It seems that the Mets are done spending big money this offseason, although the Stephen Drew saga is not over. But, that doesn’t rule out some minor league or low money deals to help bolster the rotation and bullpen.
One of the names that the Mets should target is Andrew Bailey, who was non-tender by the Red Sox in December. The former closer of the A’s was traded to Boston where his career took a bit of a hit. A number of injuries kept Bailey from really taking his place as the closer.
Now, with no home and a diminished market, the Mets should take a flyer on Bailey. The Mets bullpen has its strengths and weaknesses. There are still concerns over Parnell’s health and Black’s ability to take over the closer role if he isn’t ready. That’s where Bailey can help. Bringing in a guy like Bailey, with closer experience on a minor league deal can give the Mets some options.
Bailey, as the closer of the A’s posted 20+ saves in his first three seasons. He was then traded, and hasn’t been the same since.
The Mets have been linked to guys like Chris Perez, Mitchell Boggs and other veteran relievers. They want to add another option to protect Parnell/Black and to replace what LaTroy Hawkins did for the team in 2013. Bailey doesn’t have the veteran presence that Boggs or Perez bring, but he is an out-of-the box low risk, high reward type of pitcher the Mets are looking for.
And maybe it isn’t Bailey. Maybe it is Boggs or potentially Daniel Bard (another project pitcher). But the Mets and Sandy Alderson need to go outside of the box for their next signing. They want to add a starter and some veteran presence in the bullpen. Well, most of the quality options are either gone or will cost too much (see Garza, Matt and Santana, Ervin). So with that comes a risk. But most of these guys are low risk, high reward guys.
They could be the next Chris Capuano or the next Shaun Marcum. No one can really tell. But that’s all part of this giant chess game of getting a roster filled for spring training.
Fine with me. I would think they would/should be signing a couple of veteran arms to compete in Spring Training. It worked out well with LaTroy last year, that’s for sure
I’m always a little weary of ex-Oakland closers. Jason Isringhausen and Keith Foulke to a lesser extent are the only ones to have success after leaving the A’s. Billy Taylor, Billy Koch, Octavio Dotel (as a MR, not closer), Huston Street (has hung around, but not as good as he was in Oakland), now Bailey…Beane just seems to have a knack for knowing when to cut ties with a closer.
In the past 2 seasons he has averaged 22 innings. Seems like a low-risk, low/med-reward type of signing.
If the team signs any of these veteran pitchers it should be to a minor league contract. Set them up as closer in Vegas and if someone goes down to injury you have a plausible replacement.
Mets need aggressive, not afraid-to-punch type relievers…like for instance Ambiorix Burgos or K-Rod…perhaps maybe unretire Roger Clemens
Bailey could be a great reclamation project for the Mets. I thought Aardsma did a nice job last year, and could be a great option to resign as well. His 4.31 ERA is partially due to him mopping up some ugly losses. In fact, the only occasions where he let up more than 1 ER were when the Mets lost by more than 6 runs. And he didn’t give up an inherited run all season.
Yeah, I’m surprised there hasn’t been more talk of re-signing Aardsma, especially once Hawkins went elsewhere. I’d be glad to see him back on the 2014 team.
Much of his early success was due to his low BABIP.
First 22 games: 22.2 IP, 3.18 ERA, .237 BABIP.
Final 21 games: 17 IP, 5.82 ERA, .353 BABIP.
Final numbers were 39.2 IP, 4.31 ERA, .286 BABIP.
His career BABIP is .287.
He doesn’t excite me one bit, although i wouldn’t be opposed to a low risk, low base minor league deal with an opt out date like he got last year.
We can slice and dice in a bunch of different ways.
He had a two-week stretch where he was terrible. From 8/17 – 9/2 he allowed 6 ER in 6.1 IP. The rest of the season he had a 3.51 ERA in 33.1 IP.
In his first 28 games, he allowed 6 HR in 28 IP and had a 4.50 ERA despite a .276 BABIP
In his final 11 games, he allowed 1 HR in 11.2 IP and had a 3.86 ERA despite a .324 BABIP
Aardsma essentially missed the previous two seasons. That he was able to come back and be an effective reliever was pretty impressive. He had uncharacteristic trouble with the gopher ball last year – trouble that I would wager would not follow him into 2014.