January 21, 200620 yr the Link O's ship Julio, Maine to Mets for Benson 01/21/2006 3:09 PM ET By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com BALTIMORE -- All winter long, the Orioles have talked about adding an arm to their starting rotation. That talk turned into action Saturday, when Baltimore dealt Jorge Julio and John Maine to the New York Mets in exchange for Kris Benson. Benson, the first-overall pick in the 1996 First-Year Player Draft, went 10-8 with a 4.13 ERA in 2005. That was his first winning season since 2002, and for his career, the right-hander is 57-61 with a 4.25 mark. The former Met and Pirate has always been noted for potential rather than performance, but he's shown consistency over the last two seasons. The 31-year-old has two seasons and a club option left on the $22.5 million deal he signed before the 2005 season. He throws in the low 90's and works with both a slider and a curveball, an arsenal tailor-made for new pitching coach Leo Mazzone. Benson and Mazzone will learn the American League together, and catcher Ramon Hernandez, who signed as a free agent from the Padres, should help ease the transition. The bigger impact is what this does to the rest of Baltimore's pitching staff. The Orioles have two arms -- Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera -- with just two years experience in the big leagues. Another, Bruce Chen, has pitched for seven teams since 2000. Benson and Rodrigo Lopez are the sure things, established pitchers that lend the starting staff some dependability. The main piece in this transaction, from New York's end, was the acquistion of Julio. The power reliever broke into Baltimore's bullpen as a 22-year-old and earned the closer's job the next season. He spent three mercurial years as Baltimore's relief ace -- notching 83 saves over that span -- but lost his job to B.J. Ryan in 2005. Julio had a rough season last year, notching a 3-5 record and a career-high 5.90 ERA. The right-hander has finished 189 of the 281 games he's pitched in, and he's notched an 11-24 record with a 4.20 ERA over the life of his career. The Mets are likely looking at him in a setup role, pitching the eighth in front of new closer Billy Wagner. Complete coverage > Maine, the other arm in the deal, shot through Baltimore's Minor League system before encountering some stiff resistance in the Major Leagues. The former sixth-round draft pick has a 24-13 record with a 2.75 ERA in the Minors, but in the big leagues, he's just 2-4 with a 6.60 mark. He was expected to battle for Baltimore's fifth starting slot in Spring Training.
January 21, 200620 yr Seriously, is Minaya trying to undermine the team? Benson's nothing great, but he's certainly more important to the 2006 Mets than Julio will be... I don't get this move for the Mets, unless they figure that they'll be able to sign Weaver.
January 21, 200620 yr rumors floating around that the mets are going after zito.. trading benson for julio and prospects trade diaz for prospects that beane likes trade heilman and prospects for Zito
January 21, 200620 yr rumors floating around that the mets are going after zito.. trading benson for julio and prospects trade diaz for prospects that beane likes trade heilman and prospects for Zito Beane won't move Zito for anything less than Milledge, and I really have doubts that Milledge will be traded in the offseason, or traded at all for that matter.
January 21, 200620 yr Complete coverage > Maine, the other arm in the deal, shot through Baltimore's Minor League system before encountering some stiff resistance in the Major Leagues. The former sixth-round draft pick has a 24-13 record with a 2.75 ERA in the Minors, but in the big leagues, he's just 2-4 with a 6.60 mark. He was expected to battle for Baltimore's fifth starting slot in Spring Training. Those numbers which look pretty impressive don't take into account Maine's 6-11 4.56 ERA season last year. In actuality he has an ERA of 3.24 ERA in the minors with a record of 30-24. Also, last year was his second season at AAA and he did nothing to show that he is more than a long-reliever/#5 starter in the majors.
January 22, 200620 yr Buster Olney is reporting the Mets are trying to sign Weaver to a 1 year deal. IMO that's a lateral move. Trading any combination of prospects (outside of Humber, Pelfrey, or Milledge) for Zito would be a huge plus. I really don't think Milledge will be part of a Zito deal, if he was going to be, he would be gone already.
January 22, 200620 yr beane wont trade for less then milledge. Unless they are tossing in wright instead for zito.
January 22, 200620 yr beane wont trade for less then milledge. Unless they are tossing in wright instead for zito. Trading david Wright would be proposterous. While this year's lineup may have enough good hitters, Wright is the type of player that will be extremely productive for a dozen years.
January 23, 200620 yr Seriously, is Minaya trying to undermine the team? Benson's nothing great, but he's certainly more important to the 2006 Mets than Julio will be... I don't get this move for the Mets, unless they figure that they'll be able to sign Weaver. On the News I heard part of the trade involved the Mets not wanting to have a pitcher whos wife will be a Porn star, thats atleast what Mrs benson said :lol Benson is also beleived to be overpaid, I think they were trying to jack down on $
January 23, 200620 yr as much as the mets have upgraded this offseason i still see there pitching as pretty much sh*t. im having doubts about Pedro's health and the rest of the rotation does nothing for me. im sure they will be dealing around the deadline if they are contenders anyways
January 23, 200620 yr as much as the mets have upgraded this offseason i still see there pitching as pretty much sh*t. im having doubts about Pedro's health and the rest of the rotation does nothing for me. im sure they will be dealing around the deadline if they are contenders anyways I agree. The rotation is seriously weak. If they get Zito it will be pretty good. A top two of Pedro and Zito is more than solid, assuming Pedro stays healthy. If the Mets do indeed get Weaver, that's a decent move. I think Weaver is better than Benson. I'd much rather have Weaver.
January 24, 200620 yr as much as the mets have upgraded this offseason i still see there pitching as pretty much sh*t. im having doubts about Pedro's health and the rest of the rotation does nothing for me. im sure they will be dealing around the deadline if they are contenders anyways I agree. The rotation is seriously weak. If they get Zito it will be pretty good. A top two of Pedro and Zito is more than solid, assuming Pedro stays healthy. If the Mets do indeed get Weaver, that's a decent move. I think Weaver is better than Benson. I'd much rather have Weaver. i dont see Zito happening and i consider weaver as a "we need something" type move. they did a good job in loading up but not necessarily in the right places. should be interesting to see. im thinking something like last years yankees who could put up 10 runs a game but also give up 10 due to sh*tty pitching.
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