Mets Rid Themselves of Mota, Fill Catching Vacancy

by Eric Simon on Nov 20, 2007 6:38 PM EST

Per Adam Rubin's blog at the Daily News, the Mets have traded useless steroid abuser Guillermo Mota to the Brewers in exchange for catcher Johnny Estrada. Estrada hit .314/.378/.450 with the Braves in 2004 and has yet to crack a 92 OPS+ since then.

Whatever. Mota is gone and the Mets have a platoon partner for Ramon Castro.

DocMets16 and twassel each have posted diaries on this, so check those out as well. Also check out Estrada's career stats at Baseball-Reference.com.

Don Burke at NJ.com confirms the deal, and Omar Minaya adds his take on Estrad:

"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."

UPDATE [6:55pm]: And the Official Press Release.

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Comments

Doc Mentioned

That he'd be buying drinks all around... does that mean I can drink? I mean hey Im.... 5 years removed, but hell! It's a celebration!

"As for 1966--oy. Chilcott was a catcher who never reached the majors. The number two pick was held by the Kansas City A's. They picked Reggie Jackson"

by NewMet5 on Nov 20, 2007 8:21 PM EST reply actions

sorry

can't be risking jail like Marcus Vick :)

Keep Lastings Milledge Free

by DoctorK16 on Nov 20, 2007 8:43 PM EST up reply actions

Damn... oh well!

"As for 1966--oy. Chilcott was a catcher who never reached the majors. The number two pick was held by the Kansas City A's. They picked Reggie Jackson"

by NewMet5 on Nov 20, 2007 9:28 PM EST up reply actions

meh

as long as he's not a black hole...

by gogomets on Nov 20, 2007 8:31 PM EST reply actions

wow.

My first reaction, at least, is that this is a fantastic deal: low cost, high upside. Estrada's stock has plummeted recently (after he failed to repeat his breakthrough 2004 season with the Braves), but I think he still has a chance to be a very productive (say, league-avg. to slightly above) hitter, and in any case he'll make a solid platoon partner with Castro and is coming at a cost that's beyond reasonable. Excellent pickup.

by anonymous on Nov 20, 2007 8:36 PM EST reply actions

excellent

Estrada is no Piazza with the bat, but he's light years ahead of Yorvit Torrealba, and more importantly, Mota will be blowing games for the Brewers next year. I approve.

Let's Go Meters in New York!!!

by Greenpoint Ian on Nov 20, 2007 9:08 PM EST reply actions

No Mota, no Duca, no Glavine

Who's a fan supposed to root against?

by Simons on Nov 20, 2007 9:36 PM EST reply actions

you're kidding, right?

Or did you forget we still have two more years left on the contract of Scott "Please, No" Schoeneweis?

by anonymous on Nov 20, 2007 10:11 PM EST up reply actions

I would dance naked up Broadway if

Omar could dump both of the suck twins

Keep Lastings Milledge Free

by DoctorK16 on Nov 20, 2007 11:46 PM EST up reply actions

Schoeneweis

If Willie recognized how imbalanced Schoeneweis' splits are (against lefties 21:11 K:BB, 0 HR allowed, .204 BAA, 1.14 WHIP; against righties 20:17 K:BB, 8 HR allowed, .316 BAA, 1.84 WHIP)*, and used him accordingly, Schoeneweis could be an effective component of the bullpen. Unfortunately, Willie is allergic to things like research and scouting reports.

* Yes, I know that batting average isn't an ideal stat, but I'm just working with what was easily available.

by Josh @ Amazin' Avenue on Nov 21, 2007 11:32 AM EST up reply actions

Show

despite his nominal effectiveness against lefties, he still walks a ton of them. Plus Pedro 2 role is to get the lefties out.

Keep Lastings Milledge Free

by DoctorK16 on Nov 21, 2007 12:19 PM EST up reply actions

a Thanksgiving gift

I would have been happy if Mota went to the Brewers for nothing, but Estrada is certainly an adequate catcher. Omar is back on track. Happy Thanksgiving everybody

Save America. Impeach Bush

by elifriedman on Nov 20, 2007 9:43 PM EST reply actions

I'd go even further

I'd be willing to take a truck load of dirty jock straps for Mota. I don't care if Estrada turns out to be the next coming of Macky Sasser, this was a great deal.

by sireric @ Amazin' Avenue on Nov 23, 2007 11:51 AM EST up reply actions

I Feel Like I Did When Benitez Was Traded

to the Yankees! Thank god we got rid of Mota and we got a platoon partner for Ramon Castro to boot. You have to wonder if Doug Melvin was smoking crack or something when he made that trade.

by millsy on Nov 21, 2007 12:31 AM EST reply actions

I guess getting a body

in return of Mota is a plus, but I can't see Estrada being very helpful. I am excited by the idea of Castro getting more playing tiime this year, but I fear that Randolph considers playing the better player innovative and scary if the player has never been a starter.

Boring boring offseason.

I found it intersting going over to the Brewer siite on the side bar. Although opinion is not unanimous, they also seem to be thrilled with this trade.

by Shomov on Nov 21, 2007 7:46 AM EST reply actions

Lame deal

Mota could still pan out. He's got great stuff.

by vonhayes on Nov 21, 2007 9:34 AM EST reply actions

How many times have we heard that?

Mota has never put it together consistently, absent a few stretches when he was on the juice. Even then he was spotty over the course of a full season.

I think "he's got great stuff" is becoming for pitchers what "potential" means for hitters or athletes in general--if they're still saying that about you after you've spent, say, 3+ years in the bigs, it's code for "underachiever."

by madisonmetsfan on Nov 21, 2007 10:57 AM EST up reply actions

he's 34 for and been lousy sans the

likely steroid fuel stretch he had in 2006 with us. Plus he was going to booed mercilessly every time he touch the mound a met. He needed to be exorcised.

Keep Lastings Milledge Free

by DoctorK16 on Nov 21, 2007 12:21 PM EST up reply actions

Sure...

Sure, Mota was terrible. But so is Johnny Estrada. Lame deal.

by vonhayes on Nov 21, 2007 12:59 PM EST up reply actions

so

we traded crap for crap, plus Estrada is no worse than PLD.

Keep Lastings Milledge Free

by DoctorK16 on Nov 21, 2007 1:33 PM EST up reply actions

not really crap for crap, but gamble for gamble

The Mets are taking a smart low-cost gamble on a catcher who may be able to rebound as a hitter, and the Brewers are taking a dumber gamble (which may still pay off) on Mota being able to recover his former effectiveness.

by anonymous on Nov 21, 2007 2:55 PM EST up reply actions