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Mets Add Luis Ayala

The Mets have acquired right-handed reliever Luis Ayala from the Washington Nationals in exchange for all-field no-hit shortstop Anderson Hernandez. The trade will be completed once Hernandez clears waivers, which he will considering that he's a terrible baseball player. I'll admit to not understanding how the trade waivers work, exactly, because in theory some other team that didn't want this trade to go through could claim Hernandez, thus kibosh-ing the whole deal.

Ayala turned 30 in January and has been pretty awful this year, though he does throw a lot of innings and has had very good control over the course of his career. He missed all of 2006 with elbow surgery. He has walked about two batters per nine innings as a big leaguer, though that rate is a bit higher over the past two seasons. He was more of a groundball pitcher in his early years with the Expos, though he still does a good job keeping the ball in the park.

The bottom line is that this is a low-risk move for the Mets. Ayala is almost certainly not the pitcher he was three or four years ago, but Anderson Hernandez is practically useless, so to get a potentially serviceable reliever for nothing is a good move in my book. The trade will likely mean the end of Eddie Kunz's first cup of coffee with the Mets, though I imagine he'll be back in a couple of weeks when rosters expand.

Ayala has a 2.61 ERA in 12 appearances against the Phillies covering last year and this (Day-by-Day Database).

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mets vs pirates

yes.

Oops. Must’ve caught something going through the weekend game threads. Anyway, what I meant to say was yeah, worth a spin I guess. One scrub for another. No big loss. Then again, does anyone feel like making the argument that trading Anderson Hernandez will come back to haunt us?

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Aug 17, 2008 8:13 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

WHAT HAVE AYALA DONE FOR ME LATELY?

1-8 with a 5.77 ERA?

Uh, tell me again (anyone) how this helps?

"ENOUGH WITH MICHAEL PHELPS AND BRETT FAVRE ALREADY."

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Aug 17, 2008 8:22 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

"Taking a flier," if that's the expression I want

It’s not like Hernandez was ever going to have any role on this team, so why not?

Lou, I’d figure you would be right on board with any deal to change the composition of this bullpen. Why the long face?

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Aug 17, 2008 8:25 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

yup

frankly I’m stunned we were able to get anything for Hernandez

by JoshNY on Aug 17, 2008 8:28 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

stats

Ayala is walking more guys this year than he has in the past. (3.43 per 9 innings, way over his 2.06/9IP career number.) I couldn’t tell you why, but he’s not so old that it’s outside the realm of possibility that he’ll find his control again. He’s not giving up a whole lot of home runs, his strikeouts are about what he’s done in the past, his line drive rate is a little high but not tremendously so. I’d guess the walks are the biggest reason he’s having such a poor year.

by JoshNY on Aug 18, 2008 1:09 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

LINE DRIVER RATE?

How about on a cloudless night with a fool moon on artificial turf against ambidextrous batters born in the sign of Aquarius? Seriously, where do you get such stuff as Line Drive Rate?

Just giving you crap. It’s actually called LD%….but honestly, who gives a shit?

"ENOUGH WITH MICHAEL PHELPS AND BRETT FAVRE ALREADY."

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Aug 18, 2008 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Not Ned Colletti

Theo Epstein does, though, and his teams haven’t been too bad.

by ams258 on Aug 19, 2008 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

heh

True, it’s often abbreviated “LD%” but “line drive rate” is a nice way to express it in words instead.

I got that (and plenty of other stuff) at fangraphs.com. Hey, you’re the one who asked for some stats! Worth looking into if we want to see why he’s declined so precipitously this year and what would have to happen for him to become an effective reliever again.

by JoshNY on Aug 19, 2008 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

deliberating over the term line drive rate versus LD%

is like picking gnat shit out of pepper

" IF THEY SELL CRACKER JACKS AND COTTON CANDY AT A BASEBALL GAME, THEN WHY DON'T THEY SELL CRACKER JACK FLAVORED COTTON CANDY?"

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Aug 19, 2008 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Ayala was on a crappy team also. moving to a contender could have a positive impact. Plus he’s better than Muniz, and could be better in tight spots than Show and Kunz.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Aug 17, 2008 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

NOOOOOOOO!

Being the #1 Anderson Hernandez-for-defensive-sub supporter over the past few years, it is sad to see him go. For some reason he forgets how to swing a bat every other year. If he could’ve just been a consistent .260 he might’ve been able to earn himself a spot with some impressing. Oh well. Have fun in Washington.

by BlackOps on Aug 17, 2008 9:06 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

He had plenty of chances

Hernandez just couldn’t hit worth a damn. Or even a darn. Guy’s just a black hole of offensive suck, and his glove will never be good enough to make up for it.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Aug 17, 2008 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

"forgets how to swing a bat"?

He never knew how to swing a bat in the first place. It’s a small sample size, obviously, but his career major league OPS+ is negative 6. That’s really hard to do. His career minor league OPS is .664. This year it’s .569. The dude makes Rey Ordonez look like a slugger.

by JoshNY on Aug 18, 2008 1:02 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

-6??

You know, I thought you just pulled that stat out of thin air just to emphasize how awful Hernandez’ hitting is, but his career OPS+ really is a -6. Jesus, that’s beyond abysmal. The Mets would’ve been better off using a pitcher to hit for him. With offense that bad, he’d have to record every out for his defense to even come close to overcoming his shitty offense.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Aug 18, 2008 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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