1 high-priced Red Sox free agent the NY Mets could sign, 2 budget options

Bargain Red Sox free agent: Lucas Sims

Another player the Red Sox acquired at the trade deadline, this one from the Cincinnati Reds, was Lucas Sims. He’s only 30. Like Garcia, the uniform change couldn’t have gone much worse.

Sims was someone you might have seen or heard as a potential Mets trade deadline target. There weren’t any actual rumors, but speculating who the team could add had many of us checking the Reds roster regularly. Sims had a 3.57 ERA for them in 35.1 innings. A favorable strikeout rate of 10.2 per 9 but a not so grand 5.1 walks per 9 seemed to have him fitting in well with many of the other Mets relievers. Maybe the front office would overlook the lack of control.

Sims didn’t have much luck in Boston. He had a 6.43 ERA in 14 innings. The walk rate jumped up to 6.4 per 9. The strikeouts disappeared almost by half. He managed to get strike three calls at a rate of only 5.8 per 9. Walking more batters than he struck out surely left a sour taste in Beantown. Beans come in a lot of different flavors. Sour isn’t one of them.

A fly ball pitcher with above average strikeout abilities, softer hit balls is what he has relied on. He, like Garcia, saw the average exit velocity improve as a member of the Red Sox as did the hard-hit percentage. The hard-hit percentage was at only 24.4% and still teams managed to score against him.

It shouldn’t cost much at all to sign Sims with the possibility of a minor league deal being in play.