Mets last in division to address closer situation, still like A’s Bailey

by on Dec 02, 2011 03:37 pm in Bobby Parnell, Commentary, Free-Agent Tracker, New York Mets

Is anyone else starting to get worried that when we hear Sandy Alderson say “I’m waiting to see how the market develops”, what he’s really saying is “Once all the top free agents are signed, we’ll see what’s left for us.”  I know it’s early and this offseason’s expectations were to be low given the team’s payroll constraints, but seeing an NL East opponent land another big name free agent doesn’t make the pill any easier to swallow.

Photo by Michael G. Baron

With the Marlins agreeing to a 3-year/$27-million deal with Heath Bell and the Phillies bringing in Jonathan Papelbon for a cool $50 million over 4-years, the Mets are the only team in the division with questions surrounding the 9th inning.  Youngsters Craig Kimbrell and Drew Storen hold down the final frame for Atlanta and Washington, respectively, but New York’s home grown closer candidate, Bobby Parnell, was not up to snuff when thrown into the fire last season.

According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Mets will keep an eye on the remaining free agent relievers (such as Jon Rauch, Octavio Dote, and Brad Lidge), but their main target might still be Oalkand’s Andrew Bailey:

Mets like andrew bailey, hope aldersons oak ties help in trade talk. Also eyeing rauch, lidge, dotel group
December 2, 2011 3:59 pm via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite
@SI_JonHeyman
Jon Heyman

The price for the 27-year-old closer is likely to be high, as pointed out by Joel Sherman of the New York Post last week, but if Sandy can work some magic the 6’3″ righty might be New York’s answer to a division that is now stocked with Rolaids Relief Man Award candidates (four of the top-10 inishers from 2011 are now set to pitch in the NL East come 2012).

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  • 86mets

    Well, we all know they weren’t going to pay Paplebon or Bell what they ended up signing for.  Of course, the Phillies offer the chance to win immediately and the Marlins can wow with a new ballpark and promises to spend to win NOW.  The Mets can do neither.  While they almost certainly had interest in Nathan and Broxton they weren’t going to give Broxton $4 mil considering his injury history and it’s doubtful they would give the 37 year old Nathan $7 million to close.  So the fact they haven’t made a move yet isn’t totally disappointing.  Bailey would be awesome if they could beat out Boston, Toronto, and possibly others to him.  Nevertheless, Alderson realizes they need stability and quality in the 8th and 9th innings and will do his best to fill that need.  Wouldn’t push the panic button just yet.

  • Anonymous

    86 Mets, I’m not sure anyone could say it better than you just did my friend.  I guess the panic, for me at least, is starting to settle in not because of what the Mets aren’t doing, but because of what other teams in the division ARE doing.  If the Phils and Marlins are built for today and Washington and the Braves (with all their young pitching) are built for tomorrow…..where do the Mets fit in?