also stole second base in the first inning, leading to the first of his three runs scored on the day. The Mets blew out the defending World Champion Phillies by the final score of 13-3 and from that day forward, I would be forever hooked on Mookie Wilson and the Mets.

I also remember Memorial Day in 1986, but not because of a memorable Mets game. Rather, I remember that day because there was no Mets game scheduled for that day. I thought it was odd that on a national holiday, the day that unofficially kicked off the summer season, there was no Mets game to watch. Then again, perhaps it was better for the Mets to have that day off. After all, they had gone 6-6 over their past 12 games after their red-hot 21-5 start and only had a four-game lead in the division. After their Memorial Day respite, the Mets won 27 of their next 37 games, culminating in their extra-inning victory against the Astros on the Fourth of July. By then, the Mets had a 12½-game lead in the division and were well on their way to turning Davey Johnson into a prophet by dominating the NL East.

I actually didn't attend a Memorial Day game in person until 1994, when the Mets were taking on the Colorado Rockies, who were in their sophomore season. Unfortunately, that game didn't produce the type of memories I wanted to have, as Mets' starter Mauro Gozzo (yes, the same Mauro Gozzo that was traded away by the Mets to acquire David Cone seven years earlier) left the game in the sixth inning after loading up the bases with no outs and the Mets trailing by a run. Mike Maddux then promptly gave up a grand slam to the first batter he faced, Andres Galarraga, and the Rockie offensive avalanche was on. The Rockies added five runs in the seventh (three of which came on the strength of a long home run by John Vander Wal, who had only hit 11 HR in almost four big league seasons up to that point) and another run in the eighth on their way to a 12-2 victory over the Mets. It was my first Memorial Day game at Shea Stadium and it would be my last, as memories of a lineup consisting of Jose Vizcaino leading off, Shawn Hare batting second and pitchers Gozzo, Maddux, Eric Hillman and Frank Seminara sharing duties in this horrendous effort made me want to listen to the dulcet tones of Bob Murphy on the radio instead of the three-hour serenade of boos at Shea Stadium on every Memorial Day after that day.

So now let's fast-forward to 2011. Today will be the first time I attend a Mets home game on Memorial Day since that 12-2 debacle in 1994. It can't get any worse that, can it? (Actually, it did, because last year the Mets lost to the Padres in San Diego on Memorial Day by the score of 18-6, a game started by Hisanori Takahashi and finished by your friend and mine, Oliver Perez, who arguably had his best outing of the year, giving up two runs, four hits [including a home run], one walk and one hit batsman in 2.2 innings.) Will the Mets give me a positive Memorial Day memory today like they did thirty years ago during my first season of fandom, or will they give me memories I'd rather forget, like they did in 1994, when the only players worth cheering were Jeff Kent (ugh) and Bobby Bonilla (double ugh)?

Regardless of what type of memories the Mets give me today, please don't forget the true meaning of Memorial Day. While you're catching rays at the beach or munching on burgers and hot dogs in your backyard (hopefully listening to Mets coverage), please remember to honor all of the men and women who have fought for your right to live your life freely in America. These brave people gave their lives so that you can have a day like today when you can relax and do whatever you choose to do. Some countries don't allow the freedoms that Americans sometimes take for granted. Don't ever take for granted the men and women who have fought to keep those freedoms alive.

May all of you have a happy and safe Memorial Day, doing all the things you're free to do.

Welcome to the Nationals Mr. Perez

He is a lock to win 15 games with the Nats!
And he will be a bargain at $414,000 for Washington (and just $12 million for the Mets.)

Should Oliver Perez be making demands?

According to the New York Times, Oliver Perez is telling the Mets he doesn't want to be a reliever.

I think the Mets agree. They don't want him to be a reliever... or a starter... or throw anything resembling a pitch in a game.

But if Perez could make demands to the Mets, I suppose the Mets could make a few demands back to Perez:

- Win infinitely more games in 2011 than he did in 2010. (His 2010 record was 0-5.)

- Try to get his ERA BELOW 6.80. (Set realistic goals.)

- Maybe use some of the $36 million that he will make since 2009 to scout and find a decent pitcher. (Or even just a lousy one would be an improvement.)

- Just throw batting practice. (Lord knows the opposing hitters all improve THEIR swings when Perez pitches.)

- Start every fifth day... for whatever team the Mets are playing that day. (That's got to be 30 wins right there!)

- Stop talking about how "This is how we did it in Pittsburgh!" after EVERY loss. (The Mets losing tradition is much more nuanced.)

- Try playing second base. (How could Perez's infield play be any worse than his pitching?)

- Stay in the headlines to distract the press from anything else that might be embarrassing about the Mets front office and financial dealings. (Not that there IS anything.)

- Use some of that $36 million to develop the technology from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (The Mets need to erase the memory of Perez's last few years from their brain.)

- Care. (OK, maybe that is asking too much.)