This hurts me more than Nick Adenhart’s death from last month.  I did not know Nick Adenhart.  I did know Gabrielle Schoeenweis.  For those who didn’t know. Gabrielle was found dead on Wednesday by her 14 year old daughter.  Her husband, Scott Schoeneweis, has pitched for six different teams.  Right now, he’s an Arizona Diamondback.  Right now, he’s a widower.

I never met Gabrielle face-to-face.  Our relationship was not close by any means.  But we did speak on the telephone and trade emails.  She agreed to an interview last fall, right after her husband’s New York Mets team blew another first place lead at the end of a second consecutive season; right after her husband gave up a game-winning home run to a Marlins team that sent the Mets home for a second consecutive season.  She had no fear of speaking to me.  Quite the contrary.  She was lively.  She was fun.  As we spoke, her husband was sitting nearby.  I could tell she’d look at him as she spoke to me.  I could tell she loved him very much.

She also loved her children with all of her heart.  When Scott gave up the last home run, Gabrielle was in the hospital after giving birth.  Scott, to his credit, didn’t use his family concerns as an excuse.  He accepted his fate as scapegoat.  Gabrielle, to her credit, talked candidly about what happened.  She talked about meeting Scott.  She talked about dating and falling in love.  She talked about their plans and about being a mother.  She talked about their family.

It might be eerie to some; to others it might be a tribute.  If you want to listen to Gabrielle’s interview on Jimmy Scott’s High & Tight, you may.  You can hear Part I HERE.  You can hear Part II HERE.  You can hear Part III HERE.

There are four children without a mother tonight.  It doesn’t matter that Scott is a millionaire and it doesn’t matter that the children will be set financially for life.  Because right now, they are going to grow up in a one-parent household.  They don’t care their dad pitches in the big leagues right now.  All they care about is their mother is gone, longer than any road trip their father would ever take.  That is the tragedy here.  That is the damn shame of this all.

If you pray, please say a prayer for those children.  If you don’t pray, take a silent moment for the children.  They aren’t special because of who their dad is or who their mom was.  They’re special because they are children.  They are the ones who need to be in our thoughts tonight.  I ask that if you ever do anything for me, you think of them tonight.

Much like Aaron Heilman, who went to Seattle in the J.J. Putz deal, Schoeneweis was a poster boy for the Mets bullpen failures. He was the pitcher that gave up the go ahead home run to Wes Helms in the eighth inning during the final game of the season.

Schoeneweis was visibly upset after that game, sitting at his locker in almost a catatonic state and if it was just one game he would have been forgiven. But giving up inopportune runs was a staple of his Mets career. Although his numbers looked ok last season [2-6, 3.34 ERA], the 35 year-old failed when the team needed him the most, blowing four save opportunities and coming up with just one conversion.

Much like Heilman, he had to go and the Mets looked to trade him in Las Vegas. Schoeneweis was rumored to go to the Cubs for Jason Marquis, but that deal never panned out, so general manager Omar Minaya shipped him to the desert along with $1.6 million of the $3.6 million owed to him in 2009.

In return, the Mets get the 27 year-old Robertson, who was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in nine games with Arizona this past season. In 7.0 innings, he allowed eight hits, four runs, earned, with two walks and two strikeouts. In addition, the 6-2, 220-pounder went 7-4 with a 5.02 ERA in 47 contests with Tucson (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League. In 71.2 innings, he surrendered 69 hits, 45 runs, 40 earned, with 30 walks and 72 strikeouts.

Robertson was part of the Dan Haren trade last year and had a tremendous minor league record. He was 29-13 with 24 saves a 2.82 ERA in 217 career minor league games. In 305.0 innings, he’s allowed 268 hits, 136 runs, 113 earned, with 123 walks and 382 strikeouts.

“We’re happy to acquire Connor Robertson,” Minaya in a statement. “He has a solid minor league track record and he’s a good addition to our system.”

With the bullpen makeover pretty much complete, Minaya will now look at filling the hole in the rotation. Although they have interest in Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez seems to be the most likely target.