As a handful of you were watching Hee-Seop Choi unload off of Dan Wheeler last night, you might have been wondering whether, aside from Dream Team 1, whether there's ever been an international stage where the USA succeeded by not only winning, but also getting people to like us. Anytime we do anything in front of other countries, we usually either suck or make asses of ourselves.
I, on the other hand, was thinking, "Hey, wasn't Dan Wheeler on the Mets? Didn't he have a fantastic year for the Astros last year? What did we get for him?"
So Wheeler threw 73.1 innings for the 'Stros in 71 games, posting a 2.21 ERA and a WHIP of 0.98. Opponents batted .204 against him.
The Mets traded him the year before for minor league outfielder Adam Seuss. You remember Adam Seuss. He tested positive for steroids last April after the Mets cut him.
So, just to recap, we sent a good reliever to the Astros for a juicehead, and then a year later, we shipped 40% of our rotation for a handful relievers, two of whom, Schmoll and Maine, have looked horrendous in Grapefruit ball. Good job.