The New York Mets made the bullpen move the Yankees couldn’t make one Christmas Eve, secure an anchor. Well, it’s not so much that the Yankees didn’t need to secure an anchor for the bullpen, they have about 5 anchors in the pen. But the Mets did need to secure an anchor. And on January 2nd, they formally introduced former Yankee, Dellin Betances, as a New York Met.
Why the Mets?
Other teams were interested in the All-Star reliever, so why would he want to play for the Yankees cross-town rival? In Dellin’s words:
“The excitement of being here with the Mets and the possibility to play for Carlos Beltran and play with this team excited me.”
Remember, Dellin was teammates in the Bronx with Beltran from 2014 to 2016. He also was teammates with Mets infielder, Robinson Cano, from 2011 to 2013 as well. Some familiarity walking into a new setting is comforting, especially for a guy who came back from almost missing an entire season, to then rupturing his Achilles in his only appearance of 2019. Having former teammates/friends in Cano and his new manager will do a lot to help settle the occasionally erratic Betances quite a bit.
Home Town Hero
Much is to be said for staying in ones home town. Hell, we all had suspicions that Gerrit Cole would sign with the Angels or Dodgers due to his Southern California roots this offseason. And for Dellin, it was no different:
“New York is in my blood. I grew up playing in the Lower East Side. I went to high school in Brooklyn and I played minor-league ball in Staten Island. In 2011, I made my major league debut in the Bronx, and now I stand here and get a chance to wear this Mets uniform playing in Queens.â€
Not everyone can make it in New York, in either borough. And nothing works quite like home cookin’. I’ll miss Dellin in pinstripes, but the Mets definitely could’ve done worse (much worse) in picking him up. Best of luck. Hopefully we’ll reconnect in another October Subway Series.