The Mets have expressed interest in signing reliever Steve Cishek according to Marc Carig of Newsday.
This comes a day after Sandy Alderson lowered expectations on what the Mets would accomplish at the Winter Meetings. In reference to the free agent reliever market he said he was looking for “value” and didn’t want to “jump into the inferno” according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Cishek, 31, had a very successful season in 2017 as he pitched to the tune of a 2.01 ERA and 0.896 WHIP while striking out 41 batters in 44 2/3 innings pitched and 49 appearances.
The submarine pitcher especially performed well last season after he was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Tampa Bay Rays at the end of July. With the Rays, Cishek appeared in 26 games and only gave up runs in one of those outings. In 24 2/3 innings Cishek had a 1.09 ERA and 0.811 WHIP while striking out 26 batters.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports predicted that Cishek will eventually land a three-year, $21 million contract. MLB Trade Rumors predicted that he would receive a two-year, $14 million contract.
If the Mets do agree to a deal with Cishek it’s more likely to be in the two-year range as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported. That means signing Bryan Shaw or Addison Reed seems unlikely at the moment.
