Analysis: Mets Bullpen

Author: Will Hernandez   

    Last October, Mets GM Omar Minaya was trying to figure out how he was going to revamp his bullpen after another dreadful performance down the stretch. In the last two weeks of the 2008 collapse, the bullpen had a 5.63 ERA. The Mets went 5-8 over that span . 

    But the offseason saw much change Minaya shipped out the problems while acquiring Sean Green and J.J. Putz from the Mariners and signing Francisco Rodriquez to a three-year deal. Remember Opening Day in Cincinnati? Green, Putz and Rodriquez combined to toss 3 1/3 scoreless innings and the Mets won 2-1. The Mets bullpen woes were gone and it was time to pencil them in as the division winners. Well, injuries wrecked havoc on the 2009 Mets and a revamped bullpen wasn’t a factor.  

    The biggest question surrounding the relief corps this offseason is what to do with J.J. Putz. The righthander suffered two separate elbow injuries during the season. In June, Putz had surgery on the elbow to remove a bone spur as well as a bone fragment. Then in August, right before he was scheduled to throw in a rehab game with the Cyclones, Putz complained about soreness in his right forearm. It was soon found Putz had a slightly torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. 

Putz has an $8.6 million club option in 2010. While it is widely believed the Mets won’t pick up the option, there might not be a capable replacement on the team or through free agency. 
Brandon Lyon is an intriguing option for the Mets. The righthander converted 26 saves in 2008 for the D-Backs and pitched well this past season for the Tigers. Lyon can probably be had for cheap on a two-year contract. 
 

Chad Cordero also is an interesting option for the Mets. The 28-year-old righthander has not fully recovered from right shoulder surgery in 2008, but could be a low-risk, high-reward player for the Mets in 2010. Signing him to a minor league contract might be in the Mets best interest.  
 
The Mets internal options are slim when it comes to potentially replacing Putz in the set-up role. Bobby Parnell seems like the perfect candidate, but has been mostly disappointing as both a starter and a reliever. The righthander has shown he has the velocity, but lacks movement on his fastball. It’s likely the Mets will give him another chance in the bullpen, but Minaya needs to have a backup option. Maybe Parnell in the seventh inning and Lyon in the eighth can serve as the bridge to K-Rod.  

Pedro Feliciano had one of his best years in a Mets uniform and pitched in a career-high 88 games. But the Mets need to find another lefthanded reliever to give Feliciano some rest. Joe Beimel could be that man. His name was linked to the Mets last offseason and that will probably be the case this time around. The Dodgers hold a club option on Will Ohman. It’s likely that will not be picked because he had a subpar 2009.  

    As for the rest of the Mets bullpen, expect Brian Stokes to have a role and might compete for the set-up role. Figure Green will also play a prominent role if he can figure himself in the offseason and spring training. Will he continue with that sidearm delivery we saw him experiment with at the end of the season? Also keep an eye on Eddie Kunz. We heard a lot about him in 2008, but he spent all of 2009 in the minors. Throw him into the mix for the set-up role.

Comments

[theblueranger]

that lefty gonzalez on the braves is a free agent...
athough he is a type A and probably wants to close.
In a perfect world id rather have a bonafied setup guy be a lefty and kill 2 birds with one pitcher

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1248552551]

Good call. Those guys are rare in baseball. How many of those guys are actually out there, though?