The Mets have done a nice job of improving their bullpen this winter, with acquisitions of Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia and Luis Avilan to go along with incumbents Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman, Drew Smith and Daniel Zamora.
However, to really round out the ‘pen, the Mets should look into the possibility of inking Greg Holland.
The 33-year-old split last season between the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals, and what a split season it was. With St. Louis, Holland was rocked to the tune of a 7.92 ERA in 32 appearances, but with Washington he was dominant, registering a 0.84 ERA and 2.97 FIP down the stretch.
The eight-year vet has also played for the Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies where he primarily spent time as a back-end reliever or closer. In his career he has notched 189 saves, but last year, he spent more time as a setup man.
For the Mets, their eighth and ninth inning is set with Familia and Diaz, respectively, but Holland could give them a very strong seventh inning man.
Seth Lugo likely holds down that position as of now, but signing Holland would allow Lugo to work in a multiple-innings role, which he would thrive in, seeing as he used to be a starter.
The Mets have said they wanted to add a lefty reliever to take the place of Jerry Blevins, but I think there’s a strong chance the aforementioned Avilan will fill that role. New York has also brought in Hector Santiago as a southpaw bullpen option as a backup.
Signing Holland would help lengthen New York’s pen and would give them a rather formidable back-end to close out games.
With pitchers and catchers nearly a month away and still a ton of relievers on the market, a guy like Holland might be had for a one-year deal, which would be perfect for the Mets who are in win-now mode.
