Here’s an interesting take on why the Mets are off to a 4-0 start as written by our friends at SprungOnSports. Read on and then tell us whether you agree or disagree.
On December 6, 2011, Mets GM Sandy Alderson signed relievers Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch and acquired Ramon Ramirez along with CF Andres Torres from the Giants for Angel Pagan. Alderson is one of the smartest men in baseball. He knew he would not be able to have an advantage over other teams with a juggernaut offense or a dominant rotation. But with so many relievers available last season, Alderson realized he could assemble a quality bullpen for a bargain basement price.
What difference has the new bullpen made so far? In games decided by two runs or fewer last season, the Mets went 34-40. When over 45 percent of your games are that close, a couple of key bullpen acquisitions could go a long way. New York went 4-7 in those tightly contested games last April. They’ve won the first four thus far. An immense amount of credit should be given to Alderson for big time moves that were considered an afterthought at the time.
So how is the trio of Francisco, Rauch and Ramirez doing so far? In 9 1/3 innings, they are 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, three saves, two holds, four hits and two walks allowed to go with six strikeouts. They have been crucial components of all four wins thus far, all close wins. – Read the entire post at SprungOnSports.com.
I was one of those who was very critical of the Jon Rauch signing for $3.5 million. He looked excellent last night – dominating actually. Francisco has already racked up three saves in three opportunities.
Of course there’s two sides to every story…
December 6th was also the day the Mets lost Jose Reyes for good. In fact the timing of these other moves for relievers came less than two hours after Jose Reyes officially became a Marlin. To the second. Both the Rauch and Francisco signings, as well as the Angel Pagan trade, all happened within a 15 minute window and seemed concocted and orchestrated to deflect the incoming fire from the Reyes aftermath. So were these signings just a happy coincidence? A pleasurable little side effect nobody was really counting on?
