With Bobby Parnell sidelined for at least the next two weeks, it brings to question what the New York Mets should do in regards to their closer situation.
While the Mets have possible in-house options with the likes of Jose Valverde, and Kyle Farnsworth and Vic Black, there are also some other options out there as well.
First of all let’s calm down on Valverde, yes he struck out three batters of the four he retired on Opening Day but there was a reason that the best offer he got this season was a Minor League Deal with an invite to spring training with the Mets.
Meanwhile, Farnsworth is on his way to New York and will be replacing Parnell on the roster but will not be realistic option at closer at this point in his career since his velocity is down, and the last time he had more than two saves in a season was 2011 at age 35.
Vic Black is quite possibly the closer of the future with his stuff, but he needs to harness his power and learn to be more of a pitcher and less of a thrower.
I trust the Mets scouting department when it comes to ‘throw-ins’ (and I use that term loosely) in terms of trades considering Noah Syndergaard was a ‘throw-in’ when Travis d’Arnaud was the main piece coming back from Toronto. Let’s not forget that Black was the secondary piece coming back from the Pirates in last season’s trade for Dilson Herrera.
Some former closers who are currently unemployed are Joel Hanrahan and Ryan Madson. Hanrahan battled injury last season and only appeared in nine games in his only season with the Red Sox, before that he had 76 saves from 2011 to 2012 with the Pirates.
Hanrahan is definitely worth a shot, and let’s face it is probably a little desperate for a job having not even been in spring training this year, so he could lower his price-tag for the Mets’ gig.
Madson is also a free agent who has not seen a game since 2011 with the Phillies, he did not play with the Reds in 2012 or Angels in 2013 so who knows what to expect.
Four other options with closer experience may not be the sexiest of names, and one name will even make you cringe but at this point I say ‘why not’ to any of these guys.
Rafael Betantcourt was a tad “erratic” with the Rockies last season before losing his closers job in the Mile-High City. Maybe getting him out of the altitude can help return him to his dominant self from his Cleveland Indians days.
Kevin Gregg at age 35 did save 33 games for a Cubs team that won just 66 games last year…to save 50% of your club’s wins? Sign me up.
A few former Mets are also available, Octavio Dotel has probably had more stops and played for more teams than Todd Zeile if that’s humanly possible but Dotel only pitched in six games last year and also has a total of four saves since the 2010 season ended.
Close your ears and eyes Mets fans, but Frank Francisco is also available. Neither Dotel or Francisco should come close to this team, but they round out the group of six current free agents who have actually served as closers in their careers.
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