Former New York Mets‘ manager Bobby Valentine believes that the bullpen is the key to Carlos Beltran‘s success.
Bobby Valentine is one of the most successful Mets managers ever. He managed the team from 1996-2002 and left the team with a record of 536-467. He made the playoffs twice and led the team to the World Series in 2000 where they lost to the New York Yankees. It’s safe to say that Valentine knows what it takes to win in New York.
In an interview with TMZ at a charity event hosted by former Yankees’ closer Marion Rivera Valentine had a few pieces of advice for Beltran and the Mets.
”
Valentine states the obvious here. The New York Mets need to figure out their bullpen issues. The team was dragged down by the poor performances of Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia. Their poor performances cost the Mets multiple games in 2019. Considering they only missed the playoffs by three games that means a lot.
Valentine also notes that the team needs to get Yoenis Cespedes back on the field to help the offense. When healthy Cespedes is a game-changing middle of the order bat. In his time with the Mets Cespedes has slashed .284/.346/.543, and has been worth over 3 FWAR per 600 PAs every single season. He’s an All-Star player who can change the look of this team.
The issue is that Cespedes is 34 years old now, and he hasn’t played since the beginning of the 2018 season. That’s nearly two full years. He’s coming off double heel surgery, something not many players recover from. Troy Tulowitzki is the latest player to undergo the surgery that Cespedes just went through and he was never fully healthy again. He retired shortly after the surgery because of it.
Thank you, Bobby Valentine, for pointing out the Mets’ two biggest weaknesses. The lack of a bullpen and missing one of their star players. Having those issues resolved would certainly help make Beltran’s job easier