Mets release Connor Robertson and Bobby Kielty

It must be “Trim The Fat Day” for the Mets.

Today, they designated Wilson Valdez for assignment, and cut four players from Triple-A Buffalo.  Two of those players, Wily Mo Pena and Javier Valentin, were discussed earlier today. 

In a press release about the other moves, the Mets announced they also released Connor Robertson and Bobby Kielty from the Buffalo Bisons.

Robertson came over from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Scott Schoeneweis trade and the Mets signed Kielty to a minor league contract before spring training begin.

Happy trails, Pena, Valentin, Kielty and Robertson.

Mets sign seven

Joel Sherman is reporting that the Mets have signed seven players, all for roughly the same amount of money.

• Daniel Murphy -- $401,000
• Nick Evans -- $403,000
• Robinson Cancel -- $408,000
• Jon Niese -- $400,000
• Bobby Parnell -- $400,000
• Connor Robertson -- $400,000
• Brian Stokes -- $409,500

Toby Hyde on Connor Robertson

Though the Mets newest acquisition has some pretty awful numbers at the big league level, Toby Hyde of Mets Minor League Blog posts some stats from Connor Robertson's minor league appearances, and they look fairly interesting.

Robertson is a fine athlete who was a second-team All-American as a 3B at Birmingham Southern where he is the career leader in HR, TB and RBI.

In 306 minor league innings, Robertson struck out 383 batters while walking 123. That works out to 11.26 K/9,, [sic]3.26 BB/9 and a K/BB of 3.11. The nine big league innings that hardly indicate his underlying abilty [sic].

Very interesting. Maybe all he need is some seasoning with a different pitching coach.

The Mets sent Scott Schoeneweis along with $1.6 million to Arizona for Robertson on Friday.

Mets trade Schoeneweis

That's right everyone, Scott Schoeneweis is no longer a Met. Omar Minaya is absolutely gutting this bullpen. I wonder if anyone from the 2008 pen will be around next season...

The Mets have traded Schoeneweis to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right handed relief pitcher Conor Robertson.

From the press release:

Robertson, 27, was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in nine games with Arizona this past season. In 7.0 innings, he allowed eight hits, four runs, earned, with two walks and two strikeouts. In addition, the 6-2, 220-pounder went 7-4 with a 5.02 ERA in 47 contests with Tucson (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League. In 71.2 innings, he surrendered 69 hits, 45 runs, 40 earned, with 30 walks and 72 strikeouts.

My one issue is that the Mets need some sort of veteran leadership in the bullpen now. All these young guys in, or possibly in, the bullpen could lead to some strange issues.

Trevor Hoffman, anyone?

Anyway, so long Schoeneweis. I will not miss typing your last name.