NY Mets must consider bringing Jeurys Familia back

New York Mets reliever Jeurys Familia’s numbers on the season won’t make your jaw drop, but the Mets must at least consider bringing him back.

The 31-year-old RHP is in the final year of a three-year deal. Familia has spent all but 30 games of his major-league career with the Mets, who felt that he still had much to offer after trading him to the Oakland A’s in 2018. Familia wasn’t good in 2019 but rebounded in 2020.

This season, Familia has a 3.95 ERA but has been better than that number might indicate. He has a career-high K/9 of 10.54, a 4.39 BB/9 (his lowest since 2018), 3.78 xERA (also his lowest since 2018), 3.47 xFIP (his highest since 2016), 3.68 SIERA (once again, his lowest since 2018), and 0.1 WAR.

He’s given up more than one earned run in just four of his 43 games. The only reason his ERA is as high as it is is because of three outings in which he gave up three and four runs.

The Mets bullpen has been good this season and Familia has been one of the team’s impactful relievers.

He’s overall been quite strong for them, especially in key situations. Familia is one of the Mets’ high-leverage bullpen arms who deserves praise and credit.

Familia will be entering his age-32 season, which gives the Mets an advantage. Familia is a good reliever, but he likely won’t get a huge deal from any team because of his age and the fact that he hasn’t been as consistent in recent years.

We also know that Familia loves being a Met- the Mets are basically all he’s ever known. The interest in keeping him around would and should be mutual.

Re-signing Familia, of course, shouldn’t hold the Mets back from bolstering the bullpen in the offseason. He probably shouldn’t have as significant a role moving forward, but he would be an incredibly impactful depth piece.

Players such as Familia are the difference-makers between contenders and everyone else.

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If the two sides can agree on an affordable and reasonable deal, there’s no reason why Familia should leave. Even if he doesn’t end up returning, the Mets have no excuse or reason to not at least consider re-signing and talking to Familia about sticking around.