New York Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson was a busy man on Friday as he put the finishing touches on the bullpen.
To get the day going he added a depth arm in veteran lefty Tom Gorzelanny on a minor league deal that could be worth up to $2.8 million if he’s in the majors and hits all his incentives. The deal also has a March 24 opt-out date.
Gorzelanny, 34, pitched only three major league innings in 2016 with the Cleveland Indians. In those three innings, he allowed seven runs on four hits, five walks and four strikeouts.
The good news on Gorzelanny is the .229/.302/.356 slash line that he’s held left-handed hitters to during his 12-year career. He’s a similar low risk signing like the Mets made last offseason with Jim Henderson.
Now let’s get to the major league deals that Sandy dished out to bring two valuable relievers back to the Mets bullpen.
First off, they brought back right-handed reliever Fernando Salas on a one-year deal with $3 million guaranteed and another $350,000 attainable in performance bonuses.
Salas, 32 in May, was acquired by the Mets from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in exchange for minor leaguer Erik Manoah last August.
In 17 games for the Mets, Salas pitched to a 0-1 record, with a 2.08 ERA and 3.20 FIP. Salas didn’t walk a batter and struck out 19 in his 17.1 innings to close out the season with the Mets.
To top of the nice little Friday night for Mets fans, Sandy re-signed left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins to a one-year deal with $6 million guaranteed and an option for a second year.
Blevins, 33, went 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA and 3.05 FIP in 73 appearances last season for the Mets.
These moves should finish off a bullpen that was one of the strengths of the team in 2016. The Mets 2016 bullpen had the 6th best ERA in baseball at 3.53, tied for 2nd best FIP at 3.54 and it’s 9.75 K/9 was the 4th highest.
Here’s what the Mets bullpen could look like –
CL – Jeurys Familia RHP
SU – Addison Reed RHP
7th – Fernando Salas
1st Lefty – Jerry Blevins
MID – Hansel Robles
2nd Lefty – Josh Smoker
Swing – Seth Lugo
This could very well change with Familia serving a possible suspension that would bump everyone up a spot and give guys like Erik Goeddel, Sean Gilmartin, Josh Edgin, Ben Rowen or the aforementioned Gorzelanny a chance for the final bullpen spot.
Minor leaguers that have already been invited to big league camp are righties Paul Sewald, Corey Taylor, Chasen Bradford, Logan Taylor and Kevin McGowan to go along with lefties David Roseboom, P.J. Conlon and Adam Wilk.
The Mets have also mentioned that whichever pitcher doesn’t end up being the 5th starter among Robert Gsellman and Zack Wheeler could slide into the bullpen as well.
Looks like the bullpen for the Mets should continue to be a strength in 2017.
