I don’t even need to say it. But I will anyway. The Mets try so hard to put together a team of stoppers in the bullpen on a yearly basis only to come up short every time.
Whether its trade acquisitions, signings, or even the occasional homegrown guy like Bobby Parnell, nobody is producing once the starters take a seat.
Maybe the additions don’t play to their full potential. Maybe the mound is uneven at Citi. Maybe its Dan Warthen. Who knows. All that we know is that the Mets can’t buy a good bullpen right now. Wait a second….buy. Maybe thats exactly what the Mets should avoid doing with the bullpen.
We see the Mets hand out short-term contracts like candy to solid relief options and none of these guys ever seem to come through.
The Mets signed Jon Rauch to a one-year, $3.5 million deal. His ERA isn’t terrible, but he blows games. A lot. That is some wasted money right here. Frank Francisco got himself a two-year deal, and the Mets get inconsistency and injury proneness. They trade for Ramon Ramirez and that’s a joke. And I love Tim Byrdak, but the Mets would kill for John Franco or Dennis Cook circa 1998-1999 right now.
The Mets listed there can be held accountable for 15 losses this year.
And honestly, why is Miguel Batista on this team?
The lack of production essentially nullifies their contracts, or the effort put into acquiring them and gets these guys labeled as useless. So whats the point?
It isn’t even just about the money as much either. Any Met fan would just do anything to see some sort of stability in late innings and every big name addition in recent years always seems to implode.
We’ve seen failure this year with contract guys like Rauch and Francisco, and acquisitions like Ramirez. So whats the point of even putting effort into adding “names” to the bullpen if the Mets are going to be graced with blown leads on a regular basis?
This is where I look at the New York Yankees and it blows my mind. As much as I hate comparing the two teams, this is warranted. But when I look at the Yankee bullpen on paper I scoff, but when looked into, its the kind of bullpen the Mets are hungry for.
Now it isn’t totally intentional because the Bronx bullpen has battled injury, but while the Mets invest it failing names for the bullpen, the Yankees always seem to turn nothing into something.
As for the Yankees, I couldn’t tell you how on earth guys like Cody Eppley, Boone Logan, and Clay Rapada are performing well in the bullpen. These guys have mediocre minor league track records and little to no prior success at the big league level.
Eppley looked horrendous in 10 games in Texas last year. The Yankees place a waiver claim on him, and just like that, success. There’s nobody like that in the Mets bullpen.
For a guy with a 4.61 ERA, Logan is certainly doing a stellar job with the Yankees leading the AL in appearances. He’s pitched well when it counts and hasn’t recorded a loss this year. I don’t think the Mets have held a reliever for more than 10 games this year that didn’t get saddled with a loss.
And Rapada, the guy I can’t figure out at all. The lowest seasonal ERA he sported before this season was 4.00, and now he’s a lefty and righty specialist extraordinaire. All batters are hitting .174 against him this year. His ERA was 6.06 in 32 games with Baltimore last year and 2.45 with the Yankees in 44 games this year.
Let’s not forget David Robertson either, showing that a properly groomed minor league flamethrower can jump to quick big league success.
My point being is that if the Yankees can pull guys out of their you-know-where and turn them into success stories, I think the Mets could too. After all the team plays half of its games at a more pitcher-friendly park than Yankee Stadium.
Keep working Jenrry Mejia into the relief mold. Get Josh Edgin some meaningful experience on the active roster right now. Place some waiver claims. These kind of things can’t possibly be less effective than the tragedy that the Mets are experiencing at the moment.
So if the Mets start to totally tank, I see no reason to sell of this bullpen for a slew of good but not great young relievers. Even in their current state, it makes perfect sense to raid the waiver wire for pitchers of any orientation, because certainly aren’t winning a title any time soon with Ramon Ramirez’ 20 walks this year.
It is time for a change in approach before the Mets fall completely off the map.
