Reese Kaplan -- Little Known Relievers Who Could Help

Middle relievers tend to be the Rodney Dangerfields of baseball roster construction.  Though they play a pivotal role in keeping a game close leading up the designated 8^th inning and 9^th inning guys, they don’t get no respect at all. 

We Mets fans can think back to a great many non­-closer relievers who were a big part of the team’s success, including Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed during the NL Championship year of 2015.  Others who flourished in that capacity include John Franco (after the arrival of Armando Benitez), Turk Wendell, Duaner Sanchez and Jeff Innis.  Even the much-maligned Doug Sisk had a career ERA of just 3.27.  Who wouldn’t want that kind of quality on the team right now?

While there are any number of areas in which the Mets could stand to improve, the majority of folks would say that the bullpen has been the biggest disaster.  Other than the couple of recent implosions by Edwin Diaz, he’s been what they expected when they acquired him.  The rest of the pen, however, is either hurt, underperforming, or simply waiting for the Uber back to Syracuse. 

So with that situation in mind, it got me to wondering about other middle relievers around the league who have had at least a 2^nd straight year of success in that role and what the price might be to acquire a few of them.  Obviously the management team would be far more interested in pitchers that still have controllable years left on their contracts, but there were quite a few helping other ballclubs.

Scott Alexander – The Dodgers’ lefty picked right up where he left off after success in Kansas City.  He’s in his final year of controllable cost before arbitration in 2020, and sports a 3.16 ERA for his career.

Pedro Báez – Another Dodgers’ hurler, the righty has numbers even better than Alexander – 3.03 for his entire career.  He’s making $2.1 million now and is arbitration eligible next season before hitting free agency in 2021. 

Ryan Brasier – The Red Sox reliever has an eye-popping 2.48 ERA for his career despite a downturn this year in the high 3’s.  He is a bit older but has turned in two solid seasons before stumbling a bit this year.  He’s not arbitration eligible until 2021.

John Brebbia – The slender Cardinals’ righty is on the third straight stellar campaign, with a career ERA of just 2.53.  He’s arbitration eligible in 2021 and can become a FA in 2024.  He looks like a great target. 

Ty Buttrey – The Halos got a great 16 game trial from Buttrey last year and he’s followed it up this season by thus far appearing in 26 games and pitching to a miniscule 1.27 ERA.  He has a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio, too! 

Diego Castillo – The first-place contending Rays may not want to part with the portly right hander.  In his rookie season last year he appeared in 43 games as both a starter and reliever (remember, the “opener” usage in Tampa).  He finished with a 3.18 ERA and this season is even better with 26 games and a 2.54 ERA.

John Gant – While Sandy Alderson was praised when he brought in veteran utilitymen Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe, the price included Gant and Rob Whalen.  Gant was then flipped to the Cardinals where he was used as mostly a starting pitcher with good but not great results.  However, now they’ve kept him exclusively in the pen and he’s featuring a 1.26 ERA over 24 games with a nearly invisible WHIP under 0.700.  He’s arbitration eligible next year and can become a FA in 2023.

Ryne Harper – While he may not be the Harper Mets fans hoped they’d land, the 30-year-old Twins rookie has followed up his eight minor league seasons with a 2.56 ERA and now is pitching even better in the majors with a 1.61 ERA over 22 games.

Brandon Workman – Like many pitchers who couldn’t cut it as a starter, Workman found a home in the pen.  His first year exclusively as a reliver his ERA dropped by 2 full runs and he’s gotten even better since.  This year he’s been in 27 games with a 2.22 ERA and a WHIP under 1.000.  He’s making $1.15 million this season, he’s arbitration eligible next year and can become a FA in 2021. 

Most of these names are probably new to most of the readers, but they have a young track record of success over multiple seasons (with the exception of the Twins’ Harper).  They are cheap, always a high priority for ownership, and would represent a significant upgrade to the Mets’ beleaguered pen.

The cost to acquire these pitchers is a great unknown.  The Mets have Dom Smith who obviously would be of interest to any number of other ballclubs.  They have immovable contracts in Todd Frazier and Juan Lagares.  After that they’d be reaching into their lackluster and thin farm system to try to pull off deals.  Let’s assume for the moment that Smith is the price, would you do it?