According to Jon Heyman of Knuckleball the Mets would like to keep the Major Leagues’ sexiest pitcher in New York for the 2017 season.
Bartolo Colon, 43, surpassed everyone’s expectations in 2016, going 15-8 with a 3.43 ERA. He tossed 191.2 innings, striking out 128 and walking only 32.
In a year plagued with injuries, he was truly the stalwart the Mets rotation needed. However, going into 2017, the Mets should have seven good young pitchers ready to go, with Noah Syndergaard, Seth Lugo, and Robert Gsellman returning in addition to Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom coming back from surgery.
Despite the plethora of young arms, there is of course that saying “you can never have enough pitching.” Big Bart will probably be paid very well this offseason, as he has more than proven he can pitch effectively despite his age. Over the last three seasons with the Mets (since turning 40) he has won 44 games.
If Colon were to return to the Mets, though, he would probably have to accept a bullpen/spot start role.
Thoughts from Joe D.
Bartolo Colon, led the rotation with 15 wins and delivered his third straight season of 30 or more starts – last accomplished by Mike Pelfrey. The veteran right-hander posted a 3.44 ERA and 1.210 WHIP this season and for the second year in a row he had an MLB-best 1.50 walk rate among all qualified starters. All of this in his age 43 season.
You want to talk about unsung heroes, I don’t know where the Mets would have been without Colon. He of course was supposed to be dispatched to the bullpen in July upon the return of Zack Wheeler, but as all of you know that never happened. Instead, the Mets again and again relied upon him in times of crisis and Colon for the most part never let the team down.
Colon was also strong down the stretch going 6-2 in his last 12 starts with a 3.17 ERA and 1.192 WHIP that could have been even better if not for the 2.1 innings and seven earned runs against the Miami Marlins on the day following the passing of Jose Fernandez.
Colon will earn a raise from the $7.25 million he earned this season and a one year deal for $10-12 million to return in 2017 would be fair and reasonable.
With Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz all returning from varying degrees of surgery in the Spring, I think having Colon in camp as a safety net is a no-brainer. Lets do it.
