According to Maura Johnston, catcher Johnny Estrada (above) will be working out his surgically repaired left knee next spring in Port St. Lucie, as he’s just been traded to the New York Mets from Milwaukee in exchange for batting practice hurler Guillermo Mota.
Congrats to Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins on being named the 2007 National League MVP. Oddsmakers in the CSTB Gaming Division have installed 2B Chase Utley as the prohibitive fave to become the 3rd Phils starlet to win the award in as many years, with similar post-season success likely to follow.
Cleveland signed right-handed reliever Masahide Kobayashi, a 9 year vet with the Chiba Lotte Marines, to a two-year pact. Though Kobayashi has 214 career saves in Japan, I’m not sure he could take Joe Borowski in a hot dog eating contest.
They could’ve received a broken VHS copy of Fellini’s La Strada for Mota and I would’ve been 1) delighted and 2) surprised they were able to get as much value in return. This actually sounds about right: Estrada’s a decent hitter (his numbers compare favorably with PLD Soundsystem’s last year), better-than-decent defender, and not an a-hole. I’ll take it.
Whoa, Estrada for Mota! As a METS’ fan i’ll take that any day.. At least the Brewers got someone to throw BP to all those young stars. But, i know Mota will get moved again. So, what do the METS do with 3 quality catchers, now?
Actually, Estrada is known as a total dick, which is why Arizona and Atlanta (and now Milwaukee) were so hot to get rid of him (seriously, no GM on earth (except Brian Sabean)) would trade a position player for Mota without knowing something. So you’ve got a starting catcher who can’t hit, can’t throw anyone out for the life of him, and who is by most accounts an asshole. Sound familiar?
I suppose Michael is saying fuck the devil you know, rather than the receiver you don’t. But this seems like smart beans to me — Omar was never going to get a defensive Yadier Molina-type in the first place and I’ll take Estrada’s bat over Yorvit Torrealalaababa’s humidor-face. If Estrada hits .290 and splits time with defensively superiro Castro, that’s a legit tandem.
Yessss!
I’m ready for Christmas because I’ve just unwrapped my favorite gift. If this is accurate, Mota is no more and I can breath again in the 7th inning of games.
As for Castro being defensively superior to anyone, I have questions about that. I’ve never seen him behind the plate and saw a anything close to a defensive catcher. I still don’t like our catching situation, but it’s atleast below average now instead f horrific like it was twenty minutes ago. I would still like a defensive catcher.
“So you’ve got a starting catcher who can’t hit, can’t throw anyone out for the life of him, and who is by most accounts an asshole. Sound familiar?”
Unfair! Boogie Shoes is a lifetime .288 hitter.
All I’m really trying to say is that today the parents of Long Island teenage girls can breathe a collective sigh of relief.
If Estrada’s a dick, it’s more on the say-no-to-everything born-again absolutist side of things, rather than the I-buy-teenagers-appletinis side. I welcome that change. It would, however, be nice to have a catcher with an OBP above .300. I guess that, in Castro, that’s what we’ll get. Estrada will, hopefully, be backing Ol’ Easter Island Head up. And both are sure as hell better than Torrealba, who’s like Bobby Estalella 2.0, without the BALCO hookup.
Do the Mets have to pay any of Mota’s ridiculous contract? Because if not, Omar deserves GM of the Year for undoing his most ridiculous mistake ever.
Goddammitt fuck shit ass piss!!! You beat me to the hot-dog joke! Fuck!!!