Benched

Never Trust a Guy Named Putz

The 2009 Mets did not set out to be failures but managed to pull it off. Benched wants to tell you why. Reason #1: JJ Putz

In 2008, the Mets suffered a September collapse of historic proportions, blowing a 7 game lead with 17 to play and failing to make the playoffs. Many blamed a weak bullpen that allowed too many late inning leads to slip away. The Mets front office heard these complaints loud and clear, and decided to spend a small fortune by acquiring closer Frankie Rodriguez and setup man JJ Putz. Neither of these were good signings, but the Putz one was especially disastrous. Putz had been a relatively successful reliever for a few seasons in Seattle, but his 2007 stats were alarming, as his walks allowed, ERA, WHIP and Opponents Batting Average all jumped dramatically while his strikeouts and appearances dropped. He missed significant time because of rib and elbow injuries, but GM Omar Minaya was not concerned, since his scouts saw Putz throwing 98-99 MPH in his last appearance. But trouble was ahead.

JJ Putz was nothing but ineffective in his brief season with the Mets, racking up a 5.22 ERA in his limited appearances. Putz had been pitching in pain almost the entire season, dealing with bone spurs in his elbow and forearm issues that limited his ability to get people out. Kind of a big deal, don’t you think? Putz tried to pitch through the pain, but it just wasn’t meant to be. He had surgery in June, and was placed on the 60 day DL, throwing the Mets bullpen into temporary chaos.

Do we blame JJ Putz? No. He came to New York and tried to pitch through an injury he suffered the previous season. What more can you ask? We blame Omar Minaya and the Mets front office, who refused to look at the numbers and instead went on a gut instinct to try and fix their bullpen. It didn’t work. They are lucky because Putz is a free agent after the season, but the Mets are back where they started from, having to fix a bullpen and lacking prospects to trade or use to get it done.