8
2013
News: Mets Officially Announce Brandon Lyon Deal
An article by 
The Mets officially announced that they have finalized their one year deal with reliever Brandon Lyon.
They specifically highlighted that Lyon had had two 20-save seasons in his career which points to what most of us speculated regarding his chances to close for the Mets should Frank Francisco falter.
According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the base salary will be between $750K – $900K. But the total value of the contract can be worth as much as $2.4 Million with incentives built in.
Several teams were interested in Lyon including the Giants and Blue Jays, however the Mets were able to reel him in.
One of Sandy Alderson’s main priorities this offseason was to stabilize the bullpen, and this signing is definitely a step in that direction.
He now joins a slue of bullpen candidates inked this winter including Aaron Laffey, Pedro Feliciano, Tim Byrdak, LaTroy Hawkins, and Scott Atchison.
Lyon’s role is yet to be defined, but he should be in the mix to nail down the closer role this spring. Over his 11 year career, he has accumulated 79 saves and a 4.12 ERA.
Yesterday, Terry Collins told the NY Post that Frank Francisco is still the closer, but if Francisco stumbles or does not bounce back from the relatively minor procedure, he will have a fallback in Lyon. Essentially, the Mets have created a situation in which Francisco is not the only option, and will be pushed to succeed.
“We have some quality guys to get us to the ninth inning now,” Collins said of the bullpen. “We think we’ve gotten better. Now we have to go out and prove it.’’
I like this year’s version of the bullpen revamp better than the previous two. But like Collins said, now it’s time to go out there and prove it.
About the Author: Mitch Petanick
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 28 | .600 | - |
| Nationals | 34 | 35 | .493 | 7.5 |
| Phillies | 34 | 37 | .479 | 8.5 |
| Mets | 25 | 40 | .385 | 14.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 47 | .319 | 19.5 |
Last updated: 06/18/2013
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glad to have him aboard. Hope he has a big year. But certainly took a while from the reports coming out to be finalized.
Good deal. Also, he has closing experience, so Frankie better perform or it’s Das Boot for him.
Solid pickup. The one year deal almost makes the dollar amount inconsequential, almost. That said, I doubt they broke the bank here. Solid job by front office bringing in lots of arms to compete for the seven bullpen spots.
Next Stop: Michael Bourn.
Great pick up by sandy alderson…
That must of been difficult to write.
MNJ, you should’ve had your sarcasm detector with you……..
LoL, I did and still it must of been difficult.
Lol I had to lay down after I was done I was so spent.
Only thing i’ll change on this article is how it says CLOSER… the man has saved 5 games the past 2 seasons so…
I’d still like to see them possibly get Brian Wilson on a minor league deal.
Mitch I guess you haven’t been reading the comments by TC? He said unless theres an act of
god or his elbow is still a problem(he left out weight or head) Franks his closer!! Lets not compete for the job or anything with any of our new relievers or Parnell to light a fire under
Franks ASS!!
Lets just hope he is not another reliever who was terrific elsewhere and went to hell once he joined the Mets. Let us be honest, their track record the last half decade with relieves isnt good. Remember, Ramirez had 4 or 5 terrific seasons before last year with the Mets.
For some reason, the Mets ruin pitchers.
Dan Warthen?
What does that guy do anyway?
Who has he fixed? Who has he reclaimed in his tenure?
Pelfery? Maine? Ollie?
I mean most pitching coaches have their little pet projects they hang on their belts but I can’t think of a single guy Warthen has really had an impact on, a single guy he’s helped turn around. On the other hand there seem to be tons of guys who come here with great track records and totally flop.
It’s a concern because of the long standing bias that we’ve come to apply to Alderson, Beane and his ilk, regarding their disdain for coaches and managers at the major league level. Remember Art Howe?
They prefer their coaches to be mindless puppets.
this is a great pick up by Alderson, as long as he didn’t overpay for him.
Lyon is much more consistent that Rauch, should be a upgrade
Solid.
Great job, Sandy.
Interesting. I wonder with the signings of Marcum and Lyon if some will still say the Mets are purposely tanking the season to acquire better picks. If so then why sign these guys, they cost money and you might win a couple more games. Doesn’t that defeat your agenda?
Not to say I agree with them, but one could argue that Marcum and Lyon, if they play well, are potential players that could be shipped away at the deadline.
I thought that was the plan with Rauch or Hairston last year… Wasn’t so. But yeah. Bullpen help is always a commodity and Marcum is very good when on.
If we aren’t in it, I hope Marcum and Lyon have pitched well enough to bring us back players. I still think that Rauch or FFF would have been traded last year if both were healthy at the time.
Yeah, we were sharing a brain.
Even with great years from Marcum and Lyon, this team won’t contend. So I am a little confused at the signings, but perhaps Sandy isn’t done. I don’t like Bourn, but I can see the arguments as to how he improves the team.
Well I think at some point you have to bring in guys like this. If you do not bring in Marcum then you either have to go with a scrub like Heffer or rush guys like Mejia or Wheeler. Same could be said for Lyon and Familia. And as you said, if things break that way and the Mets aren’t in it then you could have tradeable assets.
Right-o.
For the record, I’m not complaining about the Marcum pickup. I actually wanted him from the beginning of the offseason, so I was very much behind the signing.
So you are just complaining about the Lyon signing or both combined into one?
The Lyon one, how much would he have to cost before you said it was a good move? I can’t say that the 5M he earned last year would be a good deal. It seems this year those types are making less than last year.
Haha, I should clarify. I’m just confused. If he’s really trying to make an attempt at competing, we can’t half-ass it. Marcum and Lyon do not a contender make (even with 10,000 minor league signings.)
That being said, I’m alright with making the team a little more watchable next year.
I was a bit ticked over the Rauch signing considering he signed for $1 MM… In terms of Lyon, it’s a good pick up. $5 million is too much, although I could stomach $4 MM. And sadly, I could also see Rauch having a better year than Lyon.
Yeah, i am guessing 3-4M on Lyon, seems he had a lot of teams in on him.
Oh and as to your point on half-arsing it. I tend to agree to an extent. It really depends on if there are guys to take the spot that you aren’t rushing and if these guys become commodities in the future.
$5 million at best for both.. basically switching what we paid for ramirez and rauch. minus dickey, bay, torres and $8 million backloaded in the contract of the ambassador, so signing a couple of guy who might and/or might not be good is still not enough evidence to say he’s not tanking the season. what do you make of cowgill, brown and all those others PO’ss he’s brought in? Of course, to fit YOUR “I Love Sandy” agenda you mention these 2 only.
You mean 5M a piece? I think Marcum will end up close to 6 and most likely 4 for Lyon.
You are still missing the point Alex. If he was purposely tanking the season why would he even sign those 2? Why not go with Heffer and Familia in those spots?
Also buddy, don’t have an agenda. I told you yesterday that RF is a mess, I just wrote a piece on it. While I am curious to see what Cowgill and Brown can do and I have read some good things on them, I don’t expect the power hitting RH OF issue to be solved. That’s why I am more concerned with that than I am bringing in Bourn.
I just think it’s foolish to say things like he’s purposely tanking the season. That’s like the ole, well you aren’t a Mets fan if you don’t agree with everything argument and you never see me using that one. It’s foolish. Sandy would bring in no one and have Kirk and DD in the OF and have Heffer in the rotation with Familia in the pen and lots of other AAA guys instead of the minor league signings if he wanted to lose as many games as possible.
You mean 5M a piece? I think Marcum will end up close to 6 and most likely 4 for Lyon. ”
So wait… That means he OVERPAID for these 2 the same way he did last year with rauch and francisco???????????????? Oh lord…………….. Not only you can’t trust these guy with players, but it seems that when he spends money, he’s overmatched as well or is either an idiot..
LOL, you are something else
Sandy is a punk, he won’t spend money.
Sandy is a punk, he overpaid.
Marcum was a 4M base with incentives up to 8M. That’s a good deal.
Blanton: 7/15
Kevin Correia: 2/10
Dempster: 2/26.5
Scott Feldman: 1/6
Guthrie: 3/25
Haren: 1/13
Liriano: 2/12.5
Marquis: 1/3
Carlos Villanueva: 2/10
At worst he paid market value, at best he got a steal. Why is it even in the good moves you guys can’t give credit? I seem to have certainly said it looks like we dropped the ball in RF.
meme of the day
Sandy doesnt usually spend money…
but when he does, its usuaully a bad deal
I told you, i like the marcum deal, but if he truly paid $4 million for lyon don’t you think he overpaid?????
I am not sure yet. Without listing all of them, you can go here: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013-mlb-free-agent-tracker
It looks like 3-5M would certainly be market value but considering the Mets situation I don’t think anything over 4 would be considered a great deal.
Good pickup, but the closer label is not really accurate. I am still in for a flier on Wilson. Why not load up the pen for a couple more bucks, even if Wilson is iffy? The Nats and Braves sure have loaded up…
At some point the relievers will not want to sign in what is now becoming a full pen. While I don’t mind considering Wilson how many are we up to now?
TR,
While I agree with you that the headcount is getting a little crowded, what I (and the Mets should be) am focusing on is who can provide legit MLB closing. The Mets need affordability. FF is shaky based on recent track record and winter surgery. Lyon has closed in spurts but really profiles as an 8th inning guy. Parnell has not performed well when given the chance, and he seems to fit better in the 7th/8th. Wilson is the perfect “extra”. He may not be ready opening day, and even if so, they can work him in until his arm strength is fully returned, most likely in the summer. FF may be a little unsettled, but whatver, be a lockdown closer and he won’t get demoted. Worst case scenario is it cost a couple mil and Wilson isn’t the pitcher he was. Best case scenario, Wilson returns to top closer form, and the pen is really deep, perhaps even with trade chips whether Mets are buyers or sellers July 31. With Lyon added, tacking on Bourn and a rehbbing Wilson means to me RF is the only “weak link” and they Mets can compete should the pitching hold up.
While I really like this signing (been pushing for Lyon all offseason), despite Sandy Alderson saying that after Lyon he’s likely done with the bullpen, I’m still hoping he’d reconsider and sign Brian Wilson to a 1 year deal with a team option. Nothing against Lyon, but I see him most effective as being the bridge to Wilson.
He appears to be a guy who does as well as the team that is around him so this could go either way….
His worst years are with bad teams and when he played for a decent team his ERA drops to under 4 and in some cases under 3….
That tells me he is a good groundball type pitcher who will thrive with a good IF behind him….
Lets hope Murphy shows some improvement…..
Based on his stats and what I have read, he’s more of a fly-ball pitcher than ground-ball pitcher. Pretty similar to Rauch in GB/FB%.
I didn’t look at the nuts and bolts…Usually a pitcher who is reliant on a team to perform is a GB pitcher but I honestly did not look at his GO/FO numbers…
Yeah, I read it earlier and then just now pulled the stats. I wonder too if it could be based on park or role?
I don’t know but his two horrible years were with Arizona and Houston if I’m not mistaken and when he was on a good team he had an ERA below 4….
Thats the pass fail line with me as far as Relievers are concerned…
Arizona is also a ridiculously hitter friendly park.
Yes but Houston is not… I had considered that.
It is for right handed pull hitters. 315 to left field.
Good signing, also more good trade bait. On a side note how do you join up for the MMo fantasy Football? Anyone know?
I cant complain about this signing. It’s hell better than anything he brought in last offseason. At least we have one dependable arm.
“That’s what wins, as the Giants have proved over and over again with those young power arms,” Wright said. “I’m glad we have the kind of chips that other teams want.”
Wright on why alderson didn’t trade for upton…. SMH
Would you have traded Harvey for Upton?
Wheeler…. In a HEARBEAT!!!!
I would have thought about it but ultimately said no. I like the thoughts of Harvey, Wheeler and Niese.
This
Here’s a serious question Alex. Would you rather have Upton and no Wheeler or Bourn and Wheeler for the next 3 years. Serious question. Try to put your bias against Wheeler due to what he cost aside.
Wait, what???? Bias against wheeler? Seriously, stop it. The guy hasn’t thrown a single pitch in the majors as of yet, calm down.
To answer your question, 3 years of bourn is not bad imho, the thing is, we could’ve had upton and bourn with no wheeler, that would’ve meant a better all around lineup (If not the best) in the NL East. wouldn’ you say??
Bourn
Tejada/Murphy
Wright
Ike Davis
Upton
Duda
D’arnaud
Tejada/Murphy
Harvey, Niese, Santana, Gee, Marcum….
Fulmer, Mejia, Familia, Synda, Montero, Tapia (waiting in the wings or even trade baits for more good players)
That team right there, would’ve make some noise no doubt…. And remember, guys like flores and a few others could’ve been traded for more good players…
Alex – how are you getting Upton then? It looks like you’re keeping Murphy/Tejada… who takes Prado’s place in the ATL deal?
Oh I see you’re giving Wheeler up for Upton. I’d rather have a high ceiling starting pitcher than an average RF
Right, because those always work out right???? SMH…. Upton has proven that despite you calling him avg he can put up good numbers, wheeler on the other hand is battling triple A players and control issues. see me in 2015 with him. but regardless what you think, the team i put up on paper is better in 2013 and going forward for years to come, than a team with wheeler next year and possibly not a good lineup.
And outfielders who come to the Mets after being power hitters in hitter friendly parks are golden tickets?
Lol I would rather have Fielder too. No way they could have afforded Bourn, Upton and a pitcher to take Wheeler spot the next three years.
Id rather have Bourn + Upton in CF-RF….kinda makes the whole Lucas Duda in LF a lil bit more bearable…
1 – Bourn
2 – Tejada
3 – Murphy
4 – Wright
5 – Ike
6 – Upton
7 – Duda
8 – Buck/Travis
9 – Pitcher
Using that lineup…how much is our payroll ?
Solid signing. Not a big game changer, but should be better than Rauch and add a good veteran presence to the pen. In terms of the intangibles like veteran leadership, Rauch seemed to be sorely lacking.
IMO, the Mets got a good deal on Lyon- acc. to Rosenthal, Lyon gets just a guaranteed base salary of 750K- 900K and with incentive bonuses can earn up to 2.4MM. Lyon made 5.5MM last season .
Certainly a lot better value than Jon Rauch at 3.5 million last winter (i.e. a similarly talented pitcher). Nice low risk signing that should help stabilize the Mets pen.
At least according to last year´s stats one would assume that Lyon + Atchison + Hawkins are able to replace Rauch + R.Ramirez + Acosta alright. With Familia + Burke + E.Ramirez also very much in the mix for those 2 or 3 fulltime spots in the pen in case the veterans falter or aren´t healthy.
Add FF (if healthy, which seems doubtful), Parnell, Edgin, 2nd lefty (Carson / Feliciano / Torres ?) and the long man (Hefner / Laffey?) and this could be a pretty solid unit.
Don’t forget Byrdak, with whatever assisstance he can offer. Byrdak and Feliciano, if healthy, are proven and extremely effective LOOGYs. If they are indeed healthy, I may want to leave Edgin in AAA to see if he can work on getting RHB out also and become a more versatile reliever.
So exactly why could we not have Rauch + Lyon
Rauch’s numbers in the 2nd half were outstanding
Because at some point you reach a saturation point to where I pitcher would rather not go to that team to be the 6th inning guy. The Marlins can offer him a chance to be setup man. Here he’s got to compete with
FFF, Lyon, Parnell, Edgin, and maybe Attchinson if healthy who would all be ahead of him on the depth chart. You get to a point where as the Mets, who are you bumping out?
In no particular order:
FFF
Lyon
Parnell
Edgin
Attchinson
Hawkins
Feliciano
Laffey
Torres
Carson
Gorski
Hefner
McHugh
Elvin Ramirez
Burke
Familia
Will all of those guys be healthy? Nope, wil all of them be great? Nope. But I think unless it’s a game changer, adding Lyon and Rauch would have been a waste.
With Lyon added, there would have been no room for Rauch.
For now, the bullpen probably looks like this:
Closer: FF (if healthy)
Setup 1: Parnell
Setup 2: Lyon
Setup 3: Edgin
RH middle guy: Atchison or Hawkins or Burke or Familia or E.Ramirez
LH middle guy: Feliciano or Carson or Gorski or Torres
Long relief: Hefner or Laffey
Where would you have fit in Rauch in this group ? It´s still too crowded anyway. Even if FF is on the deal to start the season, then you can still only pick 2 out of 5 RH candidates. I would really like to see Familia receive an extended look in the pen very shortly. And Burke also has nothing left to prove in the minors. He could be a Chad Bradford / Joe Smith type reliever who´s extremely tough on righties and keeps the ball down. If Laffey wins the long reliever spot, then maybe he´s the 2nd lefty and there´s room for another righty.
The 40-man roster could be an issue anyway with 40 spots locked up and several candidates for a 25-man roster spot not on it for now (most of all Atchison – Feliciano – Laffey – Powell – Quintanilla – A.Brown) …
I think we said the same thing but your’s was a little more concise.
AMAZING deal here !!!
Dollar Store aint got sh!t on SA on this deal !!!
I bet he gets more saves than Francisco or Parnell.
$5M? $4M? Hmmm it appears that it is under $1M guaranteed with a potential payout of $2.4M.
Good signing. Good price. That leaves a few extra bucks in Alderson’s pocket. Now, go take a gamble on the Beard and prove you want to compete with the pens in Washington and Atlanta.
I am wondering when Wilson will even be ready?
Right now, my guess is June.
Well the knock appeared to be his velocity which if you think about it who has velocity at this point of the offseason even when not coming off surgery?
They should keep an eye on him and note the progress.
Why they don’t just offer him a MiL ST invite that lets him become FA if he doesn’t make the MLB team with a jump in pay if he makes the team plus an incentive package that brings him close to where he wants to be paywise for this year is beyond me….
Maybe they tried and he declined….
They did, but Wilson insisted on getting a major league deal. Nothing less. Alderson said during the video chat yesterday that they’ll still keep an eye on him, but it’s unlikely at this point. Needless to say, a Brian Wilson at 25% beats a Francisco at 100%.
Welcome to the Mets Mr. Lyon. Now just pitch as well or better than you pitched in recent years.
Good deal. at $2.4 maximun this deal has the potential to be good. now, all the mets offense has to do is provide runs, the SP hold up as much as they can and pray the bullpen holds the lead. Still, we all know this team will be closer to 90 losses than 80 wins..
That’s interesting the 80 wins or 90 losses and which one will be closer. I would say it’s really up in the air and think that’s about a perfect range for them currently. Would adding Bourn to that change that significantly? Maybe adding the top being 83 wins and bottom being 73? It’s just such a fine line between 80 wins and 90 losses.
Well,then you know which way i am leaning….
LOL, yeah just a little bit to the far left.
I’d figure my good friend SRT will like this……………. The CORE salute you… only THIS time:
https://twitter.com/Jay_HorwitzPR/status/299957756100751361/photo/1
Great picture but McHugh? Is this pick out the one that doesnt fit contest?
Nice…but where’s Niese’s Jersey? Should we be reading anything into the fact that this pic doesn’t include his?
If anything, we should all pick up on the fact that, finally, baseball contracts are beginning to fall towards football contracts. Less guarantees, more incentives. Seems realistic, imagine if Jason Bay only had 30-40% of his contract on guarantee?