New York Mets: Is This Bullpen Good Enough After Offseason Additions?

Looking back at the 2011 season, the major downfall of the New York Mets was their bullpen. It was 2nd worst in the National League with a 4.33 ERA, while finishing tied for 5th worst in the NL with 24 blown saves.

The bullpen also finished in the bottom three in the NL in other important categories, such as batting average against, WHIP, and defense independent ERA. It didn't really even take delving into deeper stats to see how bad the Mets' bullpen was last year.

Their performance in 2011 was shown even further when GM Sandy Alderson decided to basically overhaul it during the offseason.

Alderson added closer Frank Francisco and set-up man Jon Rauch through free agency, and added middle reliever Ramon Ramirez through a trade with the San Francisco Giants. These three additions seem as though they are going to all be crucial to the Mets in 2012 because, the way I see it, they're innings seven through nine.

I believe that Ramirez will be Terry Collins' main 7th-inning reliever and Rauch will see some time as the set-up man behind Bobby Parnell, while all signs point towards Frank Francisco closing ball games.

At this point, my best estimate for rounding out the bullpen is as follows: Bobby Parnell, Tim Byrdak, Manny Acosta and Pedro Beato. The good thing about this year is that every pitcher appears to have pre-determined roles, so there won't be much need for mixing and matching with pitcher's being in positions they are not comfortable with.

Let's look at the roles that the pitcher's in the Mets bullpen are likely to play.

Tim Byrdak - Byrdak has the easiest role to define, as he would be the Mets' only left-handed reliever in this scenario. Byrdak will be the left-handed specialist and will likely fill the same role that Pedro Feliciano filled a few years ago. Byrdak will see a lot of action and his number of games appeared in might be quite a large number. Most people would probably want another left-handed reliever in the bullpen, but I don't see another one being able to earn a spot.

Manny Acosta - Acosta didn't join the Mets until June of last year, and he struggled a bit out of the gate. However, he recovered very nicely and after that first bad month was very effective. Acosta pitched to a 2.31 ERA after the all-star break in 32 appearances.

He should be a mainstay in the bullpen in 2012 and, although he probably saw his role get reduced when the Mets traded for Ramirez, he should still get plenty of action.

Pedro Beato - Pedro got off to a tremendous start in his rookie year and the Mets looked like they were going to find a rule 5 gem. Beato didn't give up an earned run in his 14 April Innings and batters only hit .156 off of him. However, hitters started to figure him out and he ended up posting a 5.67 ERA after the all-star break.

There is a lot of potential for him though, with a fastball consistent in the mid-90's with good break and a quality slider. Beato should be given opportunity to continue to develop as a reliever and could feature in that role in the Mets' bullpen for years to come. 

Ramon Ramirez - Ramirez is slotted as the main 7th inning guy for this season, with the chance of becoming the set-up man if Rauch and/or Parnell are not able to succeed in that role. Ramirez had a very consistent season for the Giants last year, posting an ERA above 2.25 in only 2 of the 6 months. Also, his numbers before and after the all-star break are almost identical.

The reason I bring this up is because that's exactly what the Mets need out of their bullpen; Consistency. If Andres Torres is able to produce even a little bit in the lineup, the Pagan trade can end up being a very good one for the Mets.

Bobby Parnell - Parnell had a rough time of it in 2011. He was having a pretty good year up until he got moved into the closers role. That's when we all found out that the closer position that the Mets wanted Parnell to move into, is probably not happening anytime soon.

While Parnell didn't post a bad ERA in the closer's role, he managed to only save 6 of his 12 opportunities. 50% is a rate that no team wants to see out of their closer. In 2012, Parnell will most likely move back into the set-up role where he was most comfortable and very effective last season.

Jon Rauch - 2011 wasn't a great year for the tallest pitcher in major league baseball. Rauch posted a 4.85 ERA in 52 innings with the Blue Jays. While he has had success in the past, Rauch has never been a dominant reliever. His best years were in the mid to late 2000's with the Nationals, but it appears as though he has been slowly declining ever since.

I still think it was a good signing for the Mets because he has the potential to be a consistently good arm in the bullpen if he can get back to his form from just a few years ago. However, unlike most people, I don't think he will fill the set-up role. I think that he will be the "back-up" set-up man to Bobby Parnell and just used as a general reliever otherwise. 

Frank Francisco - The most important role in the bullpen this year goes to Frank Francisco. Last year was really the tale of two seasons for Francisco. He got shelled to the tune of a 5.92 ERA before the all-star break, but afterwards pitched beautifully, posting a 1.37 ERA while being a perfect 7-7 in save opportunities. The second half of the season is why the Mets gave Francisco a little more money then some people thought they should have, but following all the problems the Mets' bullpen had last year, I think he's worth it.

To sum up, I believe that there are two main strengths to the bullpen this year. The first is having clearly defined roles that pitchers know they will be pitching in day in and day out, so that they can prepare themselves both mentally and physically.

The second is depth. This is something the Mets didn't really have last year, or at least quality depth. By bringing in three very capable relievers, to add to the few that they already had, I think the Mets' bullpen has good potential for this season. While they probably won't be at the top of the league as far as bullpen statistics go, I don't see it hurting them anywhere near as much as it did last season.

So, to answer the question posed in the title of this article: Yes, I believe that the Mets have pieced together a quality bullpen this year which should allow them to surprise some people and win some more ball games than apparently most people expect.