Prepare for a possible third Jeurys Familia chapter in Queens

Will Jeurys Familia be back with the New York Mets in 2022? One of the recent offseason Mets rumors suggests the Familia saga in Queens may have another chapter.

According to Mike Puma of the NY Post, the Mets and Familia “had contact” before the lockout. Surely, if they do bring him back for a third round, it’s not going to be anything like his last contract.

Early 2022 Mets rumors reveal that Jeurys Familia could return to Queens

What we don’t know about these latest Mets rumors is whether or not the contact took place before or after the Max Scherzer signing. I’m not sure it really matters anyway. The Mets need a bullpen arm or two. Signing Scherzer was a transaction of a different shade.

Familia, who was 9-4 with a 3.94 ERA in 59.1 innings for the Mets in 2021, has far greater lifetime numbers than what he accomplished from 2019-2021. He is 32-25 in his career with a still steady 3.28 ERA. One might think that his struggles over the last three years may have launched the ERA into a different stratosphere. Instead, it’s a reminder of how brilliant he was early on in his career.

That former brilliance didn’t resonate over the last three years. Familia was 15-6 with a 4.62 ERA in his most recent 146 innings of work. The contract itself, worth $30 million, turned out to be a blunder. Familia was brought in to be a setup man for newly acquired closer Edwin Diaz. As we witnessed in 2019, neither had much success tossing a clean inning.

In a far lesser role, I understand why his name is appearing in offseason Mets rumors. They’re familiar (no, pun certainly not intended) with him already and with suitors for him unlikely to run through a wall (or even step over an extension cord) to acquire the veteran reliever, maybe the Mets are thinking optimistically.

Preferably, I would like to see the Mets add two lefties to the bullpen. They’re absent of any southpaws at all for the coming season. And while they managed to get through a huge chunk of 2021 with only Aaron Loup throwing from the left side, it could turn out to be a mistake to try to get through a whole year with only one lefty again.

The three-batter-minimum rule has made lefty specialists consider a career change, but that doesn’t mean lefties are worthless these days. Late in a game, even if he has to deal with a righty or two, you want your southpaw reliever to get that one big out against Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, or Juan Soto.

The Mets front office seems to know better than to award Familia with a deal averaging $10 million per season. For a single season at less than half the cost, maybe it is an addition worth pursuing.