This past offseason, the Mets roster experienced significant turnover, primarily in the bullpen. The blockbuster three-team trade that brought back J.J. Putz, Sean Green, and Jeremy Reed saw the Mets ship seven major league and minor league players of varying values out of town. Several other smaller deals took place as well, and others became free agents and signed with other teams. Let’s check in with the departed 2008 Mets. Note that only players who made a major league roster this season are included, although it’s worth mentioning that 22 year-old first baseman Mike Carp is hitting .291/.408/.536 for the Mariners’ Triple-A team.

Luis Ayala, Twins

2008: 75.2 IP, 4.47 FIP, 4.93 tRA
2009: 22.2 IP, 4.35 FIP, 4.75 tRA

Ayala had some high profile meltdowns for the Mets last season, but he wasn’t as awful as it appeared. It was probably for the best that he didn’t return to Flushing though. The Twins bullpen has been shaky this season, with Jesse Crain and R.A. Dickey the main reasons. Ayala has been about league average, and a solid but unspectacular signing by Twins GM Bill Smith.

Endy Chavez, Mariners

2008: 298 plate appearances, .267/.308/.330, +14.6 UZR
2009: 147 plate appearances, .285/.336/.338, +2.8 UZR

Endy has been worth 0.4 WAR according to Fangraphs. Compare to the struggling J.J. Putz, who has walked 18 in just 28.1 IP and been worth 0.2 WAR. The Mariners’ “3 centerfielder outfield” of Endy, Franklin Gutierrez and Ichiro has been outstanding defensively, but has struggled offensively. Endy had an OPS of .917 on April 19th, but has since regressed to his true talent level. Nevertheless, he is a valuable player and a steal at his $2.05 million salary.

Aaron Heilman, Cubs

2008: 76 IP, 4.91 FIP, 5.80 tRA
2009: 21.2 IP, 5.52 FIP, 6.14 tRA

Everyone’s favorite whipping boy was traded twice this past offseason, ultimately ending up with the Cubs. His control problems have carried over into 2009, as his BB/9 is a terrible 6.65. He hasn’t been hit particularly hard, but his swinging strike rate is down from previous seasons. Aaron still hasn’t kicked his propensity for giving up the longball, as his home run rate is slightly worse than it was last season. However, his home run to fly ball percentage is quite high, so he’s been a little unlucky in that regard. If Aaron can somehow improve his control, he might recreate the success he had from 2005 to 2007. If not, he probably won’t be wearing a major league uniform much longer.

Scott Schoeneweis, Diamondbacks

2008: 56.2 IP, 4.97 FIP, 5.70 tRA
2009: 10.2 IP, 5.60 FIP, 6.42 tRA

The Schoeneweis family has had a trying year, first with Scott’s wife Gabrielle giving birth to a premature child and then the recent tragedy of Gabrielle passing away. His pitching hasn’t been very good this season, but that pales in importance to his off the field misfortune.

Joe Smith, Indians

2008: 63.1 IP, 3.97 FIP, 4.44 tRA
2009: 6.1 IP, 3.64 FIP, 5.34 tRA

At the time of the Putz trade, I pegged new arrival Sean Green as a clone of Smith. Both are ROOGYs who had similar statistics in recent seasons. Well they have been similar this season: similar replacement level performers. Smith is currently on the Indians’ AAA team rehabbing a shoulder injury. Before going down, he was struggling to get anyone out, including righties. After righties posted an OPS of .589 against him in 2008, they are at .725 this season in limited appearances.

Duaner Sanchez, formerly of the Padres

2008: 58.1 IP, 4.30 FIP, 5.42 tRA
2009: 11 IP, 8.80 FIP, 8.55 tRA

Heath Bell and Sanchez each pitched a scoreless inning to help the Padres beat the Mets on Opening Day at Citi Field, exacting some small revenge on the organization that gave up on them. Unfortunately for Sanchez, that was the highlight of his season as he has since been cut and is no longer on a major league roster. His fastball velocity averaged 89.3 mph before getting the axe, and that’s just not good enough for a major league relief pitcher who lacks quality secondary pitches. It’s been said countless times, but you really have to feel bad for Sanchez for getting into that Miami cab in 2006.

Jason Vargas, Mariners

2008: N/A, injured
2009: 27.1 IP, 4.81 FIP, 6.06 tRA

Vargas was acquired by the Mets in the infamous Matt Lindstrom trade, and I only included him because he’s found a spot in the Mariners rotation after dominating at Triple-A early on. His ERA is a tidy 1.65, but that’s a mirage. His defense independent stats tell the true story, which discount his lucky .221 BABIP and 98.4% left on base percentage. Enjoy it while it lasts Mariner fans.

Endy is the only player of this group who is missed, though Jeremy Reed has been an adequate defensive performer. All former members of the bullpen except for Luis Ayala have been worse than in 2008, and it’s hard to believe that’s even possible. Francisco Rodriguez, Bobby Parnell, Brian Stokes, and Pedro Feliciano have thankfully picked up the slack this season. Only the Braves ‘pen has been better.