Reese Kaplan -- What Will the Bullpen Be After the Fire Sale?

What will the 2027 bullpen look like for the Mets?  As difficult as it is to envision the starting rotation, the relief corps is even more difficult to assess. 

Right now Devin Williams is the closer and is in the midst of a multiyear contract paying him $51 million over three years.  It is structured with a bonus and deferred payouts, but the fact remains he is due $17 million per year on average.  Is he earning it?  Probably not.

Thus far Williams is pitching to a more than 2 full runs worse in ERA than he has done for his entire career.  There are times he looks unhittable and other times (fairly often) when you’re holding your breath each time he takes the mound to try to preserve a lead.  He currently has 14 saves which is not terrible for a team that’s only won 41 games.  He has saved as many as the 36 games in a season, though he’s not quite in the mold of former closer Edwin Diaz.  He is healthy and as bad as he’s been his ERA is still better than what he did in the Bronx during 2025. 

Many people have already lost faith in Williams and despite his long history with David Stearns the end results he’s producing does not fill anyone with great faith in his dominance on the mound.  Consequently many people are advocating that Devin Williams be one of many shopped around during this July/August fire sale.  He is not on any of the lists circulating around identifying players who absolutely won’t be traded.  Therein lies the problem.  Who closes if Williams changes teams?

Well, Luke Weaver has a pocket history of occasionally closing games when he was with the Yankees.  He was not the primary closer and only has 13 for his entire career, but he does pitch with the qualty they’d hoped to obtain from Williams.  He’s on a contract for two years at a total value of $22 million.  If he becomes the closer then there is some payroll savings there.

The next obvious candidate is elder statesman Huascar Brazoban.  With the Marlins he was a successful setup guy but never was handed closing duties.  He may or may not succeed in that role and the tail end of 2026 is certainly a reasonable audition to see how he fares. 

The other two candidates — southpaws Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter — are slated to be free agents at year’s end and likely are two of the first soon-to-be former Mets.  For purposes of the remainder of 2026 and beyond they are not even in the equation.

We also won’t go through the litany of AAAA pitchers who have bounced between the Mets and Syracuse.  None of them have provided enough quality anywhere in their careers that suggests they would be anything but extra inning closers out of necessity, not prime time as a first option.

Now, take a very deep breath and consider the unthinkable.  The Mets are on the hook to pay Kodai Senga not only for the remainder of 2026 but also for 2027 at a rate of $15 million per year.  Given his face planting as a starting pitcher each of the past two years you’re not likely going to find anyone willing to entrust him every fifth day in that role anymore.

So here’s the so-bad-it-can’t-be-good idea.  How about converting Senga into a closer?  He is a high strikeout pitcher who has had injury issues.  As a closer he might pitch more frequently but seldom for more than a single inning at a time.  That ghost fork when working is nearly unhittable.  So, if Dennis Eckersley could reinvent himself in his 30s into an effective reliever, could the same thing happen for Senga?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  However, if you’d stuck paying him for another year and a half then perhaps it’s something to consider with the tail end of this season serving as his trial in this role. 

Expect a lot of new faces in the pen next year.