National League teams traditionally field a seven-man bullpen. So let’s take a look at what the Mets currently have assembled:

Bobby Parnell (closer), Vic Black, Jeurys Familia, Scott Rice, Josh Edgin, Gonzalez Germen and Carlos Torres (Long man).

If the team had to start the season with this crop of pitchers, I guess it would not be terrible. There is a decent mix of power and finesse arms as well as righties and lefties and guys who could pitch more than one inning.

But the success of this bullpen relies heavily on too many unproven pitchers, mainly Black, Familia, Edgin, Germen and Torres – not to mention that Parnell and Rice are not exactly guarantees.

The team brought in Kyle Farnsworth on a minor-league deal, and that’s fine to have some depth in the minors. But I don’t even consider him a legitimate option.

That’s why this team needs to sign at least one more bullpen arm to compete for a setup role. And even with Spring Training creeping up, there are still plenty of good available options.

Fernando Rodney, Joel Hanrahan, Ryan Madson, Kevin Gregg, Andrew Bailey, Carlos Marmol, and Francisco Rodriguez all have closing experience, which is a must given that Parnell is coming back for neck surgery.

Rodney is only a year removed from a dominant season, but since that’s the case, he might get a call to become a team’s full-time closer.

Marmol is a head case so forget him, and we’ve had enough of K-Rod in this town. And I’m not completely sold on guys like Madson, Gregg, Bailey and Betancourt.

Hanrahan intrigues me however. Yes, he’s coming off Tommy John surgery, but he was once a shutdown late-game option. He could be worth taking the risk.

Again, go back to the top of this post. If the Mets started the year with that seven-man bullpen, it would not be that bad.

But what if they strike gold with Rodney or Hanrahan? That really would lengthen the bullpen unit and would not tax the younger arms like Black and Familia.

I’m completely shocked that Rodney has not been gobbled up at this point in the offseason. It’s not as surprising with Hanrahan given his injury status.

But one of these guys could be the key to this bullpen. In that way, if an injury occurs to one of the other arms, a guy like Germen could step in on short-term basis – rather than being counted on to be a major bullpen contributor right away.

The post From Left Field: Bullpen Needs At Least One More Addition appeared first on Metsmerized.

February 4, 2014

Free agent closer Fernando Rodney now has three teams who are expressing strong interest in his services according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports. Those teams are the Mariners, Orioles and Mets.

You always have to be wary whenever Sandy Alderson downplays interest in someone. It almost always seems like he’s doing the exact opposite of what he says he is.

Sneaky guy…

February 3, 2014

As first reported by Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com, the Mets have signed right-hander Kyle Farnsworth to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.

Sandy Alderson has recently said the Mets were in the market for a low-cost, veteran relief pitcher, and Farnsworth fills that need.

Farnsworth had a 4.70 ERA in 48 appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates last season.

He also has experience pitching in New York after spending 2006-2008 with the cross-town Yankees.

Rubin also notes that according to an unaffiliated source with the club, the Mets have allotted some money to finding a closer-type relief pitcher to a big league deal.

The source believes that Fernando Rodney is high on the Mets list and the team’s favorite, but Kevin Gregg, Ryan Madson or Joel Hanrahan could also be in the mix.

The post Mets One Of Three Teams In On Fernando Rodney appeared first on Metsmerized.

According to Jim Duquette of MLB Network, the Mets will meet with the agents for free agent relievers John Axford and Kevin Gregg.

I’m not such a big fan of Axford, but I do like Gregg a lot for the Mets and he’s a proven shutdown, late-inning reliever we can use.

Axford, 30, posted a 4.02 ERA and 1.355 WHIP in 75 relief appearances last season for the Brewers and Cardinals. His 10.1 H/9 scares the hell out of me and his velocity nose-dived which is a big concern.

Gregg, 35, had a terrific season for the Cubs posting 3.48 ERA while notching 33 saves in 62 relief appearances.

I would have to believe that Gregg would come at a costly $5 million or more on a one year deal, but if the Mets can afford it, I’m all in.

The post Mets Will Meet With Agents For John Axford and Kevin Gregg appeared first on Metsmerized.

If you want to get a better sense of where the Mets are heading, here’s what Joel Sherman of the New York Post sees as the Mets 2014 Opening Day Lineup after meeting with team officials, rival executives and agents over the last few days.

1. Norichika Aoki, LF
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Andre Ethier, RF
5. Jhonny Peralta, SS
6. Lucas Duda, 1B
7. Travis d’Arnaud, C
8. Juan Lagares, CF

Now that’s different…

L.A. Times beat writer recently wrote this about Ethier, who is entering the second year of his 5-year, $85 million dollar deal…

The Good: Had 30 or more doubles for his seventh consecutive year, a first for a Dodger. He was tied for third on the team in RBI and fourth in homers. Hit .311 on the road and .294 vs. right-handers. Led the club with 61 walks. Made himself more valuable by playing all three outfield positions, moving from right to center when Matt Kemp went down to injury, and playing it extremely well.

The Bad: His home run and RBI numbers were down for him. Was hitting just .229 on June 8 before turning his season around offensively (.320 over his next 74 games). Hit .229 at home and .221 against left-handers. Season went downhill after injuring ankle in Colorado on Sept. 4. Was 4-for-28 in his last nine games, missed most of the division series against Atlanta and went 3-for-20 in league championship series vs. St. Louis. Also suffered a calf injury in early August.

Getting back to Sherman, he says to forget Shin-Soo Choo or Jacoby Ellsbury, says that Ike Davis is as good as gone, and that the Mets really like Peralta.

Sherman also says the Mets could go after a lot of depth players that could include: Jose Molina as a backup for d’Arnaud, utility player Nick Punto, and take a gamble on first baseman Corey Hart. If Mets fail to re-sign LaTroy Hawkins, they could target an Edward Mujica or Kevin Gregg.

Just another take, but an interesting one at that…

The post Where The 2014 Mets Are Heading… appeared first on Metsmerized.

7/31  Update

It’s been a very quiet deadline with the Jake Peavy to the Red Sox trade being the loudest shot fired in the last 48 hours. But things are picking up on the Marlon Byrd front, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

The Mets are suddenly getting hits on the veteran outfielder and they have apparently made counteroffers to some clubs and are now waiting to see if anyone budges.

The Pirates are believed to be among the teams interested in Byrd, says Sherman. But a Pirates beat writer said interest is lukewarm at best.

No one seems to be willing to meet the Mets’ asking price, reports Marc Carig of Newsday.

You get the sense Byrd is a Plan C for a lot of teams, which makes sense from their perspectives. But #Mets want a Plan A type return.

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) July 31, 2013

I expect him to still be a Met in two hours which is exactly how I felt two weeks ago…

7/30 Update

• MLBTR – Michael Young will only approve a trade back to the Texas according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  In contrast, Scott Miller of CBS Sports says Red Sox people believe Young would approve a trade there.  The Phillies checked in with Young over the weekend about the Rangers and Red Sox. If Young is being traded, Yankees people say it’s not to them, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
• ESPN – The Dodgers and Angels are discussing a trade for second baseman Howie Kendrick, but talks are preliminary. The Angels are said to be listening to offers for Kendrick, Erick Aybar, and Alberto Callaspo, and are seeking high quality big league ready pitching in return.
• Jon Heyman – Boston has been adamant about not including top prospects Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. in deals. But they have about 10 more top-line prospects, including pitchers Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman, Henry Owens, Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa and many others. Boston also has done extremely well this year with its strategy to sign several mid-range players after unloading big-money contracts like Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett  and Adrian Gonzalez, and may not be so anxious to get back into the mega-market territory. Though it’s pretty clear they are talking to Philadelphia, the Red Sox also have some interest in third baseman Michael Young.
• ESPN – The Cubs could move Kevin Gregg and Nate Schierholtz, but are extremely unlikely to trade lefty reliever James Russell and there’s just about zero chance of a Jeff Samardzija trade. Pitchers Ian Kennedy and J.J. Putz of the Diamondbacks and Kyle Farnsworth of the Rays are now available in trade.
• CSN Chicago – Sounds like White Sox and Pirates are getting close on a deal for Alex Rios. Cash being worked on. Not sure if they can find a middle ground.
• Joel Sherman – The price for Peavy remains a top 50 prospect in a three or four-player package, according to Sherman. He believes Peavy will be traded, ranking the most likely landing spots as the Cardinals, Red Sox, and A’s.
• MLBTR – There are no current discussions between the Cardinals and White Sox on Peavy, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. And the D’Backs say they no longer have interest in Peavy with Brandon McCarthy and Trevor Cahill soon returning, adds Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
• Jon Heyman – The Red Sox are the biggest player in the Cliff Lee derby, sources told CBSSports.com, but it remains uncertain how likely it is the Phillies star left-hander will be dealt. If there are other teams heavily involved in talks for Lee, they are doing it in an extremely stealthy manner. But considering the price tag (at least three top prospects) and salary ($70 million), it’s understandable the field would be limited.

More updates to come…

The post Mets Get Some Offers On Byrd, Waiting To Hear Back On Counteroffers appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets dropped their second straight against the Cubs in a 5-2 loss at Citi Field on Saturday. Cubs starter Scott Feldman had the Mets number and held them to just one run and retired the last 12 batters he faced in a row.

Jon Niese started for the Mets and pitched well enough to win, but clearly didn’t bring his “A” game today as he allowed two runs on six hits and four walks in 5.2 innings while striking out five. When Terry Collins came out to pull him after two outs in the sixth, he begrudgingly gave up the ball and was jawing all the way back to the dugout. Collins and Niese continued to argue in the dugout and the Mets southpaw wasn’t happy.

LaTroy Hawkins relieved Niese and pitched 1.1 hitless innings, but Scott Rice and Brandon Lyon allowed three more Cubs runs to score in the eighth innings on three walks and three hits.

Greg Burke came in for the ninth and was greeted by a single, a double and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Juan Lagares then made a great diving catch that was wrongly ruled a trap by the first base ump. But somehow amid the confusion, the clueless Mets escaped the inning without any damage when Burke got the next two outs.

Offensively, the Mets got on the board in the fourth inning on a David Wright RBI double to score Daniel Murphy. In the bottom of the eighth inning the Mets made some more noise. After consecutive hits by Juan Lagares and Kirk Nieuwenhuis, an RBI single by Jordany Valdespin with one out would plate Lagares. But Murphy and Wright would go quietly after that to end the the threat.

In the bottom of the ninth, Marlon Byrd led off the inning with the Mets sixth hit of the game, and after a Duda infield popup, Justin Turner got to first on an error to bring up Buck with two on and one out. But Buck popped out and Cubs closer Kevin Gregg got Lagares to fly out to end the game.

Lagares is making the most of his playing time while Valdespin has not. There’s still no telling if Lagares will continue to hit after the league adjusts to him, but for now you have to play him everyday. Meanwhile, I’d say Spin is now 4-5 days away from being replaced on the roster by Wilmer Flores.

Lucas Duda now has just five hits in his last 37 at-bats and also tried to bunt his way on to lead off the fifth inning and it was all kinds of awful..

The Mets bullpen now ranks an MLB worst in Batting Average Against and Earned Run Average for the third year in a row, and as Gary Cohen pointed out they have the lowest strikeout rate in league as well.

Today’s game was a showcase of just how fundamentally flawed this team is. They are becoming almost unwatchable especially when Matt Harvey isn’t pitching.

The Mets are now at the lowest point of their season, losing ten of their last 12, and falling to 15 games under .500 for the season.

Jeremy Hefner will oppose Matt Garza and try to salvage the final game of the series on Sunday. First pitch is at 1:10 PM, and with that let me wish all you dads out there a Happy Father’s Day.

The post Mets Clueless As 5-2 Loss To Cubs Drops Them 15 Games Under .500 appeared first on Metsmerized.

Couldn’t help reading today that Bobby Parnell deserves to be an All Star on MetsBlog.  Sorry, but I beg to differ.

Parnell ranks 13th out of 15 National League closers with 9 saves. The leader, Pittsburgh’s Jason Grilli, has 22 saves, while Edward Mujica of the Cardinals and Craig Kimbrel have 17 saves each. All three have ERAs of 1.93 or lower. Do those three deserve to be All Stars? You bet they do. Parnell isn’t even on the same map as them.

The Mets closer has blown three saves out of 12 opportunites and his 75% save ratio is the worst mark among all 15 qualified NL closers.

His 1.01 WHIP, which is pretty impressive, still only ranks seventh among qualified closers, and his Batting Average Against of .202 while good, isn’t even in the same company of of guys like Grilli (.141), Kevin Gregg (.148), Jonathan Papelbon (.125), Mujica (.138) or Aroldis Chapman (.183), In fact, Parnell doesn’t even have the best BAA in his own bullpen, as that honor goes to Scott Rice who boasts a .198 BAA.

So aside from just taking the fanboy approach, what exactly makes Parnell more deserving than any of those elite closers I mentioned?

Heck, I wish all the Mets could be All Stars if you asked the homer in me. But from a pure baseball intellect standpoint and an unbiased point of view, it’s very clear that Parnell doesn’t deserve a spot on the All Star team and that there’s at least 6-8 closers in front of him that do deserve the honor.

His blown save last night that allowed the Nationals to comeback and beat the Mets 3-2, had the bearded one allowing a double, a wild pitch, a single, another double, and finally a sac-fly with the bases loaded to clinch the deal for the Nats.

Now, has Parnell embraced the closer role better than many of us expected?

Yes, of course. But to count him among the elite closers in baseball, or even in the league, is pretty ridiculous right now.

Parnell is not an elite All Star caliber closer. He’s just a good one – most of the time.

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