The METS Now Have a CATCHER!

[DODGER DEB]

Sit down, folks!

I just heard on our local NBC station that the METS have traded for a catcher.......JOHNNY ESTRADA! I caught the tale end of the item, but I believe they got rid of MOTA for him.

c.

[nymdan]

UNBELIEVEABLE move by Omar.

[NYMets523]

I don't buy it. I haven't read anything connecting the Mets to Estrada. I don't think he's their type of catcher either.

EDIT: Nevermind:

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20071120&content_id=2305246&vkey=pr_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym


The New York Mets announced today that they have acquired catcher Johnny Estrada from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for righthanded pitcher Guillermo Mota.

"Johnny adds depth to our catching situation," said Mets General Manager Omar Minaya. "He's a former All-Star who switch-hits and has hit over .300 three times in his career."

Estrada, 31, hit .278 (123-for-442) with 40 runs scored, 25 doubles, 10 home runs and 54 RBI in 120 games with the Brewers last year.

The 5-11, 209-pounder batted .313 (42-for-134) vs. lefthanded pitchers and hit .297 (60-202) with runners in scoring position last season.

Johnny also constructed .313 (31-for-99) mark with four home runs and eight RBI against National League East opponents in 2007.

He underwent arthroscopic surgery on October 4th to repair the torn medial meniscus in his left knee and also had a bone spur removed from his right elbow. The surgeries were performed by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, AL.

Estrada has batted .280 (567-for-2,026) with 198 runs scored, 129 doubles, 42 home runs, 281 RBI in 589 major league games with Philadelphia, Atlanta, Arizona and Milwaukee. Johnny was named to the 2004 National League All-Star team.

In addition, he has hit .333 (7-for-21) with two home runs and five RBI in six postseason games in 2004-2005 while with Atlanta.

Estrada has compiled a .297 (272-for-915) batting average during his career with runners on base and has hit .353 (18-51) with the bases loaded.

Mota, 34, went 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA in 52 games with New York last season. In 59.1 innings, he allowed 63 hits, 39 runs, 38 earned, with 18 walks and 47 strikeouts.

I have a feeling this was more to get rid of Mota than to get Estrada

[Ralph Zig Tyko]

Upgrade at catcher and, as Mr. Rickey would have said, addition by subtraction re. Mota.
Nice.

[Dalkowski110]

Estrada is kind of surly and fought with Ned Yost last year. He's not the greatest clubhouse personality, but considering that I didn't think it possible to acquire anything more than a jar of stale urine for Mota at this point AND we needed a catcher...well...I guess Omar has a little bit of 2006 left in him.

[sds416]

Estrada is kind of surly and fought with Ned Yost last year. He's not the greatest clubhouse personality, but considering that I didn't think it possible to acquire anything more than a jar of stale urine for Mota at this point AND we needed a catcher...well...I guess Omar has a little bit of 2006 left in him.

Ned Yost is not exactly your warm fuzzy, milk and cookies type of manager. I think Estrada will get along with Willie far better.

Estrada has some health questions, and how he bounces back will ultimately decide how this trade is viewed from a historical point.

The fact that Mota is gone though makes the whole deal worth it. I can't believe that anyone was stupid enough to take that bag of crap.

[NYMets523]

I can't believe someone was stupid enough to give that bag of crap a 2 year deal.

[Baseball Guru]

Ned Yost is not exactly your warm fuzzy, milk and cookies type of manager. I think Estrada will get along with Willie far better.


The fact that Mota is gone though makes the whole deal worth it. I can't believe that anyone was stupid enough to take that bag of crap.

Agreed 100%!:thumbsup:

This was a brilliant move by Omar!:bowdown:

[GIANT]

Estrada appeared overweight last year. At times I thought I was watching Mo Vaughn. If he gets into playing playing shape, he can help the Mets. He's a lifetime .280 hitter. Mota was a clone of Mel Rojas, so anything more than two broken bats and a pine tar rag in exchange for him is a good deal.

[penncentralpete]

very slick deal by omar................very slick. he still has a ton of work ahead of him, but if this is any "shade of things to come", he's off on the right foot.

[psbaseballfan27]

Omar has just made the move of the year!!!:rofl::rofl:

[NYMets523]

Please. This isn't the move of the year. Estrada is a bad defensive catcher and you don't know what to expect offensively. The pitching still sucks.

[nerfan]

HAHAHAH!!!!

Goodbye, worthless piece of !@#%@#$*!!!!!!

[Sabes87]

Please. This isn't the move of the year. Estrada is a bad defensive catcher and you don't know what to expect offensively. The pitching still sucks.

come on bro we just traded the weakest link to our bullpen for one of the better offensive catchers in the NL. Estrada's never been a great defensive catcher, but a lot of his throwing problems last year stemmed from some bone spurs in his elbow which he had fixed this offseason.

this was an amazing move by Omar, it won't kill you to enjoy it a little:dance

[RICHIECOQUI]

:bowdown::bowdown:

[moebarguy]

I like the move. I honestly wanted to just eat Mota's contract so Willie wouldn't use him, but hey, we got a legit catcher for him, so it worked out well.

[NYMets523]

come on bro we just traded the weakest link to our bullpen for one of the better offensive catchers in the NL. Estrada's never been a great defensive catcher, but a lot of his throwing problems last year stemmed from some bone spurs in his elbow which he had fixed this offseason.

this was an amazing move by Omar, it won't kill you to enjoy it a little:dance

I'll save my accolades and partying if Omar lands a big pitcher. And by big pitcher I mean Johan Santana. If Luis Castillo, Johnny Estrada, and Livan Hernandez are the biggest additions to the team, then it's no different than last year.

[metfan13]

Please. This isn't the move of the year. Estrada is a bad defensive catcher and you don't know what to expect offensively. The pitching still sucks.

Estrada's not a bad catcher. He had offseason surgery to remove a bone chip from his elbow that affected his throwing. Also had his knee cleaned up. He'll be healthier and will make a nice platoon with Castro. Estrada hits better lefthanded and we know Castro beats on lefty pitchers. Could be a good enough combo. Plus he dumped Mota!

[Mr. Met]

Well everyone loves the idea of getting rid of Mota. Estrada is supposedly much better swinging from the left side so I wonder if we're looking at some type of platoon situation.

Here's a recent story that talks about potential trades for pitching.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets205469007nov20,0,1783437.story

[NYMets523]

Estrada's not a bad catcher. He had offseason surgery to remove a bone chip from his elbow that affected his throwing. Also had his knee cleaned up. He'll be healthier and will make a nice platoon with Castro. Estrada hits better lefthanded and we know Castro beats on lefty pitchers. Could be a good enough combo. Plus he dumped Mota!

I'll save my accolades and partying for something more significant.

[metfan13]

I'll save my accolades and partying for something more significant.

How much did you complain about Mota last season? Omar got rid of that problem and addressed a hole. Now he can concentrate on pitching. And he still hasn't used any real trading chips.

[NYMets523]

I don't like Estrada as catcher.

[moebarguy]

I don't like Estrada as catcher.

I don't really like him either, but he's better than Yorvit or Kendall, and a wash with Loduca and Barrett. But he's only under contract for one season, so it's a better situation than giving either Loduca or Barrett a long contract.

[metfan13]

I don't really like him either, but he's better than Yorvit or Kendall, and a wash with Loduca and Barrett. But he's only under contract for one season, so it's a better situation than giving either Loduca or Barrett a long contract.

And that is a key point...

[Ralph Zig Tyko]

"Now he can concentrate on pitching. And he still hasn't used any real trading chips."

That is the key.

[LA Mets Fan]

Any trade that involves Mota is a good trade imo.

[freshprince85]

What a great move!!!!!!!!!!!!
We now have a catcher with a solid ofense (but a bad defense) AND (more important) we send JUST our dumb-ass away. Have fun with him Milwaukee :dance

Omar, that was a good one! :bowdown:

[Mr. Met]

Hmmm.. interesting blurb in today's Post :confused:

Estrada is arbitration eligible in January, and a team source indicated it's possible the Mets will simply allow him to become a free agent.

[metfan13]

Hmmm.. interesting blurb in today's Post :confused:

Estrada is arbitration eligible in January, and a team source indicated it's possible the Mets will simply allow him to become a free agent.

I guess it gives Omar flexibility. Depending on who he deals to get pitching, if a better catcher becomes available he can make that move and let Estrada go. In that case he got the Brewers to take Mota off our hands and assume the bigger portion of Mota's backloaded deal.

And people question whether omar's still got it.

[crazytp93]

alrite were getting somewhere now. now omar needs to:

work on the bullpen
get a right fielder
strong starting pitcher(s)

[metfan13]

alrite were getting somewhere now. now omar needs to:

work on the bullpen
get a right fielder
strong starting pitcher(s)

Isn't Milledge the RF?

[The Thomas J.]

Good move by Omar to partaily correct the mistake he made by signing moto.

Hopefully this is just the begining of righting the ship, I don't like the Castillo signing @ all.

[The Thomas J.]

Isn't Milledge the RF?

If they don't trade him or Gomez I would think those guys would split time.

[The Thomas J.]

Hmmm.. interesting blurb in today's Post :confused:

Estrada is arbitration eligible in January, and a team source indicated it's possible the Mets will simply allow him to become a free agent.

Hmmmmm that is intresting.......did the brewers want Mota that badly?
so the door on LoDuca isn't quite closed just yet.

[moebarguy]

They're both key points...but yes, let's get a good starting pitcher now!

[NJMetfan4life]

I didn't think it possible to acquire anything more than a jar of stale urine for Mota at this point.

We wouldn't have gotten that, Mota would have stolen it for his next drug test.

[sky king]

if guys are calling this an awesome move by omar, they are really desperate!!!! they need pitching. this guy is overweight, a liability defensively, and no better than loduca. he made another stupid move by keeping castillo. he is too injury prone. AYY CARUMBAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

[metfan13]

if guys are calling this an awesome move by omar, they are really desperate!!!! they need pitching. this guy is overweight, a liability defensively, and no better than loduca. he made another stupid move by keeping castillo. he is too injury prone. AYY CARUMBAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

He filled two positions witout trading any young or useful players. Now he can work on the pitching situation and has all his chips to work with.

ALSO, if a better catcher comes available he can let Estrada go at NO COST. Seems a good plan so far...

[Dalkowski110]

The irony is that Estrada may actually be PART of the deal that lands us Ramon Hernandez. Ramon is still the odds on favorite (he kinda has to be if we're continuing trade talks with the Orioles about him), but he's also the only MLB-ready everyday catcher on their 40-man roster. The only MLB-ready everyday catcher on OUR 40-man roster is Johnny Estrada. I guess the conclusion one is forced to draw is that Estrada plus a few other B-grade prospects would net us Hernandez (Hernandez likes Rick Peterson...the reason he lost his work ethic in Baltimore, seemingly, was because of his really low opinion of Dave Trembley), should the deal go through/we don't keep Estrada.

[penncentralpete]

The irony is that Estrada may actually be PART of the deal that lands us Ramon Hernandez. Ramon is still the odds on favorite (he kinda has to be if we're continuing trade talks with the Orioles about him), but he's also the only MLB-ready everyday catcher on their 40-man roster. The only MLB-ready everyday catcher on OUR 40-man roster is Johnny Estrada. I guess the conclusion one is forced to draw is that Estrada plus a few other B-grade prospects would net us Hernandez (Hernandez likes Rick Peterson...the reason he lost his work ethic in Baltimore, seemingly, was because of his really low opinion of Dave Trembley), should the deal go through/we don't keep Estrada.

i, too, believe this to be true. johnny estrada will not ever put on a mets uniform.

[moebarguy]

The irony is that Estrada may actually be PART of the deal that lands us Ramon Hernandez. Ramon is still the odds on favorite (he kinda has to be if we're continuing trade talks with the Orioles about him), but he's also the only MLB-ready everyday catcher on their 40-man roster. The only MLB-ready everyday catcher on OUR 40-man roster is Johnny Estrada. I guess the conclusion one is forced to draw is that Estrada plus a few other B-grade prospects would net us Hernandez (Hernandez likes Rick Peterson...the reason he lost his work ethic in Baltimore, seemingly, was because of his really low opinion of Dave Trembley), should the deal go through/we don't keep Estrada.

If the Orioles were asking through the roof for Ramon Hernandez, why would they take Johnny Estrada and some B-prospect -- especially when the Mets only had to give up Mota to get him...

[NYMets523]

Because now they have practically no leverage. Before the Mets' best options were Kendall, Barrett, and Olivo. Now the Mets have a catcher so the Orioles will have to settle for less if they want to dump Hernandez's salary.

[sky king]

If the Orioles were asking through the roof for Ramon Hernandez, why would they take Johnny Estrada and some B-prospect -- especially when the Mets only had to give up Mota to get him...

i agree. this deal makes no sense. Omar must go. the mets will have to give up a lot more for rrrramon hernandez. should have just kept loduca and castro for another year.