3 best roster depth pieces added this offseason so far

2) NY Mets will have innings for Elieser Hernandez

Acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins, Elieser Hernandez is someone the Mets have as a contender for the Trevor Williams spot in the bullpen. He’ll have to actually earn it. With David Peterson, Tylor Megill, and even Joey Lucceshi around, the Mets may prefer one of those guys on the active roster. They’re more familiar with them and each has had a better MLB career thus far.

A great thing about Hernandez is the remaining minor league option. This is probably why the Mets chose him over a few other targets. We may never actually see him pitch an inning for the team. Having him stashed as the long reliever or in Triple-A gives them plenty of choices.

Our expectations for Hernandez shouldn’t be so high. His time with the Marlins wasn’t great. In 287.2 innings spanning parts of five seasons, the new Mets pitcher was 10-21 with a 5.04 ERA.

We did get spoiled seeing Williams be a super long man last season. Hernandez is more in the mold of emergency starter or mop-up duty. He has had quite a bit of minor league success and even dominance at times in his career. At this point, he probably qualifies more as a Four-A player than anything else.

It’s still hard to dislike this transaction. The Mets can try a couple of different things with their pitcher staff. Hernandez isn’t saving the season. What he can do is keep an arm fresh for the next day.