New York Mets: Three free agent relievers to upgrade the bullpen

Some old friends may be able to help provide depth for the New York Mets.

While the left-handed reliever market isn’t very deep, there are a few quality arms available and old friend Justin Wilson is one of those arms.

Wilson isn’t exactly an “old friend”, having pitched with the New York Mets over the last two seasons, but the 33-year-old, nine-year MLB veteran has been a reliable bullpen arm across his career, one which the Mets could look to bring back for 2021.

The walks may be an issue (10.7% career walk rate), but Wilson has struck out just over 26% of hitters in each of his two seasons with the Mets, has seen his groundball rate sit between 45-51%, and has a 2.91 ERA across 68 games.

Wilson also doesn’t allow very many hard-hit balls. Both his 28% hard-hit rate and 84.5 mph average exit velocity on balls in play ranked among the top 8% of all pitchers last season.

Another familiar face option could also be Chasen Shreve. Shreve had a good first season with the Mets last year, posting a 33% strikeout rate, a .189 average against, and a 3.96 ERA across 25 innings.

Recycling all old names isn’t the most exciting thing to think about, but this Mets bullpen is already pretty good, even better with the addition of May. Familiar faces to provide depth isn’t a bad idea, especially if New York ends up throwing a bunch of money elsewhere.