Enter Sandman

In 2006, the New York Mets Bullpen was rated first in the National League in ERA.  This helped the team to come within outs of becoming the National League representative in the 2006 world series.  Last Season the bullpen was ranked eighth and was terrible down the stretch in a handful of games decided by walks and homers by tired and shaky relief pitchers.  However the Mets' strategy over the offseason was to fix this problem by getting the best starting pitcher in baseball... Wait, how does getting a starting pitcher help the bullpen?, you ask?  The answer is that if Johan replaces a shaky starting pitcher giving us a much stronger starting rotation, there is less need to use relievers and the bad relievers could pitch when we have the game in the bag, while the good relievers can rest and pitch in games when they need good relief.  So now I will tell you about these relievers, it is going to basically look alot like last year.  There is a lack of variety amongst the pitchers (2 power throwers, and the rest sit around the 88-90 range): (Also Duaner when healthy will be here)

Matt Wise (Pre-Setup Man):  You probably never heard of him but he has been in the league for 7 years and we signed him for a little over a million dollars this offseason.  His main problem was that he hit Pedro Lopez in the face last July and that caused him to change his pitch structure from throwing a nice heater inside, but it looks like we are seeing better pitches from him now and he is regaining that pitch and we are likely to see him in the bullpen for 2008.

Scott Schoenweis (Relief):  If there is a lefty up, Schoenweis is a possibility in the bullpen... because he has shown trouble with getting righties out.  But look for him to gather up a couple of saves here and there.

Joe Smith (Relief): Sort of the opposite of Schoenweis.  He struggles with lefties and could get righties out.  However, Joe Smith is young and does have all of the utilities to be a big-time closer... Is this the year that we see his talent bloom?

Jorge Sosa (Relief Roller Coaster):  Yeah thats right, 2007 was a roller coaster for Sosa.  Started the season in the roation going 4-1 with 3.64 ERA then went 0-3 with around a 6.50 ERA.  Then he got bumped into the bullpen and went 2-0 in August and 0-2 in September.  But who knows what Sosa will look like in 2008 with Santana around and a stronger starting rotation.

Pedro Feliciano (Relief/Setup): Same deal, who knows what kind of pitcher he will be.  I hope its the kind that gets batters out.  That is all I care about.

Aaron Heilman (Main Setup Man):  What should happen, is that The starting pitcher will pitch 6-7 innings and then Willie should give the ball to Heilman followed by Billy.  Aaron is one of the best setup men in the league.  I am saying this because even though he had 4 losses down the stretch in '07, he still maintained a 2.34 ERA and those losses came on runs when ground balls kept finding holes.  Heilman is a ground ball pitcher and can get players out to set the game up for Billy.  If Billy is out for any reason, Heilman is the man who will close the game out.

Billy Wagner (Closer):  Billy is the heart and soul of this bullpen.  Billy throws hard and really showed that he is the best closer in the national league.  Although he is 26 and complained of being tired late in 2007, after watching the collapse, he may have realized that we wants to win a ring and the only way to do that is to close every game properly.  Over the offseason Billy has added a curveball and a changeup in addition to his slider and heated fastball, making him a unique 4 pitch closer. If Billy's stuff is hot in '08 then the Mets will be hot in '08.

2008 NL East Bullpen Predictions:

1) New York Mets:  Listen, Billy is one of the best closers in baseball and is a lock for 45+ saves, while setup man Aaron Heilman will also throw his heat.  When Duaner Sanchez gets back, assuming he coudl return to pre-injury form, this bullpen should be the best in the East.

2) Philadelphia Phillies: The acquisition of Brad Lidge will really help this bullpen.  With Lidge getting around 35 saves and setup man Tom Gordon setting the game up for him, look for the closeouts to be pretty decent.  However, behind them 2 it looks pretty thin.  JC Romero and Ryan Madsen ( who is coming off a shoulder injury) should be okay.

3) Atlanta Bravers:  For the first time ever, Rafael Soriana will get to be a full time closer.  Soriana defenitely has some talent but his problem is that he is always getting injured.  Their relief is basically Peter Moylan (who had a decent '07 with a 1.80 ERA) and Manny Acosta.

4) Washington Nationals:  Although at times it was rough Chad Cordero, the Nats closer, still got it done with around 35 saves.  They have a great setup man in Jon Rauch, who had 33 holds last season.

5) Florida Marlins:  Being on the Marlins, there may not be many save opportunities but if there are, Kevin Gregg is their man.  Last season Gregg had 32 saves but also led all full-time closers in walks with 40 BBs in 84 innings pitched.