According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, the New York Mets are considering bringing back veteran starter Bartolo Colon. He was designated for assignment by the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
Colon, 44, signed a one-year, $12.5 million deal with the Braves this past offseason after spending the previous three seasons for the Mets.
Colon has been one of the worst starters in the majors this year going 2-8 with a 8.14 ERA, 1.778 WHIP and is allowing 13.1 H/9. The 8.14 ERA is worst in the majors among qualified starters.
The fan favorite in New York went 44-34 with a 3.90 ERA in 588 innings with the Mets from 2014-2016 and pitched in seven playoff games during their 2015 playoff run.
Given the salary for Colon he is almost guaranteed to make it through waivers and become a free agent. That means the team signing could only be on the hook for the league minimum prorated for the rest of the season as the Braves still have to pay him.
Even with the healthy returns of Seth Lugo and Steven Matz the Mets rotation has been suspect with Noah Syndergaard, Robert Gsellman and Matt Harvey on the disabled list. Zack Wheeler will make his return from the DL on Saturday vs the Philadelphia Phillies though.
The Mets are still using Rafael Montero at the moment as their fifth starter and have little depth behind him at Triple-A.
Manager Terry Collins was asked on Thursday about Big Sexy and had this to say, “He has had an absolutely tremendous career. I’m sure he’ll land on his feet someplace. He’s a pretty valuable guy to have.”
At first look the numbers for Big Sexy are really ugly and would incite an immediate pass from most.
Then you dig deeper to see his FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is 5.07, still high but not as bad as his ERA dictates. Heck, his 5.08 would only be the third worst on the Braves staff behind Julio Teheran (5.83) and R.A. Dickey (5.41). Mets starting pitchers this season have a 4.75 FIP and a 4.94 ERA.
Bart has the largest split between ERA and FIP in the majors at 3.07, second is Jesse Hahn at 1.70 to give you an idea at how big that gap is.
Colon has certainly ran into tough luck this year as evident by his .360 BABIP, the third highest among major league starters. On the flip side, his walk rate has jumped from 1.50 BB/9 in 2016 to 2.86 this season.
The Mets have gotten a combined ERA of 7.55 from Rafael Montero, Adam Wilk, Tommy Milone and Tyler Pill in their 10 starts. Not to mention the combination of 27 mostly bad starts from Harvey (5.25 ERA, 6.18 FIP) and Gsellman (6.16, 5.08).
In short, the Mets back of the rotation has been horrendous. Add in that they currently have Neil Ramirez in the bullpen after struggles from both long-men in Hansel Robles and Josh Smoker.
The Mets have a significant need for someone that can eat innings and stay healthy, Bart fills both of those whether its as a fifth starter or the long guy in the pen.
Taking the emotion out of bringing back a fan favorite (although you know Front Office is drooling over that), there is a realistic chance that Bart could actually help the Mets and at the league minimum why not give it a shot?
