Maybe the Mets should bring back the bullpen carts from the 1970′s could be Mets relievers are exhausted from running in from the pen

Watching the implosion of the Mets bullpen has pissed me off as it has you but fact is, this bullpen has sucked all year.  If I can take the Mets to task for anything to do with this pungent pen, it waited too long to fix it, the trade deadline may be to make your move.

We’ve heard all the names from Huston Street, Jonathan Broxton, Grant Balfour and Frankie Rodriguez as relievers the Mets have or should target as Mets fans feel anyone other than relievers who wear a Mets uni will pull a Mighty Mouse and save the day.  Not one of those pitchers is guaranteed to be any better than who the Mets are currently employing as relief pitchers and none of them will come for free.   Take K-Rod for instance, he’s owed about $4mil for the rest of the season and before the All Star break he could have been had for a next to nothing just by picking up the rest of the money on his contract. Now, it will be a bit tougher since he has taken over the closer role from John Axford. You could probably get Axford for nothing but the idea here is to improve the bullpen and Axford is far from an improvement.

Huston Street would be a fine addition to the Mets pen and if Alderson could get him plus LHP Joe Thatcher in a deal, that would be a huge upgrade. Street is owed $3+ mil for rest of 2012 with a $9 mil option for 2013 but the club can invoke a $500K buy out. Thatcher is an arbitration eligible player who  signed for $700 K for the year, so the money commitment to both player would be less than $4mil, if the money is prohibitive to the Skill Sets then just shut the franchise down but I have to think they could scrape some of Bill Maher’s minority money along with the other silent partners who bought in to pay for this bullpen upgrade. So what would the coast be in players? I have no idea but I know the Mets baseball ops has a big commitment to rebuilding the minor league system  and they will not over pay in players to get a two month pitcher rental. 

The Rockies have a pair of relievers, RHP Matt Belisle and RHP Rafael Betancourt who I’d think you’d be able to obtain for a C level prospect or two. Belisle has stranded 79 % of the runners he has inherited which is one of the huge holes in the Mets bullpen, the ability of relievers to come in and get big outs with runners on base, and his walk rate of 1.5/9 IP is fabulous. The money a club would take on is about $1.8 mil for the rest of this season and in 2013 Belisle is owed $4.1 mil, so again the more money a club would agree to take on the less you would have to give up for Belisle or for Betancourt who has a stupid contract that pays the 36 year old right hander $4 mil for 2012 and $4.25 for 2013. The Rox would have to eat a lot of dead presidents to deal him.

RHP Shawn Camp of the Cubs would be a fine addition since he hardly makes any money (baseball wise that is) at $550K. Camp’s 80 % LOB number is what got my attention but I would bet he will be used as a tag team partner of either Matt Garza or Ryan Dempster when Theo Epstein decided to deal either or both starters.

Former Met right handed pitcher Darren O’Day could be on the Mets radar as he has a 87 % success rate when dealing with inherited runners but even though the Birds are double digits behind the Highlanders in the AL East race, they are just a half game off a Wild Card berth so I’d look at the O’s as buyers not sellers so O’Day may be off limits.

Trying to build up this Mets bullpen is not going to be easy. I have no idea how much money the Skill Sets have allotted to upgrade this team at the trade deadline. It would behoove the Mets owners to show the fan base they are back in the game by taking on additional salary, if they don’t they will be torn apart by the fan base and they will deserve every bit it of nastiness that will be hurled at them.

The Skill Sets can’t expect Mets fan to care until they see ownership cares, your move Freddy.

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