Addition Of Addison Reed Says New York Mets Bullpen Auditions Are Open

New York Mets decision to acquire Addison Reed indicates their bullpen is still looking for new members.

By Ernie DeFalco

In an effort to arm a bullpen for the playoff drive and beyond, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN.com the New York Mets have reportedly acquired Addison Reed from the Arizona Diamondbacks for two minor leaguers.

Addison Reed, sporting a WHIP of 1.50, has not exactly been lights out, but he does bring some optimism for Mets fans who were beginning to have flashbacks to the bullpen debacle of 2008, not to be confused with the team debacle of 2007.

He has shown ability thru his major league career. Over the span of three years (2012-2014) he did save over 100 games. While his numbers during those years were not outstanding, he was pitching in hitter friendly parks. He is a power arm and will add a nice dimension to the Mets bullpen.

The acquisition of Reed does certainly open up some questions about some current Mets.

What of Bobby Parnell and Vic Black?

Parnell, currently on the DL, was pegged as the seventh inning guy before his fastball straightened out. Does the acquisition of Reed indicate his progress has not been encouraging?

And then there is the mystery of Twitter superstar, Vic Black. Black was a productive player in the bullpen last season for the Mets, and there was hopes of him being a big piece in this year’s pen. But after missing the early part of the season, has yet to regain his form or more importantly, his consistency in AAA Vegas. Black has an ERA over 8 and a WHIP over 2.   He will more than likely be a September call up, and hopefully he can straighten it out at the big league level. But with his current numbers, will Terry Collins trust him enough to run him out there in an important situation.  Especially when he makes tweets like this:

I love you baseball but I sometimes think you have forgotten to love me back. #unreal

— Victor Black (@Vic_Black_2) August 21, 2015

Teams are always trying to improve. So kudos to Sandy Alderson for his continued effort. This move can be viewed as a positive one.

But nobody can question any Mets fan who are taking the “cautiously optimistic” approach. The bullpen will continue to be a work in progress.

As a matter of fact, September may actually become a spring training of sorts for some of the relievers battling for a playoff role.