Not once during Sandy Alderson’s tenure as general manager with the Mets has he pieced together anything close to an adequate bullpen, writes Marc Carig of Newsday. And as the Mets begin their fourth season under Alderson, it’s unclear whether that will change any time soon.
“The bullpen has not been good over the last several years,” Alderson said before a bullpen implosion ruined Opening Day. “It needs to get better.”
Carig states that Alderson’s track record for accumulating useful bullpen pieces has been nothing short of abysmal.
It hadn’t always been that way. In 2010, the final season before Alderson’s arrival as GM, Mets relievers ranked a respectable 5th in the National League with a 3.59 ERA.
I actually posted the Mets NL Bullpen Rankings over the last five years in an earlier post this morning:
- 2009 – 3.89 ERA Ranked 8th
- 2010 – 3/59 ERA Ranked 5th
- 2011 – 4.33 ERA Ranked 15th
- 2012 – 4.65 ERA Ranked 15th
- 2013 – 3.98 ERA Ranked 12th
Alderson results have been staggering Carig points out, noting that from 2011-13, just three Mets relievers logged at least 30 innings and posted an ERA below 3.00.
Overall, Alderson awarded roughly $29 million in guaranteed contracts to lure free agents to the Mets from 2011 to 2013. Relief pitching accounted for roughly $19 million — two-thirds of his spending.
Sandy said, “We’re in the process of introducing more of our young players into that bullpen.”
I would point out that many of the better relief prospects close to MLB ready were dispatched to minor league camp two weeks into Spring Training.
His bullpens have sucked royally, all of us know that. But if you’re going to develop young relievers then do so already and fast. Stop saying you’re building a bullpen through the minors, and start doing it instead.
In the last 48 hours we’ve spotlighted several candidates and solutions. Let’s get this done already because I’m tired of watching our bullpen blow lead after lead after lead. I’m getting sick of it. Four years and counting…
