When Steve Cohen purchased the New York Mets, he openly declared his intentions of turning the franchise into the “East Coast Dodgers”. One aspect of this end goal involves investing heavily in an analytics department able to find diamonds in the rough. Another aspect requires a player development staff capable of guiding the player through adjustments. It’s easy to identify proven stars. However, it’s difficult to identify a future star among other teams’ rejects and get him to realize his potential. In Cohen’s tenure, the Mets haven’t found value in minor bullpen acquisitions to supplement an expensive core.
The Mets Haven’t Found Value in Bullpen Arms
What Elite Teams Do
To build a sustained winner in a big market, a team must blend spending on established players while supplementing the roster with cheap, productive players. Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers have drafted and developed stars like Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager, and Will Smith. They’ve also acquired established stars like Mookie Betts, Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, and Freddie Freeman.
However, the Dodgers have been a powerhouse because they bring in castoffs from other teams and develop them into legitimate players. Some develop into stars (Justin Turner). Some develop into quality regular contributors (Chris Taylor). Others are high-level role players (Enrique Hernandez). Whichever level they develop to, the value the team earns from these small investments raises the floor of where the team can go.
Many contending rosters are not built in a way where they can overcome injuries to stars. However, the Dodgers have crushed any obstacle because of how successful they’ve been at developing unheralded guys. Did anyone expect Taylor to be a viable injury replacement for someone like Seager? That’s not even mentioning how capable he is at playing multiple positions in both the infield and outfield.
Players with 3 HR and 4 H in a #postseason game:
Chris Taylor, tonight
Pablo Sandoval 2012, World Series Game 1
Albert Pujols 2011, World Series Game 3
Adam Kennedy 2002, ALCS Game 5
Bob Robertson 1971, NLCS Game 2 pic.twitter.com/TbKsAcG4Jk— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 22, 2021
Taylor was a disappointment in Seattle until the team gave up on him and sent him to Los Angeles. A couple of years later, the Dodgers would not have won as many games, including a World Series in 2020, without Taylor. Similar stories can be shared about several Dodgers.
Where Cohen’s Mets Have Failed at Doing This
The Mets had a solid position player core and a decent rotation when Cohen purchased them. In his three seasons as owner, Cohen has never had a steady bullpen. Buying quality relievers is incredibly expensive, and his front office has tried to uncover cheap, unheralded options. The Mets haven’t found value in middle-inning, low-leverage bullpen arms, and it’s killed them.
In two offseasons, general manager Billy Eppler has made good deals when acquiring relievers like Adam Ottavino, David Robertson, and Brooks Raley. Bullpen arms are fickle and Eppler deserves credit for hitting on these acquisitions.
That being said, the Mets have drowned in 2023 because it’s the third straight year of the organization failing at getting value from minor acquisitions. This past offseason, Eppler emphasized the importance of having optional relievers in the bullpen. This strategy led the team to pass on bringing in one or two more established veteran arms this winter.
Instead, the Mets hoped their analytics department could identify players with untapped potential and the player development staff could help bring the best out of the player. In Spring Training, the Mets had a collection of relievers with minor league options that they acquired through waiver claims or minor trades. The team hoped one or two would thrive after working with analytics and player development staff and breakout in a low-leverage bullpen role.
Did the Mets Successfully Develop Any of These Arms?
No. Here’s a rundown of how where the Mets haven’t found value in filling out the 2023 bullpen.
John Curtiss: Curtiss signed with the Mets in April 2022 despite recently undergoing Tommy John surgery. It was a two-year deal and the Mets hoped they could rehab him during 2022 and reap the benefits of a healthy Curtiss in 2023. He was a valuable piece in the pennant-winning 2020 Tampa Bay Rays squad and pitched well for the Miami Marlins in 2021. Curtiss has struggled to a 4.58 ERA in 19 2/3 innings (15 games) with the Mets. (7.17 ERA in 21 1/3 minor league innings).
Jeff Brigham: Brigham features a great sweeper inspired by Ottavino. The Mets acquired him from the Marlins around the non-tender deadline in November. Brigham has shown good strikeout abilities but has walked too many batters. He’s looked good at times but struggled to solidify a spot in a bullpen desperate for reliability. He has a 5.16 ERA in 29 2/3 Major League innings (32 games). (11.25 ERA in eight minor league innings).
Jeff Brigham was ejected from tonight's Syracuse Mets game for having sticky substances. pic.twitter.com/94gO5rAF6y
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 10, 2023
Stephen Ridings: Ridings spent most of this season injured. However, the Mets continued hoping they could rehab him and use his power arm in the bullpen down the stretch. It was somewhat of a surprise when Ridings was released on July 30th after finally getting healthy. In 14 minor league games, he produced a 4.50 ERA in 14 minor league innings.
Sam Coonrod: New York claimed Coonrod off waivers from Philadelphia in early Spring Training. He doesn’t have much Major League success but showed great stuff, including a power fastball and above-average strikeout ability in 2021. Metrics indicated that he might have been more unlucky than bad in 2022. The Mets hoped he would rebound this season and harness his ability with the Mets’ staff. Like Ridings, Coonrod got hurt at the end of Spring Training. Finally healthy since July, Coonrod has tossed 9 1/3 innings with a 4.82 ERA in 10 games.
Elieser Hernandez: Acquired alongside Brigham, New York hoped Hernandez could rebound from a rough 2022 and serve in a multi-inning reliever, spot starter role. Trevor Williams proved valuable for New York in this role last season but departed via free agency. Unfortunately, Hernandez has dealt with a few injuries since late March and has only thrown 9 1/3 minor league innings, most of which came in rehab stints.
Other pitchers acquired in a similar fashion that have been non-factors include Denyi Reyes, Reed Garrett, Vinny Nittoli, Dennis Santana, Edwin Uceta, and William Woods. This doesn’t even begin to mention the disappointments from holdovers like Tommy Hunter, Stephen Nogosek, and Drew Smith, let alone names from Cohen GMs pre-Eppler. True Mets fans remember the winter of hype surrounding the Sam McWilliams signing.
Why These Types of Players Are Important
The Mets never expected to necessarily rely on these players or win a division because of them. They did, however, hope to turn one or two of them into reliable, big-league arms able to keep the team in ballgames. Instead, too many pitchers have imploded in the middle innings for New York this year. This caused games to either essentially be over by the sixth inning or manager Buck Showalter to overuse important, high-leverage arms.
When contracting the team, the Mets haven’t found value around the edges of the roster to support an expensive core. Once again, the Mets will head into the offseason needing bullpen arms. With many holes to fill, the front office will again try to find and develop undervalued arms.
Main photo credits:
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Players mentioned:
Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager, Will Smith, Mookie Betts, Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, Freddie Freeman, Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson, Brooks Raley, John Curtiss, Jeff Brigham, Stephen Ridings, Sam Coonrod, Elieser Hernandez, Trevor Williams, Denyi Reyes, Reed Garrett, Vinny Nittoli, Dennis Santana, Edwin Uceta, William Woods, Tommy Hunter, Stephen Nogosek, Drew Smith, Sam McWilliams
