The New York Mets finally made a move at the 2017 MLB Winter Meetings, signing reliever Anthony Swarzak to a two-year, $14 million deal on Wednesday, per Newsday’s Marc Carig.
It’s an important get for an organization that lost out on two of their top targets on Tuesday after Bryan Shaw signed with the Colorado Rockies while Tommy Hunter joined the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 32-year-old Swarzak is coming off the best season of his eight-year MLB career, putting up a 2.33 ERA in 70 appearances (77.1 IP) with the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers. A solid 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings mark helped fuel a punchout-to-walks ratio of 4.14 in 2017.
He adds a more reliable option to the Mets’ bullpen, that has been searching for support for Jeurys Familia, AJ Ramos and Jerry Blevins. Last year saw the Mets possess one of the worst bullpens in baseball after Familia went down with an injury before dealing Addison Reed to the Boston Red Sox. Their 4.82 ERA was ranked second-worst in the majors.
Swarzak could also see his name added to the mix of Mets closing options. While Familia was the go-to closer over the past three seasons, new manager Mickey Callaway revealed on Tuesday that the Mets are “not locked into” having a set finisher.
New York’s new reliever does not bring an extensive arsenal to the mound. He’ll come after you with just two pitches, a fastball that averaged 95 miles per hour and a slider that clocks in at around 88 miles per hour.
