Update 8:58 PM: Geoff Baker has the names of the prospects Seattle is receiving, although they’re from the Mets, rather than the Indians.  RHSP Maikel Cleto, CF Ezequiel Carrera, and LHSP Jason Vargas.

Update 8:22 PM: The deal is done, according to Jim Street.  For now, it looks like the deal below is the official deal, perhaps with the exception of the Indians prospects.  Rosenthal’s update (linked below) still mentions the prospects.

Updates for this trade were being published in such rapid succession that writing this post was impossible, but I’ve cleared out all the now-irrelevant information and this is where we currently stand.

Ken Rosenthal:

The Mets are working to acquire a setup man for new closer Francisco Rodriguez — and that setup man would be another closer from the American League West.

J.J. Putz could be headed to the Mets in a three-team trade with the Mariners and Indians, according to major-league sources.

Under terms of the deal, the Mets would get Putz, outfielder Jeremy Reed and reliever Sean Green from Seattle. The Mariners would receive reliever Aaron Heilman, outfielder Endy Chavez and first baseman Mike Carp from the Mets. They’d also get Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians and minor leaguers. The Indians would get reliever Joe Smith from the Mets and infielder Luis Valbuena from Seattle.

From the Mets’ perspective, the deal would be Heilman and Smith for Putz. Chavez and Reed would be an exchange of backup outfielders, Smith and Green an exchange of right-handed groundball specialists.

This certainly came out of nowhere!  Here’s an easier to read version of what’s above:

Seattle gets:

OF Gutierrez, RHRP Heilman, 1B Carp, OF Chavez, Indians minor leaguers.

Clevland gets:

RHRP Smith, 2B Valbuena

New York gets:

RHRP Putz, RHRP Green, OF Reed

Nothing is official, but let’s take a quick look at some of the guys we’re expecting to land:

Gutierrez, 25, is known as one of the better defensive corner outfielders in all of baseball.  The past two seasons he’s been ranked as the best defensive right fielder according to John Dewan’s +/- system, as he was +20 plays better than the average right fielder in 2007 and +29 in 2008.  This past season he was also the highest ranked right fielder according to bUZR, and the second highest according to PMR.

Gutierrez would be a center fielder on most teams, and I would guess that that’s where he’s heading with Seattle, should this rumor prove legitimate.

His value lies in his outstanding defense, as he’s just a career .258/.308/.409 hitting in 284 major league games.  That said, he’s only had one full season under his belt and could begin living up to the expectations placed on him as one of baseball’s top prospects 3-4 years ago.  I know a lot of people thought he was a breakout candidate coming into this season, but perhaps 2009 is the year.

Jeff Sullivan from Lookout Landing:

Gutierrez’s offense could stand to improve, but the straight defensive improvement over Raul would seriously be on the order of like 35-40 runs. There are worse trades to make.

We’ve discussed Carp a bit in the past.  He is a left handed hitting first baseman with decent pop and great plate discipline, and is only 22 years old.  He doesn’t project as a star, but he could be a very serviceable first baseman for years to come.

My first reaction when the first rumors surfaced was to compare Gutierrez and Carp to Tigers OF Matt Joyce and 1B Jeff Larish.  At first I thought that the Tigers package could be better, but I quickly changed my mind.  First of all Carp is hands down better than Larish.  He walks more, hit for better average and doesn’t strike out near as much.  Gutierrez’s defense is so good that he is probably more valuable than Joyce right now, although Joyce’s bat fits nicely in Safeco.  However, if Gutierrez’s bat ever comes around he’ll be the better player by a long shot.  When comparing those four, Seattle made the better deal.

But those aren’t the only two Seattle stands to get.  RHRP Aaron Heilman might be Seattle-bound as well.  The 29 year old reliever and former first round pick struggled last season, but he has been a solid reliever and has the stuff to be a setup man.  Seattle would also get Endy Chavez, who is simply replacing Jeremy Reed, and they’d receive prospects from the Indians.

I am one of Luis Valbuena’s biggest fans, so I’d hate to see him go, but this looks like a very nice deal for Seattle so far.

Any more updates will be tacked to the top of the page.