Mets sign Graves

The New York Mets have signed free-agent reliever Danny Graves, who was released by the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday after clearing waivers, ESPN's Peter Gammons reported Tuesday.


Danny Graves
Relief Pitcher
Cincinnati Reds
Profile


2005 SEASON STATISTICS
GM W L Sv K ERA
20 1 1 10 8 7.36

Graves, once one of the Reds' most popular players, was jeered after yet another poor performance on May 22 and responded with an obscene hand gesture.

General manager Dan O'Brien found limited interest in a trade for the 31-year-old right-hander, due in part to a contract that guarantees Graves $6.25 million in the final season of his three-year, $17.25 million deal. The contract includes escalators that would increase the salary if he were traded.

Graves had struggled since joining the team's starting rotation two years ago. His fastball has slowed substantially and his control has eluded him. Back in the bullpen, he was 1-1 with 10 saves and a 7.76 ERA as the Reds closer this season.

Graves angered fans by criticizing them for booing after the bullpen blew a six-run lead in the ninth inning on May 2, helping St. Louis rally for a 10-9 win. Graves was booed loudly at Great American Ballpark every time he came in to pitch after that.

On May 22, he gave up five ninth-inning runs in a 9-2 loss to Cleveland and heard catcalls as he left the field. He was in the dugout several minutes later when a fan in seats nearby taunted him. Graves yelled back and made an obscene gesture.

The Reds designated him for assignment the next day, saying the move had more to do with his pitching than his hand gesture.

that sucks..the Fish could have really used him...

Hey Lawrence, what do the folks in Florida think of the LoDuca/Mota for Penny/Choi trade, both when it was made and today? The Dodgers' GM still gets ripped for it even now with Penny healthy and throwing well, but I think it was a pretty good deal for the Dodgers.

when it was made, there was mixed feelings, because Penny was a vital part of that promising young staff (Burnett, Beckett, Penny, Willis), but people were never that enamored with Choi, mainly because of his problem hitting lefties...but as far as present day, I think people here are quite happy with it...in my opinion, I think it was a good deal for both teams, especially now that penny is healthy......my thing is I can't beleive we had Derek Lee when he was a strikeout machine, and now look at him...shit

Yeah, I guess the Marlins don't need Penny that badly considering the other good pitching they already have. I just thought maybe they didn't get enough for him considering that Mota hasn't done that well and LoDuca is a solid but unspectacular catcher who makes $6 million a year and is actually being outperformed offensively by his replacement, Jason Phillips. For the Dodgers, Choi was a throw-in who now platoons at first. Penny was the big prize, and he was supposed to make them competitive in the playoffs last year until he got hurt, which of course set Dodgers' fans off even more than their emotional attachment to LoDuca.

I'm a Cubs' fan, so naturally I love the Lee-Choi deal. Talk about lopsided. Even if Lee just continued to put up his Florida numbers, Choi would never come close to D. Lee as a player when you throw in his defensive excellence and surprising ability to run the bases.

Lawrence said:

that sucks..the Fish could have really used him...

Click to expand...

You might be better off without him.

While it makes the Mets pen a little deeper, I'm not sure if Graves control problems will automatically solve itself after moving to Flushing. I guess he can't be any worse than Manny Aybar though...