Mets Could Release Feliciano By Tuesday, Laffey May Have Nailed Down Final Bullpen Spot

The Mets have until Tuesday to make a decision on whether to add Pedro Feliciano, LaTroy Hawkins and Tim Byrdak to the 25 man roster.

According to the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement, the Mets must inform each player by Tuesday if they intend to carry them on the major league roster. The alternatives are that either will be assigned to the minors and receive $100,000 or they will be released.

It will be interesting to see if the Mets decide to keep Feliciano, who has not seen his velocity improve one bit and he hasn’t been able to get his fastball past 80-82 mph. In eight appearances this spring, Feliciano has a 2.08 ERA spanning 4 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and one walk., but the big concern is his velocity which won’t cut it in the majors.

“I want to see the consistent velocity,” pitching coach Dan Warthen said. “I would like to see it a little faster (above 85 mph), but we’ll find out.

It could be the end of the road for Feliciano.

Hawkins, on the other hand, has clearly won a spot in the bullpen and has yet to allow a run this spring, while Byrdak, who is still rehabbing his left shoulder following surgery, will likely accept his minor league assignment.

If the Mets were to pass on Feliciano, it would most likely mean that one left-hander will emerge out of Robert Carson, Scott Rice and Aaron Laffey. Only Josh Edgin has already locked down a job among the southpaws in camp. The Mets have said they intend to go with two leftys in the bullpen.

I’m thinking they go with Aaron Laffey if only because in addition to being a second lefty, he can also serve as a long reliever or spot starter. Laffey has not allowed a run in 9.1 innings pitched this spring and has experience shifting from the rotation to the pen and back, for most of his career in the majors.

How they make room for all these additions to the 40 man roster will be another story, but here is my final updated bullpen projection of the spring:

Bobby Parnell – Closer
Brandon Lyon – Setup
Scott Atchison – Middle
LaTroy Hawkins – Middle
Aaron Laffey – Long
Josh Edgin – Lefty Specialist
Greg Burke – Righty Specialist

Original Post 3/20

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, the Mets are going to have two left-handed relievers in the bullpen to begin the season.

I’ve been saying this would be the case before camp even started, and this confirms my speculation that Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia will be assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas within the next few days.

Josh Edgin, of course, is the lock, and the second spot will go to one of Pedro Feliciano, Robert Carson, or Scott Rice.

My money is on Feliciano and if he continues to improve there’s no chance he gets squeezed out by the other two.

Here’s what we’re looking at which really hasn’t changed much from what I’ve been projecting all along: