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One Wise Man

Admittedly, this is coming from someone who once thought that Carl Everett for John Hudek was a good trade, but I have to tell you that I like last week's signing of Matt Wise.

Yes, I know of Wise's struggles in the last two months of the season, but let's look at what he did in the first four months.

3-1, 2.70 ERA, 43 1/3 IP, 34 H, 30 K, 10 BB

That's better than what Aaron Heilman gives you. It's basically as good as what Duaner Sanchez gives you. And it's a hell of a lot better than what Guillermo Mota gave you. And from what I remember seeing of Wise, I liked. In six appearances against the Mets over the last three seasons, he allowed only one run in eight innings

This is a low-risk, high-reward kind of move, basically the pitching equivalent of signing Endy Chavez or Ramon Castro a couple of years ago. If the Mets are a good team this year (there seems to be a lot of doubting at this point) and Wise's mental problems are fixed, he'll be a very valuable member of the staff.

The truly Wise Mets fan knows...That Matt Wise was deprived of two victories against the Mets, in games that ended in walk-off fashion.

On August 2, 2005, he pitched a scoreless eighth inning during a 7-7 tie. The Brewers scored in the top of the ninth to tie, but the Mets tied the game in their half, on Mike Cameron's home run off Derrick Turnbow, then won in the 11th on Mike Piazza's bases-loaded walk.

And on Mother's Day (May 14), 2006, Wise pitched a scoreless eighth inning in a 4-4 tie. The Brewers took the lead in the home eighth on a Geoff Jenkins sacrifice fly, but Wise's chance for a win was denied when Xavier Nady tied the score in the top of the ninth on a two-out single against Turnbow. The Brewers won in the home 10th on Bill Hall's walk-off home run.

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