Call it addition by subtraction. Regardless of what catcher Johnny Estrada contributes to the Mets next season – if anything – Guillermo Mota is history, and that rates among the club’s most significant developments this offseason.
The Mets ended Mota’s bullpen reign of terror yesterday by shipping the underwhelming admitted steroid cheat to the Brewers for Estrada, just three days after their deal for free-agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba collapsed for unspecified reasons.
The 31-year-old Estrada hit .278 with 10 homers and 54 RBIs last season, playing 120 games behind the plate for Milwaukee, but is not necessarily the answer to the Mets’ starting catching vacancy. Estrada is arbitration eligible in January, and a team source indicated it’s possible the Mets will simply allow him to become a free agent.
Estrada underwent arthroscopic surgery last month to repair a torn medial meniscus in his left knee and also had a bone spur removed from his right elbow by Dr. James Andrews. Estrada reportedly blamed the bone spur for the fact he threw out only 11 of 84 runners (13.1 percent) who attempted to steal on him last season. He is expected to need another month of physical therapy on the elbow, but should be throwing again by spring training.
A former All-Star with the Braves, the switch-hitting Estrada spent 2006 with Arizona before going to Milwaukee last offseason as part of a six-player trade. Estrada’s major league career began with the Phillies in 2001.
Just the fact Milwaukee agreed to pick up the $3.2 million remaining on Mota’s contract makes it a good deal for the Mets. The right-handed reliever was 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA in 52 appearances last season, after serving a 50-game suspension in April and May because he failed a test for banned substances in 2006. Mota later admitted it was steroids. Just the sight of Mota warming in the bullpen last summer was enough to elicit a loud chorus of boos at Shea Stadium, particularly during a brutal August in which he was 1-1 with an 8.56 ERA.
The trade also clears the way for general manager Omar Minaya to reshape his bullpen. The club is already hopeful that Duaner Sanchez, who missed all of last season with a right shoulder injury, will be back to contribute in 2008.
Mota, 34, was a solid contributor to the Mets’ bullpen in 2006 after he was acquired in an August trade with the Indians, but Minaya’s decision to re-sign the right-hander to a two-year, $5 million contract – after the results of Mota’s failed drug test were made public – left many scratching their heads.
While it’s possible this was a salary dump, the Mets haven’t ruled out the possibility of offering Estrada arbitration and making him part of the catching equation, along with Ramon Castro, next season. Minaya indicated on Monday, during a conference call to announce Luis Castillo’s re-signing, that Castro could become the starter.
“[Castro] hasn’t ever been given the opportunity to do it,” Minaya said. “Are we going to give him that opportunity? Possibly.”
If Estrada isn’t in the Mets’ plans, Baltimore’s Ramon Hernandez and Texas’ Gerald Laird are among the catchers whom the Mets could still look to acquire in a trade. It remains to be seen if free agent Paul Lo Duca is given further consideration – the Mets are not willing to extend him the long-term deal he seeks.
mpuma@nypost.com