Five Left-Handed Relievers Available on the Free-Agent Market

The New York Mets have already done a ton to improve their ball club this offseason. The additions of Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, Starling Marte, and Max Scherzer will certainly make this team better than last season.

With that being said, there is certainly still more work for Billy Eppler and company to do once this lockout is lifted. Easily the biggest remaining hole on this current roster is the bullpen.

The Mets bullpen was relatively solid for the most part last season. Trevor May was a very nice addition, he’ll be back next season. Seth Lugo never quite looked like himself, but he should be back to full health to begin the year.

Edwin Diaz was Edwin Diaz, but was able to lockdown 32 saves. Easily the biggest bright spot for the unit was the historic performance of left-hander Aaron Loup. He put together one of the best seasons by a reliever in franchise history. 

Unfortunately, the Mets are going to have to go to battle without his next season. Loup reached an agreement early on in the offseason with the Los Angeles Angels on a two-year deal worth $17 million.

With Loup gone, the Mets still find themselves in desperate need of a left-hander this offseason. Here are five of the southpaws remaining on the free-agent market. 

Andrew Chafin (31)

Behind Loup, Chafin is easily the top left-hander on the market this offseason. He put together a monster first-half with the Cubs, pitching to a 2.06 ERA, 0.932 WHIP, striking out 37 batters, and allowing just nine runs over 39.1 innings.

He was traded to the Oakland Athletics at the trading deadline where he continued his success. Chafin finished the season with a career-best 1.83 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 2.98 FIP, and 64 strikeouts over 68.2 innings.

Chafin held both lefties (.170) and righties (.196) to an under .200 batting average on the year. He allowed just one extra-base hit to left-handed batters, a home run, and just ten to righties all year long.

He posted a 24% strikeout rate, and walked opposing batters at a clip of just 7% on the year. There was plenty of red on Chafin’s Baseball Savant profile, as he finished in the top 85 percentile or better in xSLG, xwOBA, xERA, xBA, HardHit%, and Chase Rate.

Chafin declined his half of a $5.25 million mutual option at the end of the year and became a free agent. After his monster breakout season, Chafin certainly figures to be looking at potential multi-year deals.

The Mets have reportedly already shown some interest in Chafin this offseason. The 31-year old would certainly be a great addition to the mix and a pretty solid and capable replacement for Loup.

Jake Diekman (34)

Let’s stick with the theme of free-agent Athletics lefties. Earlier in the offseason, Oakland announced that they’ve declined Jake Diekman’s $4 million team option on his contract, making him a free agent.

Diekman is coming off a year in which he wasn’t as sharp as he’s usually been.

He walked an alarming 13% of the hitters he faced, which was poor enough to finish in the seventh percentile in all of baseball. Diekman also allowed a career-high 1.5 HR/9 on the year.

Despite the struggles with command and the long-ball, Diekman was still relatively effective. The hard-throwing southpaw struck out 83 batters and pitched to a 3.86 ERA and 1.33 WHIP over 60.2 innings pitched on the year.

For his career, Diekman has been tough on both righties and lefties at the plate. In his past two seasons with the Athletics, he’s posted his highest strikeout rates (13.1 and 12.3) of his ten-year big league career.

Diekman’s fastball still sits around 95 MPH, and he features a wicked slider. Walks and home runs have been an issue, but the 34-year still has what it takes to be an effective big-league reliever.

Tony Watson (36)

Speaking of free-agent crafty veteran left-handers, 36-year old Tony Watson remains available on the market. 

Watson had a three-year stint with the San Francisco Giants before he signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels last offseason. He spent just the first half of the season in Anaheim and struggled a bit before being shipped back to the Bay Area at the deadline.

Back with the Giants, Watson flashed back to his potential. Over 24 innings pitched, he posted a 2.96 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 2.64 FIP, allowed just eight runs, issued just four walks, and struck out 19 batters.

Most notable on that list is the cut down on the walks. Prior to the trade, Watson was averaging 3.8 BB/9 in 33 innings which was poor enough for a 10.4 BB% with the Angels. This was way up from his career 6.3 walk percentage.

Watson has been a ground-ball machine for his career, as evidenced by his 48% ground-ball rate. He relies on a solid four-pitch mix of his fastball, changeup, slider, and sinker.

Watson has closing experience and has been a reliable backend arm for eleven seasons now. He should be able to be had for relatively cheap and would be a solid veteran addition to a Mets bullpen that could certainly use one.

Brad Hand (31)

Hand was a guy who had been on Sandy Alderson and the Mets’ radar for a long time. Alderson said the Mets likely would’ve claimed Hand when Cleveland put him on waivers at the end of the 2020 season if the ownership change was finalized.

Instead, Hand signed with the Nationals where he had a decent start to the year. In 57 games, Hand pitched to a 3.59, 1.14 WHIP, and locked down 21 saves.

Hand was traded to the Blue Jays at the deadline, where he didn’t quite have as much success. He allowed ten runs on thirteen hits over 8.2 innings (7.27 ERA) and was quickly designated for assignment.

The Mets claimed Hand and he finally ended up in New York. The southpaw pitched relatively well in a small sample size, allowing just seven runs and striking out 14 batters over 13.1 innings pitched.

SNY’s Andy Martino recently said that Hand is one of the lefty-relievers that the Mets like. A reunion between the two parties certainly seems like it could be a possibility. It certainly seems like a smart option.

Hand should be able to be had for relatively cheap, and presents some bounce-back potential. If pitching coach Jeremy Hefner can help him regain his sinker/slider duo, Hand is a strong veteran addition with closing experience. 

 

Chasen Shreve (31)

Sticking with the former Mets theme, a reunion with Chasen Shreve could make sense as a potential low cost option.

The Mets signed Shreve to a minor league deal in November of 2019. He appeared in 17 games for them during the 2020 pandemic shortened season and surprisingly became one of the more reliable pieces in that Mets bullpen.

Shreve pitched to a 3.96 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 3.99 FIP, and had 34 strikeouts over 25 innings. Despite the success, the Mets non-tendered Shreve at the end of the season.

He was picked up by the Pirates on a minor league deal in February of 2021, and pitched well for them too. Shreve made 57 appearances and pitched to a 3.20 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 4.73 FIP, and struck out 45 batters.

Shreve throws his splitter 40% of the time. Last season opposing batters had just a .329 slugging percentage against the pitch. He also recorded 26 punch-outs while throwing the splitter.

It is not known if Shreve would consider a return to the Mets after being non-tendered last offseason. If Shreve would be willing to run it back, the Mets should absolutely look into him as a potential low-cost lefty long-man in the bullpen.