Sandy Alderson said he was comfortable with the in-house options the Mets had for lefties out of the bullpen, I think he has probably changed his mind after the last couple of days. The last three days have been brutal for Mets lefties, Edgin has a “thinned” elbow ligament and will have Tommy John surgery. Gilmartin, Alvarez, and Rice have all been roughed up for 3+ runs in their last outings and Leathersich still can’t find the plate.
I would expect Darin Gorski and Duane Below to be moved over to Major League camp sooner or later but neither of them have better stuff than the previously mentioned options. Ultimately I still think that Gilmartin will be on the Opening Day roster to be evaluated fully before returning him to the Twins.
The free agent market is completely barren with Sean Burnett the only lefty available and he is out until at least June recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Adam Rubin recently wrote that Cardinals lefty reliever Sam Freeman and Nationals lefty reliever Xavier Cedeno are out of options and could become available if they fail to make their team’s Opening Day rosters.
However, towards the end of Spring Training every year some veteran players become available because they are Article XX(B) free agents and teams don’t add them to their roster or don’t pay the retention bonus. The team has until 5 days before the season to decide whether or not they want to keep the Article XX(B) free agent. To qualify the player must have accrued at least 6 years of Major League service time and must have ended the previous season a clubs 40-man roster.
Now lets take a look at the crop of lefty relievers who could become free agents at the end of spring because of this clause.
Scott Downs, Indians: Had a rough start with the White Sox but pitched well for Royals down the stretch last year and held lefties to a .650 OPS
Joe Thatcher, Astros: Very good for D’Backs to start year before being traded to Angels and struggling badly. Has held lefties to a .230/.289/.351 batting line over his entire career
Rich Hill, Nationals: Only pitched 5 innings in the Bigs for the Yankees last year. Has held lefties to .216/.337/.335 over his career.
Joe Beimel, Rangers: Great season with M’s in 2014 with a 2.20 ERA and 1.178 WHIP but it was jis first MLB action since 2011.
Phil Coke, Cubs: Gives up a lot of hits (420 in 398 innings) but has fared much better against lefties .648 OPS than against righties .818 OPS.
Franklin Morales, Royals: Has always had good stuff but struggles with walks 4.4 BB/9 and has experience starting and relieving.
I know none of these guys jump right off the page at you but they all have more experience and success at the ML level than Gilmartin, Leathersich, Alvarez, or Rice. Downs seems like the most likely to become a free agent because the Indians already have three guys penciled into their bullpen.
