NY Mets don’t deserve a lump of coal for failing to sign Pete Fairbanks

Pete Fairbanks was one of this offseason’s best relief pitchers available. Non-tendered by the Tampa Bay Rays, he ended up signing with the Miami Marlins on Christmas Eve for $13 million, gaining $2 million more than he would have gotten from the Rays.

Usually when a team that doesn’t spend in free agency does fork over cash, we can have a “hey, good for you” attitude. Not in this case. Fairbanks going to the Marlins is problematic for the Mets who’ll have to deal with him often.

Many fans were hoping Fairbanks would end up as the next addition to the Mets bullpen. After signing Luke Weaver, it wasn’t too realistic. It may never have been in the first place. Fairbanks will get a clearer path to rebuilding his free agent stock for a year in Miami rather than work as a middle reliever in Queens.

The Mets would have had to overpay Pete Fairbanks by a lot to convince him to come to New York

The Marlins will have the room to give Fairbanks every opportunity to close games, rebuild his free agent value, and maybe even help them crawl into the postseason. After all, the only thing that separated them and the Mets and Cincinnati Reds were 4 games. The Marlins even had the tie-breaker over the Reds meaning they were 4 games away from the postseason.

At an even $13 million, a very reasonable rate for Fairbanks, the Mets wouldn’t have given him the same leeway as the Marlins to put together a magnificent season and save a whole bunch of games. Fairbanks needs that in order to become a top free agent candidate next offseason.

The 2026-2027 free agent class is already filled with quality bullepn arms. Assuming Andres Munoz has his affordable option picked up by the Seattle Mariners, the next best on the list might be David Bednar.

Pitching all of next season at 32, this coming season will be Fairbanks’ opportunity to erase doubts. Only three full seasons of closer experience and some health concerns in the past, he lacks the strikeout stuff many desire from the last line of defense in the bullpen. For two straight seasons he has fanned just under a batter per inning.

If you’re delivering coal to the Mets for things they’ve done this offseason, missing on Fairbanks isn’t one of those moves. Perhaps you’d rather argue the Mets should have signed him instead of Weaver or even Williams. In that case, you’ll probably spend all winter dumping a whole bag of Kingsford into charcoal in the mailbox outside of Citi Field.