Mets unwrapped their Christmas gift early with Dellin Betances deal

The New York Mets treated the fans with an early Christmas gift with the announcement Dellin Betances would be joining the bullpen in 2020.

On December 24th, fans received quite the Christmas gift when the New York Mets made their biggest move of the offseason, so far. Relief pitcher Dellin Betances signed a one-year deal with his former team’s cross-town rival for $10.5 million.

The deal has a player option for 2021 and a vesting player option for 2022, and he can make up to $13 million if he appears in at least 70 games. Betances, who will be 32 years old at the start of the 2020 season, has spent the entirety of his seven plus-year career with the New York Yankees.

In the Bronx, he blossomed into one of the most dominant relievers of the past decade. In 381.2 IP, Betances has a 2.36 ERA, 1.043 WHIP, a jaw-dropping 621 strikeouts, 177 ERA+, 14.6 SO9, and 2.31 FIP. He is a four-time All-Star and even pitched an immaculate inning in 2017. The man can do it all.

Those who have not been following Betances closely may not understand why the Yankees did not push harder to bring him back. That is because of his disastrous 2019.

He started the season on the IL with shoulder discomfort and was subsequently transferred to the 60-day IL. It was then disclosed that he had a bone spur in his shoulder and that he would miss most of, if not all, of the 2019 season. He was able to make his 2019 debut on September 15 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

He successfully pitched two-thirds of an inning but consequently tore his Achilles while celebrating on the mound. He did not pitch again.

Betances has supposedly finished rehabilitating and will be ready to go for Spring Training, but everything that occurred that year definitely deterred the Yankees from re-signing him. The $326 million deal to sign Gerrit Cole was probably a factor in the decision-making process, as well.

This deal with Betances is great for the Mets. They are getting one of the best relievers in the game for a bargain, and it is a short-term deal. It will be relatively easy for the two to part ways if things do not work out next year.

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The Mets already have one of the best rotations in baseball. However, if Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Rick Porcello, and Michael Wacha can all turn back the clock, the Mets’ overall pitching staff will be one of the very best in the league and can very well take them on a deep playoff run.