The New York Mets are putting together a quite talented roster that can, as of today, compete with the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the National League East division. New owner Steve Cohen and team president Sandy Alderson have worked to bring top talent to the organization and have mostly succeeded, even if they failed to capture Trevor Bauer, George Springer or JT Realmuto.
The bullpen, once considered a weakness, is actually good at this point. The fact that the New York Mets brought several rotation reinforcements means that Seth Lugo will return to a setup role.
Additionally, the Mets signed Trevor May and also have Edwin Diaz, Robert Gsellman, Jacob Barnes, Miguel Castro, Brad Brach, Sam McWilliams, Aaron Loup, Drew Smith, Dellin Betances, and Jeurys Familia.
The last two, though, are very expensive. The Mets, therefore, are looking for ways to trade them to other teams, even if it means taking on some of their salary for the 2021 season.
The Mets want to trade their two relievers
According to Andy Martino of SNY.tv, rival executives told him that the Mets “have been trying to find takers” for the contracts of the two aforementioned right-handed relievers.
Familia will earn $11.7 million in 2021 and is in the final year of his contract, while Betances will make $6 million and is also going to be a free agent after the season.
Finding takers for those contracts will not be an easy task for the Mets, especially because Betances struggled mightly in 2020 (7.71 ERA, 4.91 FIP) and will turn 33 when the season is underway.
Familia had a better 2020 (3.71 ERA, 4.92 FIP in 26.2 innings) but is also more expensive. It remains to be seen if the Mets get any interest on their par of relievers, but they have been excellent before even if 2020 wasn’t quite their year.