Amazin’ bullpen remains work in progress
The Mets have Edwin Diaz and Brooks Raley in the bullpen, followed by a significant amount of uncertainty.
In constructing a roster this offseason, president of baseball operations David Stearns has shopped in bulk for relievers without allocating much in payroll.
The largest outlay to a Mets reliever this winter has been the one-year contract worth $2 million that Jorge Lopez received last month. Other names added to the 40-man roster include Austin Adams, Max Kranick and Michael Tonkin.
The returning relief cast, aside from Diaz and Raley, includes Drew Smith, Phil Bickford, Reed Garrett, Grant Hartwig, Sean Reid-Foley and Josh Walker, none of whom distinguished himself last season when the Mets had a 4.45 ERA from the bullpen that ranked 22nd in MLB.
That was a bullpen minus Diaz, the All-Star who spent the season rehabbing from surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee after he was injured in a celebration at the World Baseball Classic.
On a Zoom call this week, Stearns acknowledged the bullpen is still a work in progress.
“Finding ways to solidify our bullpen makes some sense,” Stearns said. “We can do that in a variety of different ways. It can be lengthening out that unit, it can be providing different looks, but that certainly is an area of the team we’ll continue to look at.”
With roughly a month remaining until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, there is no shortage of proven relievers available, and the Mets could simply wait out the market if they choose to add a proven arm. But Stearns also said he views the bullpen as an “evolution” that occurs throughout the season and he could choose to wait.
“Often what that unit looks like in April and May is very different from what that unit looks like in August and September,” Stearns said. “There are probably names in really good bullpens in August and September that no one was really thinking about playing prominent roles in those bullpens at the front of the year, so I am very cognizant that this is a part of a team that generally has some fluidity to it and generally can go through different versions of itself throughout the course of a year.”
The Diamondbacks are an example of a team that overhauled the bullpen at the trade deadline and found late-season success, reaching the World Series.
“We want to put together the best unit in the pen that we possibly can as of Opening Day,” Stearns said. “But we also recognize there are going to be opportunities to change the mix and potentially improve as we go through a full season.”
Some of the names still on the market:
Josh Hader: The lefty fireballer, who was traded by Stearns with the Brewers, is the top bullpen name remaining in free agency. Imagine the Mets pairing him with Diaz, for a potential all-time great back end of the bullpen.
Aroldis Chapman: No stranger to the spotlight following his time with the Yankees and winning World Series rings with the Cubs and Rangers, the left-hander had another strong season last year, when he recorded 103 strikeouts in 58 ¹/₃ innings.
Keynan Middleton: The right-hander was solid for the White Sox before excelling with the Yankees over his final 13 appearances of last season, a stretch in which he posted a 1.13 ERA. Middleton induced soft contact and got hitters to swing and miss. He ranked in MLB’s 97th and 96th percentile in those categories, respectively, according to Statcast.
Adam Ottavino: The veteran is still available after declining the option on his contract for next season to pursue a multiyear deal.
Liam Hendriks: Fought cancer and returned to the White Sox last season to appear in five games. The right-hander was an All-Star in three of the four previous seasons.