Update: Confirmation on Benson for Julio Trade

Newsday, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal and the New York Mets web site are all reporting this trade has been made:

Newsday: Benson for Julio is a done deal
Jon Heyman reports the trade has been finalized:

The Mets have agreed to trade Kris Benson to the Orioles for reliever Jorge Julio and righthanded pitching prospect John Maine, Newsday has learned.

...The Mets discussed trading Benson for much of the winter. This deal enables them to give Aaron Heilman an opportunity to win the No. 5 slot in the starting rotation. Heilman, whose stock soared last year, had requested a trade if he wasn't made a starter.

Mets general manager Omar Minaya is said to like Julio's power arm. Julio, who's been clocked as high as 99 mph and reminds some of Armando Benitez, saved 83 games from 2002-04. However, his value fell after being hit hard last year after his demotion from closer to set-up man. Julio, who turns 27 in March, was 3-5 with a 5.90 ERA. Overall he is 11-24 with a 4.20 ERA.

Maine, 24, gives the Mets yet another hard thrower. Maine was 2-3 with a 6.30 ERA for the Orioles last year. In 40 innings, he allowed 39 hits while walking 24 and striking out 24.

Fox Sports: Rosenthal confirms
Ken Rosenthal also reports the deal has been completed, although he doesn't identify the pitching prospect.

Mets.com: Noble Confirms
Marty Noble reports a done deal on the Mets official web site:

The Mets' sense that their bullpen was lacking has promoted them to make another trade aimed at reinforcing their relief pitching at the expense of their rotation. Less than a month after dealing Jae Seo, their best starting pitcher for a month late last summer, they have dealt their No. 3 starter as well.

Kris Benson was traded to the Orioles on Saturday in an exchange that imports right-handed reliever Jorge Julio, formerly the Orioles closer, and a modest right-handed pitching prospect, John Maine.

Sources with both clubs confirmed the trade has been made. An announcement was expected this afternoon, and the Mets have scheduled a 3 p.m. ET conference call with the media.

...Now Julio is part of the Mets' almost totally remodeled and predominantly right-handed bullpen. He and Duaner Sanchez, the reliever acquired from the Dodgers in the Seo trade, are likely to be the setup men for Billy Wagner, the lone left-handed pitcher guaranteed a place in the 'pen.

Julio, who saved 83 games for the Orioles from 2002-2004, lost the closer assignment to B.J. Ryan last season and was used in setup relief. At age 26 in his fourth big-league season, he produced a 3-5 record a 5.90 ERA in 67 appearances and 71 2/3 innings. His ERA has increased three straight years from 1.99 in 2002, to 4.38 in 2003, 4.57 in 2004 and 5.90 last summer.

A person familiar with the decline in Julio's career characterized it this way Saturday: "He has gone from closer, to setup to mopup."

That last quote was kind of ugly, but all too accurate based on Julio's career decline.

The info Noble offers on John Maine coincides with the limited info I've been able to find:

Maine, 24, made his Major League debut in 2004 and has a 2-4 record and 6.60 ERA in 11 Major League appearances, nine of them starts. Executives from three other clubs were mostly unimpressed with Maine, one suggesting he isn't ready to take a regular turn in he rotation of a contender.

Apparently Maine has some promise, but experiences many problems with his mechanics. I hope that no one in the Mets hierarchy still believes in a 10 minute Rick Peterson "fix".

I have to agree with Marty Noble's concerns about this deal:

The departures of Seo and Benson appear to indicate one or two changes in the Mets' thinking. It now seems more likely that Aaron Heilman will be part of the rotation, as he prefers, and/or that Alay Soler, the right-handed Cuban defector, looms larger in the club's plans.

No matter who replaces Benson and Seo, the changes leave the Mets without depth in starting pitching. When Seo was traded, general manager Omar Minaya indicated that Soler was part of the depth he would rely on. Now Benson and his seven years of experience are gone, too, and Soler, who never has pitched in a professional game in the United States, evidently has moved up on the Mets' depth chart.

At the same time, the Mets have developed a greater need for a left-handed setup reliever, a commodity hardly available in abundance. They had steadfastly said Heilman, who is right-handed, would handle left-handed batters because of his effective changeup. If Heilman is in the rotation now, which pitcher will provide that service?

...While Benson was a bit of a disappointment to the Mets -- partially because of injury -- he did win 10 games last summer. Only Pedro Martinez (15) and Tom Glavine (13) won more. Now the Mets have to replace Benson's 10 victories and Seo's eight.

I really need to digest this, and you still have to wonder if Barry Zito rumors might revive again. I will be back with opinion once I have time to actually form one.

See my previous post for some opinions that I began expressing before the trade news broke.