NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 4 alternatives David Stearns may wish he signed instead

2) Brad Keller instead of Luke Weaver

Luke Weaver and Brad Keller ended up in the same division with the same contract. Keller went to the Philadelphia Phillies for two-years and $22 million. Weaver joins the Mets after a year that took a turn for the New York Yankees.

The pair of ex-starters turned successful relievers are a coin flip away from determining who has the better year. Keller won last season in his first full year in the majors as a reliever for the Chicago Cubs. He was 4-2 with a 2.07 ERA in 69.2 relief innings. Weaver had a 3.62 ERA in 64.2 frames for the Yankees.

We’ll see plenty of Keller working in a similar situation as Weaver will for the Mets. You’re kidding yourself if you have any idea who’ll put together the better campaign.

FanGraphs projects a 3.69 ERA for Weaver with a 0.3 fWAR. Keller had a 3.97 ERA with the same 0.3 fWAR. The ERA favors Weaver by a noticeable amount. The matching fWAR says they’ll be closer.

In the end, the stat we’ll all care about most is blown saves. If Weaver is messing up the 8th inning and Keller is mowing down Francisco Lindor-Juan Soto-Bo Bichette a half-inning later, we’ll know who won.