Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Leave it

Aaron Heilman's got to go. I praised him yesterday for his handling of a sticky situation on Saturday, but that was a diamond in what has otherwise been a rough, rough season thus far for Heilman.




The essence of why he'll never be able to be counted on boils down to the fact that he's a pouty little sissy who can't put the team far enough ahead of himself in order to embrace his role as a reliever. Two years after the last chance he had to crack the starting rotation, dude still thinks he should be in the rotation.

But the problem with having Heilman in the bullpen is that if he is indeed a pouty little sissy who, rightfully or wrongfully, cannot embrace his role as a setup man, will he ever be truly reliable out of the bullpen? How can Aaron Heilman excel at a job he isn't fully committed to?

Trace his work as a reliever back to 2005, when the Mets foolishly committed him there in the first place. Heilman was sent to the bullpen because Willie Randolph though Kazuhisa Ishii to be a better bet in the rotation, and he (Heilman) pitched so well that he never left. Heilman finished '05 with a 5-3 record and a 3.17 ERA, but his ERA as a reliever was considerably lower. Despite the bullpen success, Heilman was still going to be given a chance to get back into the rotation to begin the 2006 season.

Heilman was lights out, as a starter, that spring, but that's when Brian Bannister came along as well. Bannister pitched just as well, Heilman was deemed to be more valuable as a reliever, and since then he hasn't left the pen. And while his ERA has held steady in the 3's (3.62 in '06, 3.03 last season), he just hasn't looked quite the same the last two years. He did pitch very well to end the 2006 season, but ever since Yadier Molina he's developed that knack for giving the big home run, or even just the big hit - witness last night, for example.

Jose Reyes made a leadoff error to allow Derrick Lee to reach base, but that was before Heilman hit Aramis Ramirez and gave up a single to Kosuke Fokudome to load the bases with no one out. He nearly worked out of it against the Cubs' 6, 7, and 8 hitters, but that was before Ronny Cedeno, that pesky eighth man, sent a high fastball straight back through the box for a floodgate-opening two-run single.

His heart just isn't in it. As a result, his demeanor on the mound radiates whiney me-first pansy over the 8th inning bulldog he needs to be. He just can't seem to make that critical out pitch, and as a result, hitters are convinced that if they just wait him out and foul a few off they'll get around on something. That's exactly what both Fokudome and Cedeno did last night. And you can blame the Reyes error all you want, but the rest was Heilman's fault. The other thing he consistently does poorly is work with the cards he's dealt. That's like, the essence of a go-to reliever's job.

Willie's got his blinders on, and we know he's going to continue calling on "his guy" in the big spots. He'll stay with him for way too long, just like he stayed with Guillermo Mota for way too long last season. I'm not sure I want to know anything else about the special relationship Willie seems to cultivate with his veterans.

At a certain point, though, the Mets are going to need to figure out what to do about Aaron Heilman. I'm convinced that if the team sees Heilman as an issue they want to address, a good solution is out there. The bullpen probably has enough depth without him, for one - we still need to see a little bit more from Duaner Sanchez. But I'm also betting that he could probably net a decent bullpen arm - the arm, perhaps, of someone who actually wants to pitch in the pen - from a team who might be looking for a guy who's got decent stuff and is still convinced he should be starting.

Whatever the case, the first step is admitting you have a problem.


(Photo courtesy graphics.nytimes.com)

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