Reese Kaplan -- Spending Versus Spending Wisely

For a team that was willing to go an entire season with just a single lefty option in the pen, the current state of “wealth” in terms of roster options is unprecedented.   Last year it was just Jerry Blevins who, after a few outstanding campaigns for the Amazins’, truly stunk up the joint in the beginning of the season.  From the beginning of April through the end of May it appeared he was doing his Jason Vargas impression with an ERA of 5.84. 

However, things began to click for the veteran and over the next two months he was markedly better, delivering a more typical 3.29 ERA for June and July.  His August and September was downright weird with his ERA once again jumping to an unsightly 5.04 but his batting average against was an impressive .203.  There was a slight blip in walks with 6 issued in nearly 17 innings of work which is mediocre but not awful. 

I recite the recent Blevins history to go down the path the Mets have chosen for 2019.  Going into the season the sole lefty in the pen figured to be Daniel Zamora, the former Pirate farmhand obtained in a DFA trade of strikeout specialist (and wildman) Josh Smoker.  Zamora had done well in his minor league career and in a late season audition pitched to a very fine 3.00 ERA over a 16 game/9 IP trial. 

Recognizing that banking on the pretty much unproven Zamora may not be the way to go the Mets then made an astute and somewhat under-the-radar move when they inked 29 year old veteran southpaw Luis Avilan who was inexplicably cut loose from the Phillies despite featuring a 19-10 record over 399 games with a 3.09 ERA.  BVW got him to sign a minor league deal, preserving a 40-man roster spot for additional maneuverings.  They had their veteran reinforcement in hand.

Then came the somewhat surprising contract to the Cajun Chef, Justin Wilson.  The baseball version was coming off a couple of not-too-impressive campaigns at Wrigley Field.  He came over from Detroit in 2017 and pitched to a 2-0 record but with a 5.09 ERA.  His strikeout numbers were great --- 12.7 per 9 IP but he was also walking 9.7 over that same span.  Ugh!  He did improve last year, going 4-5 with a 3.46 ERA over 71 games but again horrendous control led to an ugly WHIP of nearly 1.50.  At least the logic when they inked Anthony Swarzak was that he was coming off a GOOD year.  The same can’t be said for Wilson who, for his career, walks 4 per 9 IP and has not done well for 1+ seasons.  Yet BVW handed him a $10 million, 2-year contract.

That brings us full circle to Mr. Blevins who decided to return to the Oakland A’s on a minor league deal that will pay him the less-than-princely sum of $1.5 million for a single year should he come north with the big club.  For his career Blevins holds a 29-13 record and a much more impressive ability to keep the ball in the strike zone.  It is as if BVW was channeling his inner Sandy Alderson when he made this deal. 

For comparison’s sake, the much maligned Oliver Perez returned to the Indians on a one-year deal for the price of just $2.5 million after posting a 1.39 ERA and a WHIP of 0.752 last season with a better than 6:1 strikeout to walk ratio.  Yes, it would appear that when tiptoeing through the field of available left handed relievers, BVW apparently landed squarely in a cow patty.

Don’t get me wrong.  I truly hope Wilson can return to his Detroit form in 2017 when he had a 2.68 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00, but recent history suggests he is spiraling out of control but BVW saw fit to pay more than double for him when less expensive and better options existed.