Yesterday the Texas Rangers signed closer Joe Nathan to a two year $14.5M with a club option for a third year at $9M. Nathan, who turns 37 today, was once one of baseball’s best closers from 2004 to 2009 he
compiled 246 saves, made it to the All-Star game four times, and finish top five in the Cy Young Award voting twice. Then he had Tommy John surgery in 2010, which forced him to miss all of the 2010 season. He came back in 2011 and was clearly not the same pitcher he was two years early. Last season in 44.2 innings pitched he had a 4.84 ERA and collected just 14 saves.
Now he gets a fresh start in Texas, where he and the Rangers hope that last season was just an adjustment period. Jonathan Papelbon set the market for closers early this off-season with a four year $50M deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Now, a pitcher like Nathan is given $7M a year after a very poor season in 2011. So what’s this mean for the Mets, who are looking to spend money on one of the many closers out there?
The Mets are willing to give out $8M-$10M for multiple years for a closer, put that might be hard to get after Nathan’s deal. Pitchers like Ryan Madson, Heath Bell, Francisco Rodriguez, and Francisco Cordero are most likely out of the Mets price range after seeing what Nathan got. The Mets now need to turn their attention to the Type-B’ers: Jonathan Broxton, Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, and Matt Capps. Broxton makes the most sense for the Mets and could serve as a cheaper option to Nathan.
Broxton is similar to Nathan in the fact that they both had injuries that affected their seasons, but were dominate closers in the past. In 2009 Broxton threw 76 innings with a 2.61 and had 36 saves. The next season he struggled in the second half of the season and finished witha 4.04 ERA. Last season he only threw 12.1 innings and had a 5.68 ERA. Teams are hoping that he is fully recovered from his elbow and shoulder problems.
Broxton should be a pitcher who won’t get a lot of money thrown at him, which is great for the Mets. He should fit right within their price range of two years $8M-$10M. However, throwing around that type of money during these tough finical times for the Mets might be a problem, especially on a high risk like Broxton. Sandy Alderson is more inclined to go with a low risk-high reward type pitcher. But after what Nathan got from the Rangers, smaller contracts for closer might have been throw out the window.
Nathan’s contract seemed high because of his age and recent injury. Francisco, Capps and Rauch seem to be all the Mets can afford and I hope they sign 2 of the 3. Broxton intrigues me but unless he can be had for an incentive laden contract, the Mets can’t afford paying him up front money and then him being hurt. One rumor is Pelfry for Street which would only be a net cost of 2M and may leave money for 2 of the 3 previously mentioned. It is apparent that the market for closers is not the bargain as previously expected and the Mets need more than one addition for their bullpen.