CHICAGO – With an eye toward October, the Mets jumped into the thick of the trade market yesterday and came away with a couple of new relievers and a new outfielder, but they paid a dear price by giving up one of the prized gems of their pitching crop.
In two separate trades, the Mets sent Jason Isringhausen and Greg McMichael to the Athletics for 37-year-old closer Billy Taylor. That trade came a couple of hours after they packed up Brian McRae, Rigo Beltran and Single-A outfielder Tommy Johnson and shipped them to Colorado for Rockies reliever Chuck McElroy and outfielder Darryl Hamilton.
GM Steve Phillips was close to making one more deal as the midnight deadline approached.
Isringhausen was clearly upset about the trade and when reached in his hotel room declined to comment.
Despite the fact that Tom Seaver took a special interest in him and was astounded by his stuff in spring training, the Mets traded the 26-year-old Isringhausen in part because they fear he is headed for another major arm injury. Isringhausen had reconstructive surgery on his right elbow in January, 1998 and because of that scuttled a deal that would have sent him to Florida for none other than Kevin Brown.
That shows how far his stock dropped, from the most expensive and sought-after pitcher in the game following last season to being traded for a guy who spent 14 years in the minors before being called up by Oakland for the first time in 1994.
Although the Mets can’t rely on Taylor for years to come, he is having a good season this year with 25 saves. He is also 1-5 with a 4.07 ERA. The Mets will use him in a set-up role, but just in case John Franco can’t come back from a middle-finger injury or if Armando Benitez collapses as the closer, Taylor could be used in that role. So could Turk Wendell or Dennis Cook, for that matter.
The A’s plan to use Isringhausen in a set-up role for the remainder of this year, then groom him as the closer for next year. Isringhausen would be following Bill Pulsipher, who was traded last year, out of town, leaving injured Paul Wilson as the final remnant of Generation K.
In the other deal, the Mets finally decided they could not wait for Brian McRae to come around, and so picked up a 31-year-old lefty who probably won’t pitch too much in games the Mets are leading, and an outfielder who will make $6.3 million over the next two seasons.
“We think this move gives us depth in the bullpen,” Phillips said. “It gives Dennis Cook some protection. Darryl will also improve our depth in the outfield.”
McElroy had a no-trade-to-New York clause in his contract, but waived it. The Mets are hoping he can take some of the pressure off Cook, who has made 50 appearances and thrown 49 innings after one inning of work yesterday.
McElroy is 3-1 this year with a 6.20 ERA in 402/3 innings. Hamilton was hitting .303 with four home runs and 24 RBIs in 337 at-bats.
The enigma of McRae was certainly hard to figure out. He was hitting only .221 in 298 at-bats. McRae, who was traded to the Mets along with Turk Wendell and Mel Rojas for Lance Johnson, Mark Clark and Manny Alexander in 1997, is on the last year of his contract and the Rockies probably will just let him go at the end of the year.
“I think Steve put it succinctly when he said it was about his performance this year,” Valentine said. “Yes, he made some silly comments, but I thought he was a good teammate. No one expressed more joy at winning and he was a team organizer for dinners and things. It was just his performance. There are only two months to go and there is no way we could just keep wishing and hoping he would come around.”
