Sandy Alderson has made it pretty clear that New York Mets are looking for the bullpen to be far more dominant this upcoming season than it was in 2017.

The first move that the Mets GM did to help ensure that was by trading prospects Merandy Gonzalez and Ricardo Cespedes to the Miami Marlins for closer AJ Ramos.

Jeurys Familia pitched in only 25 games this past season due to a suspension and surgery while not looking like his dominant self in September. The Mets picked up the 2018 option on Jerry Blevins giving the Mets an important LOOGY.

The Mets bullpen had the second worst ERA in baseball during the 2017 season at 4.82 and it lacks proven options outside of the previously mentioned trio heading into 2018.

We know the big names in the market are Greg Holland, Wade Davis and former Met Addison Reed, but let’s look are a few important stats to identity other possible value in what is actually a strong free agent relief market.

ERA

RHP Pat Neshek 1.59 (4th among MLB relievers), RHP Matt Albers 1.62, RHP Steve Cishek 2.01, RHP Brandon Morrow 2.06, RHP Wade Davis 2.30, RHP Anthony Swarzak 2.33, LHP Mike Minor 2.55, RHP Tommy Hunter 2.61, RHP Juan Nicasio 2.61, LHP Brian Duensing 2.74, Yusmeiro Petit 2.76, RHP Addison Reed 2.84

FIP

Morrow 1.55 (5th among MLB relievers), Neshek 1.86, RHP Joe Smith 2.10, Minor 2.62, Swarzak 2.74, RHP David Hernandez 2.76, Petit 2.85, LHP Jake McGee 2.93, RHP Bryan Shaw 2.96, Nicasio 2.96, RHP Fernando Rodney 3.03, Hunter 3.07, Cishek 3.34, Davis 3.38, Albers 3.40, Duensing 3.41, RHP Blaine Boyer 3.59, Reed 3.67, LHP Fernando Abad 3.68, Holland 3.72

WHIP

Albers 0.85 (7th among MLB relievers), Neshek 0.87, Cishek 0.90, Morrow 0.92, Petit 0.95, Hunter 0.97, Minor 1.02, Swarzak 1.03, Hernandez 1.04, Smith 1.04, Reed 1.05, Nicasio 1.08, RHP Peter Moylan 1.10, McGee 1.10, RHP Sergio Romo 1.10, Davis 1.14, Holland 1.15, RHP Brandon Kintzler 1.15

K/BB

Neshek 11.50 (2nd in MLB), Smith 7.10, Hernandez 5.78, Petit 5.61, Morrow 5.56, Reed 5.07, RHP Koji Uehara 4.17, Swarzak 4.14, Minor 4.00

HR/9

Morrow 0.00 (led MLB), Neshek 0.43, Rodney 0.49, Minor 0.58, Shaw 0.59, Cishek 0.60, Moylan 0.61, Nicasio 0.62, McGee 0.63, Kintzler 0.63

fWAR

Neshek 2.5 (5th in MLB), Swarzak 2.2, Minor 2.1, Petit 1.9, Smith 1.8, Morrow 1.6, Shaw 1.5, McGee 1.5, Nicasio 1.4, Rodney 1.3, Hunter 1.2

Inherited Runner Score Percentage

LHP Jorge De La Rosa 3%, LHP Wade LeBlanc 13%, LHP Oliver Perez 15%, Neshek 15%, RHP Matt Belisle 15%, Smith 20%, RHP Carlos Torres 21%

Multiple Inning Outings

Petit 34 (led MLB), Swarzak 30, RHP Dustin McGowan 29, Stammen 27, Shaw 22, Minor 21, LeBlanc 20, Duensing 19, Torres 18, Moylan 18

Zero Day Rest Outings

Moylan 30 (led MLB), Reed 27, Shaw 23, Swarzak, 21, Nicasio 21, Duensing 18, Kinztler 18, Neshek 18

wOBA in High Leverage

Davis .185, Petit .190, Neshek .194, Belisle .203, Reed .208, McGee .220, Rodney .226, Swarzak .240, Smith .241, Moylan .261

wOBA vs LH

Morrow .139, Minor .196, Hunter .224, Kinztler .231, Nicasio .235,de la Rosa .241, Belisle .241, Swarzak .245, Holland .246

wOBA vs RH

Cishek .192, Neshek .210, Albers .216, Moylan .218, Petit .220, Rodney .225, Smith .234, Morrow .239, McGee .255

I know that there is a lot here to digest but I wanted to take a look at the incredible depth of the reliever free agent market. There is value in this group far outside the top guys that are going to get multi-year deals.

One name that jumps out at me is former Met Yusmeiro Petit, not only because of his effectiveness but the way he was used for multiple innings at a high rate.

This isn’t a one-year wonder with Petit, previous to struggling with the Nationals in 2016, he had a 3.66 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 1.13 WHIP and 4.62 SO/W for the Giants in four seasons. He could be a relatively cheap piece that would give the Mets a guy that can pitch in multiple roles.

Another name I like on this list is righty David Hernandez struck 52 and walked only nine batters over 55 innings this past season. Hernandez uses his plus curveball as a weapon against both hands. He was particularly dominant against righties though in 2017 with 26 strikeouts to one walk in 119 plate appearances. He’s another piece that could help lengthen the Mets bullpen without a paying a premium.

After looking at this breakdown I’ve decided to call it the offseason of the submariner; Cishek, Neshek, Smith and most surprisingly Moylan all had fine seasons and would be assets in the Mets pen. Moylan quietly let the majors with 79 appearances and gave up only 40 hits in 59.1 innings because of his domination of righties (.479 OPS).

The Mets do have a strong group of minor league relievers at higher levels after trades and breakout seasons last year but they can’t rely on them if their serious about contending. It would be smart of them if they added at least two of the guys we looked at on this list today to help formulate a strong bullpen.