Orlando Hernandez/Jorge Julio Trade Breakdown

May 30, 2006 @ 14:29:34

By Ryan Erb
Edited by KFFL Staff

Wednesday, May 24, the New York Mets traded pitcher Jorge Julio to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Orlando Hernandez, aka El Duque, bringing the high leg-kicking starter back to The Big Apple after his departure from the New York Yankees in 2004.

El Duque fills the No. 4 slot in the Mets rotation as a result of the trade. The Mets have three pitchers currently on the disabled list, pitchers Victor Zambrano (60-day), John Maine (15-day) and Brian Bannister (15-day), which was general manager Omar Minaya's primary motivation for bringing Hernandez back to New York City.

THE "EL DUQUE" SIDE

Hernandez was pitching moderately well for the Diamondbacks, his first season in the National League, with a 2-4 record, 6.11 ERA in 45.2 innings pitched. He had 52 strikeouts in nine starts, ranking him in a tie for 12th in the National League with Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Cory Lidle. Despite his lofty earned run average, Hernandez has tossed three quality starts and four times struck out eight or more in an outing.

The benefits of his acquisition were immediately felt by the Mets' faithful Sunday, May 28, when he won his first start against the Florida Marlins. Hernandez labored through five innings, needing 101 pitches to fend off a less-than formidable Marlin's offense. All three runs that Hernandez allowed were off a three-run home run by Marlins' outfielder Jeremy Hermida. He struck out seven, which was good news for fantasy owners, but walked three and allowed the five hits, including Hermida's home run.

After his lone start with the Mets, Hernandez has a 6.04 ERA on the year, along with a 1.66 WHIP and 59 strikeouts in 50.2 IP. His biggest headlines are often over his disputable age, currently listed as 36 on MLB.com, but his move to spacious Shea Stadium should help his peripheral statistics and lead to more wins with the East Division leading Mets.

THE JULIO SIDE

Julio, who once upon a time in a forgotten life was the closer for the Baltimore Orioles, was pitching out of the Mets' bullpen behind pitcher Aaron Heilman, pitcher Duaner Sanchez and pitcher Billy Wagner. The 27-year-old right-hander is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA in 18 games this season. In 21.1 innings, Julio has allowed 21 hits, 15 runs, 12 earned, with 10 walks and 33 strikeouts. He was acquired, along with Maine, on January 20th, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Kris Benson, now with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Diamondbacks currently have several relievers already on their roster pitching well in Jose Valverde (closer), Luis Viscaino and Greg Aguino, among others. Julio is a long way from working himself into any sort of setup role on the squad with his current statistics.

FANTASY IMPACT

The trade is a strategic move by both teams who are leading their respective divisions, Arizona a 1.5 game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West and New York a 3.5 game lead in the NL East (as of Monday, May 29). Hernandez steps in immediately to the Mets' rotation while Julio joins the National League's most-used bullpen in Arizona.

While Hernandez' impact on the Mets is easy to analyze since he is a starter, the role of Julio is a bit more intriguing. The trading away of Hernandez to the Mets opens up a starting slot in the Diamondbacks' rotation. Pitchers Terry Mulholland and Russ Ortiz are both due to return off of the 15-day disabled list, while other candidates are reported to be pitching the team's minor league system.

Mulholland has only pitched in four games this year for the Diamondbacks, all out of the bullpen, and Ortiz was 0-3 in four starts with a 6.91 ERA before landing on the disabled list. Due to the Diamondbacks' ineptitude from a starting pitcher perspective, the trade appears to be one of questionable proportions since Julio really does not add a lot of quality to an already overused bullpen.

Fantasy owners should run out and grab Hernandez if he is for some reason still available on waivers, if for anything other more than his win and strikeout potential. The Diamondbacks, however, are still hurting for starting pitchers and this trade unearthed little in the way of fantasy-relevant players.

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Ryan Erb
Ryan has been a KFFL contributor since 2006.

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