Obtaining Johnny Estrada while not earth shattering is a positive step by Omar Minaya just for the fact that he got rid of Guillermo Mota. Not only did he dump Mota but the Brewers took all of Mota’s contract (over $3mil) and sent the Mets a catcher that if he sticks is more than serviceable and if he doesnt , won’t cost a penny as he is arbitration eligible. So why would the Brewers help the Mets like this?
Estrada is coming off a season where he was pretty bad behind the plate as his knee problems prevented him to get a good push on his throws to second base and base runners ran at will against him. Estrada seems to be a bit of a malcontent as we saw first hand last year when in a game against the Mets, Estrada and manager Ned Yost went to blows in the Brew Crew dugout and then down in the tunnel leading toward the clubhouse. He also had words with pitching coach Mike Maddox on how to handle the pitching staff. The Mets will become Estrada’ fifth employer in eight years which is a big red flag. But this is a very good move by Omar.
Estrada is arbitration eligible which still gives the Mets flexibility when it comes to dealing for an upgrade in the catching department. I still think Minaya has his eye on Ramon Hernandez in a deal that includes Erik Bedard from the O’s. If that deal doesn’t happen or if the foundation for a deal for another front line catcher like Mike Olvio or Ronny Paulino isn’t there then Estrada, a one time All Star and when healthy and more than descent defensive catcher becomes a nice partner to Ramon Castro.
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This post was written by kranepool on November 21, 2007
Agreed. Good move, and Estrada, at 31, is 5 years younger than Paulie. A little concerned that Omar seems to look the other way on injuries, but I guess injuries are part of the game and everyone has some nagging stuff going on. Did you watch Hot Stove Monday? I’m a little disgruntled with Cohen saying that it would be wrong to boo Glavine. The guy never wanted to be here, and wore it on his sleeve. To me, that’s disrespecting the people who pay you, and the people who pay to see you. If you have this deep love for Atlanta, keep it to yourself. You work(ed) for us, at least make it seem like you give a shit. Tommy never did, and that is not acceptable to people who pay $200 to take the family to a game.
Rich,
You are so right about Cohen. He acted like he was the President of the Tom Glavine Fan Club and being that Cohen is usually a fiesty Mets supporter and Glavine never really acted like he wanted to be a Met.
Of all people Seth Everett stood up for Mets fans and kind of gave Cohen that “Are you kidding me”? look as Cohen defended Glavine.
Also Mets Hot Stove has been pretty good as it has stuck to Mets-centirc news but it needs to be at least an hour show a half hour is not enough time to cover Mets news.
Steve,
Absolutely right. That was the first positive contribution Seth Everett has ever made on Hot Stove. And would it kill SNY, and their stellar programming lineup (though the 69 WS cool on Monday), to have Hot Stove on for an hour? There are probably 4 million Mets fans in the Metro area who can’t get enough, especially in the off season.
Happy Thanksgiving.