Mets acquire lefty reliever Jerry Blevins for Matt den Dekker

The Mets announced on Monday that they have acquired left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins from the Nationals in exchange for Matt den Dekker.

The move comes just hours after the Mets acquired lefty reliever Alex Torres from the Padres for Cory Mazzoni and a PTBNL.

Blevins, 31, had a 4.77 ERA (2.77 FIP) and 1.24 WHIP in 57.1 innings (64 appearances) for Washington last season while striking out 10.36 per 9.

Blevins held lefties to a .153/.202/.217 line last season while allowing no home runs.

For his career, Blevins has held lefties to a .205/.264/.330 line.

Blevins is due to make $2.4 million this coming season.

Matt den Dekker, who goes to the Nationals in the deal, was slated to open the season with Triple-A Las Vegas.

Thoughts:

The Mets added a crossover lefty in Alex Torres earlier in the day, but Jerry Blevins is a true lefty specialist.

While he dominated lefties in 2014 and has been outstanding against them in his career, Blevins allowed righties to hit .295/.398/.423 against him in 2014.

Blevins’ career numbers against righties aren’t terrible (.244/.338/.391), but he’s much better utilized as an option to face primarily left-handers.

With both Blevins and Torres now in the fold, the Mets are insinuating that they’re likely to carry three lefties in the Opening Day bullpen – the two aforementioned names and Rule 5 draftee Sean Gilmartin.

With the above three left-handers in the fold, the four pitchers who join them in the pen will almost certainly be Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, Carlos Torres, and either Rafael Montero or Dillon Gee (whoever isn’t in the rotation).

When Vic Black (presumably headed to the disabled list) and Bobby Parnell return, the Mets will have some decisions to make.

Also notable here is the fact that Blevins will make $2.4 million in 2014. It’s not a hefty sum, but it disproves the belief of some that the Mets couldn’t afford a lefty reliever.