Mets: Recent DFA relief pitcher Cody Allen is worth consideration

Following the Los Angeles Angels’ decision to DFA Cody Allen, we have to wonder if he’s someone the New York Mets should consider adding to their struggling bullpen.

This past Friday, the Los Angeles Angels designated reliever Cody Allen for assignment. As the baseball universe has become aware, the New York Mets bullpen is currently in bad shape and is responsible for a number of the team’s losses.

From 2013 to 2017, Allen was one of baseball’s premier and most feared relievers. However, he has been nothing short of terrible during these past two seasons. After a player is designated for assignment, other teams have seven days to claim them off of waivers or else they can be traded.

With a few days remaining and nothing really left to lose, do the Mets dare claim Allen?

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Allen was considered to be an elite player from 2013 to 2017. He posted a sub-3 ERA during that span with a FIP never higher than 3.31 and a WHIP never higher than 1.251. He even led the entire league in games finished in 2015 with 58.

What happened? What has his biggest issue been as of late? He can’t stop walking batters and he can’t stop giving up home runs. From his debut up until two seasons ago, his HR9 was never higher than 1.2 in a season and his average BB9 was around 3.6, for the most part.

In 2018, his HR9 was 1.5 and his BB9 was 4.4, which aren’t great at all. In 2019, both numbers shot up: so far, his HR9 is 3.5 and his BB9 is 7.8.

Allen just turned 30 and has been a great pitcher for the vast majority of his career, so teams shouldn’t give up on him just yet, especially not the Mets.

The Mets bullpen has been absolutely abysmal for a good part of the season, so far. An appropriate example is their most recent series, four games against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets were leading in all four games but managed to secure a victory in just one of these matchups, even though the starting pitching was great.

Who is responsible for the three losses? Why, the bullpen, of course. The bullpen has an almost seven ERA over the past month and is quickly turning into the worst pen in baseball, especially since the Nationals have begun to turn things around.

Once again, the Mets’ best relievers are being overworked and it is difficult to turn to the other relievers because the team has no depth. Allen would at least give the team another pitcher to turn to when guys like Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Diaz are overworked.

We also can’t forget that Allen worked closely with Mets’ skipper Mickey Callaway when Callaway was the Cleveland Indians’ pitching coach from 2013 to 2017. During that span, Allen posted a 2.59 ERA and notched 122 saves.

The fact that 2017 was both Callaway’s last year as the Indians’ pitching coach as well as the last year Allen was great makes you wonder if Callaway was a reason for his success.

Next. Five Mets who lived up to the hype

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Who knows? Maybe Callaway’s greatest contribution yet to the Mets will be the result of a reunion with Allen. The Mets are in need of a lot of help, especially if they hope to stay relevant and not let the division slip away. They don’t have much to lose but everything to gain by giving Allen a shot.

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