Due to the ongoing thought of the Mets need for more hitters making my head hurt, I've decided to instead focus on the other form of needed 'relief'.
Towards the end of last season, the Mets seemed to put together a few strings of great relief. However, much of that was anchored by a certain 41 year old who is no longer with the club. However, as goes the life of baseball players, especially relievers, one guy leaves, another guy takes his place.
One 'Moneyball' signing of Marlon Byrd, led to Sandy Alderson and Company landing a 25 year old fireballer named Vic Black, via trade. All of a sudden, it looks like a 36 year old minimum wage outfielder following a PED season, has ultimately led to quite possibly the next Mets closer, pending the health of the incumbent, Bobby Parnell.
Speaking of Parnell, who I absolutely wish all the good health and speedy recovery in the world, I can't help but keep remembering just how good he has been the past 2 seasons. Minus a few botched outfield plays, and some bad timed fastballs down the middle of the plate, Parnell has been the most consistent Mets reliever since early 2012.
So the closer role, pending good health, will return to Parnell. And maybe, just maybe, Black, along with fellow fireballer Jeurys Familia, will bring some flare and power to the end of that bullpen.
Familia, coming off surgery, was able to participate in Winter Ball this year. The stats....well....they seem to mirror exactly what all fans have expected of the young man, based on past projections, assessments, and evaluations. A stat line of : 8.1 innings , 8 hits , 6 runs , 4 walks , 4 wild pitches, and 11 Ks.
According to what you read, the best news coming out this participation is simply that Familia was pitching.....and was healthy.......and was throwing upper 90s.
To me, Familia might be the key to this bullpen. Again, simply because of all that potential. During the playoffs, everyone raved about that St. Louis Cardinals bullpen, which was filled with young, strong arms.
Well, call me crazy (ok, just call me a newly optimistic Mets fan.....wait....that is kinda the same thing), but the Mets seem to quietly be building the same arsenal of arms. 25 yr old Black, 24 year old Familia, 25 year old Gonzalez Germen, and throw in newly acquired 'moneyball' pickup Joel Carreno, age 26.
Currently, in Winter Ball,
Germen has a stat line of : 7.1 innings, 6 hits , 0 runs , 5 walks and 4 Ks.
Carreno has a stat line of: 8.1 innings, 8 hits , 2 earned runs, 2 walks and 11 Ks.
As for who else is competing for a spot. The team still has lefty Josh Edgin, Lefty Scott Rice, Right handed (quietly successful) reliever/starter Carlos Torres, and old faithful (well, we tried to have faith in the old man) Scott Atchison....Who, depending on who you ask, is the first guy to be removed from the 25 man roster, once another signing/trade occurs.
So, what does everybody think? Should the Mets call up some more youth to the bullpen, in the form of Jacob deGrom, and Jeff Walters?
Depending on how the free agent period has gone so far, can the Mets survive with this type of bullpen? Or will all Mets fans continue to utilize the hashtag #metsbullpenproblems during the 2014 season?
5 comments:
For the first time in my memory the Mets can go into an off season confident that they don't have to solve "the bullpen problem" (though a prolonged recovery by Parnell would certainly muddy the waters).
My focus is on what they're going to do to add some offense since they haven't had any since Beltran and Delgado left.
Keep starters starters as long as possible.
The Las Vegas rotation should look something like Montero, Syndergaard, DeGrom, Mazzoni and Verrett. It is a lot easier to put DeGrom and Mazzoni in the bullpen when needed instead of making them relievers already.
Promote the complete Binghamton bullpen to Las Vegas, Walters, Kolarek, Huchingson, Church, Bradford and Leathersich should be the making of a nice bullpen in Las Vegas.
It's great that we have such a young and talented array of bullpen arms. This has the makings of a very talented and effective group for the next several years (when you include the relief prospects like Walters, Leatherstich, et al.).
However, I think you can never have too many arms (especially with Collins ride the hot hand into the ground approach). So that being said, the Mets should look into adding one or two Rule 5 guys like DePaula, Hatley or Nelo for example. Particularly the southapaw DePaula who could be your cost-efficient LOOGY.
Short of that you keep one as your last reliever, and then when someone inevitably gets injured or becomes ineffective you DL or send him down, and your Rule 5 acquisition is a fresh arm to replace him. That way you're not rushing one of the Vegas crew-because you'll need one or two of them soon enough anyway.
If the Rule 5 sucks, then you just send him back the way he came. In today's game and where it's headed you can never have too much pitching-either in the rotation or out in the pen. Currently, the bullpen problem is 80-85% solved IMHO.
I think Sandy is going to sign a veteran reliever, but I wouldn't be troubled going into the season with Parnell, Black, Torres, Familia, Edgin, Rice and Germen. If Parnell isn't ready for April, add Walters. We really have a ton of good relievers waiting in the wings, and we are especially deep in lefties.
I don't even know why Atch is still here. I thought he was just on a one-year deal. Herb's list looks fine without him, but he could be "insurance".
I'd like to see more of Dice-K and Harang on non-guaranteed deals, and either could be used in the pen if theu get edged out of a starting job.
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