As Sam Elliott’s character imparted in The Big Lebowski, “Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.” In a similar vein, sometimes a guy surfaces with the unfortunate name of “J.J. Putz” and sometimes J.J. Putz gets traded to the city with a larger Jewish population than Jerusalem.

The Mets continued wheeling and dealing at Major League Baseball’s winter meetings in Las Vegas this week, acquiring the aforementioned putz, J.J., as well as a Sean Green for the next generation and center fielder Jeremy Reed in exchange for perennial trade bait Aaron Heilman, leaping-catch and groundout specialist Endy Chavez and the dynamically named Joe Smith, as well as minor leaguers Mike Carp, Maikel Cleto and Ezekial Carrera.

More than just a disastrous surname, Putz is also that most valuable of baseball commodities: a multimillionaire relief pitcher in his thirties with elbow issues. 2008 was Putz’s worst year since 2004, as he posted career highs in walks, flyballs and WHIP while throwing the fewest innings of his career. His 1.597 WHIP is particularly troublesome, as it represents his putting 3 men on base for every 2 innings pitched [grab collar and cringe]. In all fairness though, with the possible exception of Carp, a 22-year-old first baseman who may already hit better than Carlos Delgado but apparently can’t play defense, it’s not like the Mets are going to miss any of the dead weight they dealt away.