Mets: Five areas for improvement in 2017

Bullpen

The Mets bullpen in 2016 was anchored on the backend by Jeurys Familia and Addison Reed.

Still, despite having excellent overall stats, including a league-leading 51 saves, Familia’s year left a lot to be desired. Throughout the year, Familia regularly walked the tightrope in the ninth, routinely putting men on base and narrowly escaping disaster.

Familia’s year was low-lighted by some of the most painful implosions. Blowing a four-run lead vs. the Dodgers in May and wasting a huge home run from Yoenis Cespedes against the Cardinals in late July immediately come to mind. Of course no one wants to remember his performance in the Wild Card game in October where he struggled to record even one out before giving up an eventual game-winning 3-run home run in the ninth.

The Mets found some late-inning stability in the likes of Fernando Salas, but he like Jerry Blevins and Jim Henderson, will likely not be back. There were flashes of success by guys like Hansel Robles and later in the year, Josh Smoker, but the Mets can’t count on them with any regularity. The Mets must do better in 2017.

Having a powerhouse back-end of the bullpen is a trend the Mets should get onboard with. With the (low but still have to note!) potential of a lengthy suspension for Familia, the Mets need to have more stability in the late innings. The Mets also need to be mindful that 4/5 of their potential rotation are coming off surgery and will most likely be limited in pitch-count throughout the season.

There are some great bullpen options available via free-agency. If the Mets leverage someone like Jay Bruce (who is now expendable) in a trade offer, they may be able to secure a bullpen piece outside of free-agency.