Braves took the opposite approach than the NY Mets with their order of operations

Robert Suarez is going to the NL East, not as a member of the New York Mets, but as the newest member of the Atlanta Braves bullpen. It’s a bit of a serve considering the Braves had already re-upped with closer Raisel Iglesias for a one-year deal worth $16 million back in November.

Suarez is getting $45 million over the next three seasons. According to reports, the Braves will keep Iglesias as their closer with Suarez becoming the setup man. Presumably, Suarez will be the first in line to become the team’s new closer in 2027 if Iglesias is no longer with the team.

Jeremy Hefner’s Braves bullpen is suddenly stacked in the back. Up north in Queens, the Mets will have to make due with Devin Williams as the closer. Suarez was the only realistic choice to ever surpass him on the depth chart once Edwin Diaz signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s a tough blow for the Mets to see the Braves get a richer bullpen. They seemed to accomplish this by following a completely different order of operations than what the Mets did.

The Braves kept their guy, gave him his role, and then went to work improving elsewhere

There are a lot of reasons why Diaz didn’t come back to the Mets and we can’t Monday morning quarterback their decision to sign Williams when they did. For all we know he could have ended up with the Braves (or someone else) before the Mets had a chance to swipe him off the free agent market. Still, with everything that has been reported after losing Diaz, it seems there was an order that needed to take place.

A lack of communication on behalf of the Mets with Diaz about their intentions to add Williams is the crux of what may have led to him taking the deal from the Dodgers. Both fair and a bit of a high-demand for a player who had not yet even signed a deal with the Mets, Diaz’s apparent problem with the way the Mets appeared to push him aside might’ve been the straw to break the closer’s desire to return.

MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo noted the top 5 relievers in terms of fWAR over the last two seasons and how the Mets ended up with just one of them this offseason. In fairness, it is a bit deceptive. No one wanted Ryan Helsely back. Only the Braves ended up with more than one piece.

The ones who should be most upset about this turn of events are the Toronto Blue Jays. The closer market has dried up with Pete Fairbanks and Kenley Jansen being the last two remaining options in free agency. The Mets at least got Williams while the Blue Jays remain haunted by Jeff Hoffman’s playoff performance.

Suarez didn’t feel too realistic for the Mets. The NY Post’s Jon Heyman reported they weren’t anxious about signing him for more than they paid Williams which, when factoring in deferrals, was a marginal amount in MLB dollars.

Plenty of offseason to go, it does feel like another tug at the hair to see Suarez land within the division on the Braves. Meanwhile, the Mets move forward looking to add others to the middle and back of their bullpen. It really does feel like Williams, an originally planned setup man, will be the one to get the final three outs.