The Fans Get On Heilman

David Lennon at On The Mets Beat, writes about Aaron Heilman and how the Shea crowd has taken a disdain towards him:

I was a little surprised to hear the crowd get on Aaron Heilman in top of the ninth inning. As soon as the strains of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Feel the Reaper" blared over the loudspeakers, the fans began booing loudly. I don't think they were screaming "More cowbell!" either. Despite the jeers, Heilman did his job, and needed only one pitch. With Ryan Theriot at second base, Heilman got Cesar Izturis on a bouncer back to the mound to end the threat -- and earn the victory.

Two to Go

Ken Davidof at On The Mets Beat, writes about the Mets and who is yet to shave their heads:

By late Tuesday, only two Mets had yet to take their turn in the barber's chair. Tom Glavine had his head shaved immediately after the Mets' 4-1 win over the Giants, as did Aaron Heilman.That left only Aaron Sele and Jose Reyes as the two remaining holdouts on the 25-man roster.

Sele at least had a plausible excuse, saying that he had to fly to LA on Thursday for a family photo session. For that, his teammates were willing to give him a pass, but he should expect to go bald or go home when he returns to Shea on Friday. The only other holdout was Jose Reyes, who did not provide a reason.

Reyes said before the game he would submit to the razor, but did not after batting practice and played with his full head of hair intact. Even manager Willie Randolph tried to get Reyes into the chair Tuesday afternoon, but the shortstop refused. Not sure what's going on with that, but it's probably a good idea if Reyes joins his teammates.

What If The Mets Did This?

I'm a huge fan of trading up for a team. In the fantasy league I'm in, I think, I've been involved in more trades than anyone else. It let's you know that your GM still cares (not that Omar doesn't).

So with that said, I’ll throw out a couple of trade proposals to make the Mets younger and better for years to come.

1. The Mets give Oakland Lastings Millege and Aaron Heilman for Dan Haren.

I know, I know. This trade has been bounced around more times than a pinball. But, I think Billy Beane is finally ready to pull the trigger. Call it a gut feeling. And as MLB Trade Rumors said it in a previous post,” Dan Haren on the other hand… could challenge for Cy Youngs as a Met.”

2. The Mets give Pittsburgh Rubin Gotay, Ricky Ledee and Ambriorix Burgos for Freddy Sanchez.

Sanchez is probably at the lowest selling point right now. He’s hitting only .258 and has only 4 RBI’s. A change of scenery will most likely do him good. The Mets need a second baseman with a decent bat and a good glove. Sanchez is both of these.

From the Pirates side of the table, Gotay could replace Sanchez at Second, Burgos would go to a pen that desperately needs help (28th in the Majors) and Ledee would go to a team that’s in need of veteran leadership.

It’s by far a win, win for each team.

The rotation would shape up like this:

Tom Glavine
John Maine
Dan Haren
Oliver Perez
Jorge Sosa

The batting order would shape up like this:

Jose Reyes
Freddy Sanchez
Carlos Beltran
Carlos Delgado
David Wright
Moises Alou
Shawn Green
Paul Lo Duca

Pitcher

Note From David Rubin: I think that, if we are willing to part with both Milledge AND Heilman, we could expect to receive Rich Harden back in a deal. Even though Harden has been chronically hurt, a la Mark Prior, he still represents a unique talent who, when healthy, is capable of becoming one of the top 10 pitchers in the game, a designation not unknown to Mr. Beane. Second, I HATE dealing with Beane, because he always seems to make one-sided trades. Finally, I think that the Bucs would want more than the package above for Sanchez, as he is, after all, the reigning NL batting champ. I know a bunch of folks who worked with the kid when he was a busboy back in SoCal, and they all said what a great person he is and what a student of the game he is as well. I'm sure the Bucs have no doubt that he'll pick up his pace soon, as he's probably not as good as he was last year, but is certainly far better than he's showing this year. I think we'd have to offer a better pitching prospect, as well as a good hitting prospect to acquire a talent like Sanchez, as the days of prying talent away from Pittsburgh for a song are now seemingly over. I would not mind Haren, but would want to give up less...I would definitely want Sanchez, but we'd have to give up more...and I DON'T want Cantu, unless he's our last option, for the reasons stated in another post on the site. But, GM-In-Training that he is, John is certainly guilty of one thing- Throwing good ideas out there to get the "hot stove league" spinning...keep it up, bud!!!!

Heilman Tries To Move Forward

Marty Noble at Mets.com, writes about Aaron Heilman and how he's trying to overcome a beginning of the season pitching slump:

"We were going to win that game ... probably," Heilman said. "But I took us out of it. All we needed was a clean inning. ... We had two, three, four [David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado] coming up in the bottom of the inning. If it's 3-2, there's a lot more pressure on [the Marlins]. [A 5-2 score] is completely different."

This one wore on Heilman more than the home run he surrendered nine days earlier to Kelly Johnson of the Braves. That one made him the losing pitcher. This one was worse if only because it extended his rap sheet.

"Probably, that's the reason," Heilman said, his face twisted.

The rap sheet includes the loss to the Braves two Sundays ago, and another to Atlanta two weeks earlier. And there have been too many fly balls, and that grab Jose Valentin made in St. Louis on Opening Night that turned runs into a double play that spared Heilman.

His pitches are up, and so is his ERA -- 4.09 -- and his number of fly balls. He averaged 1.31 ground-ball outs for every fly-ball out last season. In 11 appearances and 11 innings this season, the ratio is .77 ground-ball outs to one fly out.

Mets To Take It Easy On Heilman

John Delcos at Lo Hud, writes about Aaron Heilman and why the Metsare going to take it easy on him:

The Mets say they will walk a fine line of being cautious with Aaron Heilman's surgically repaired right elbow, but not overly protective.

Heilman underwent surgery last winter and was shut down a week in spring training with a mild case of tendinitis.

Consequently, the Mets will not push the envelope in terms of using him in consecutive games if he ran up a high pitch count the day before.

"We'll go on the side of caution," manager Willie Randolph said.

Let The Debate Begin Again

Mike Vaccaro at the NY Post, writes about Aaron Heilman and talks about if he should be a starter:

They have been steadfast about this issue. Some would say they have been stubborn about this issue. The Mets see Aaron Heilman as a relief pitcher, even if a lot of people - Mets fans, other teams, Aaron Heilman himself - see him as a starting pitcher, one with a live arm, an impeccable disposition, and the willingness to do whatever is necessary to scratch out a slot in the rotation.

"He is a mainstay in our bullpen," Willie Randolph said more than once during the first week of Mets' training camp. "We have a very good bullpen, and that a real strength of the team, and I don't know that I want to go messing with that."

The Mets have the purest intentions here. As good as their projected opening-day lineup is, as robust as their offense should be, the core strength of this team is in the bullpen.

Heilman Still Wants To Start

Adam Rubin at the Daily News writes about Aaron Heilman and how he still wants to be a part of the starting rotation:

Yes, Aaron Heilman asked again. No, he's not going to get a look as a starting pitcher this spring.

"I haven't given up," Heilman said yesterday, a day after arriving from his home in Chicago. "I'll still do everything I can to pursue that - until I don't feel I can be an effective starter."

"I've got to come in and still do a job and help this team win," said Heilman, who made a team-high 74 relief appearances in '06. "Unfortunately, I can't have a lot of say in what my role is. I can just try to control the things I can - which is my performance when I'm out there. I'll just go out there and have another good year and help the team win."