The New York Mets made their first big bullpen addition of the offseason, re-signing Adam Ottavino on a one-year deal. Ottavino at just $4.5 million is a bargain even despite his uneven season in 2023, and should provide a big boost to a bullpen that needed it.
The Mets have a solid late-game trio now consisting of Ottavino, Brooks Raley, and Edwin Diaz, but they need more if they want to compete for a Wild Card spot. Adding one more reliever should be paramount, and any of these three would make sense financially.
1) Wandy Peralta
Wandy Peralta would fit the mold of former Yankees coming to Flushing this offseason, as the Mets already hired Carlos Mendoza to manage and signed Harrison Bader and Luis Severino to one-year deals. Peralta is not as big of a name as Bader or Severino, but he'd arguably be the most impactful signing of the three.
The southpaw has spent parts of each of the last three seasons with the Yankees and has posted sub-3.00 ERA's in each season. This past season he posted a 2.83 ERA in 63 starts and 54 innings of work.
What makes Peralta such an intriguing target for the Mets is his ability to get left-handed hitters out. Lefties posted a .483 OPS against Peralta this past season and have a .638 against him in his career. While Brooks Raley proved to be a very solid left-handed reliever for the Mets this past season, he fared much better against righties than lefties.
The Mets need a pitcher they can rely on to get left-handed mashers like Matt Olson and Bryce Harper out in big moments, and Peralta can be that guy. The Mets can use a second lefty to come out of their bullpen, and Peralta is easily the best one available with pitchers like Josh Hader and Matt Moore off the board.