Bullpen Bring Back: Ryne Stanek
A bullpen signing the Mets should make
As of this moment, the Mets’ pitching staff certainly has a lot to be desired.
Their bullpen is a very underdeveloped part of the offseason — a bullpen that consisted last year of Adam Ottavino, Javier Lopez, and Jake Diekman as the offseason additions — who were all underwhelming in their own right.
A Mets reliever down the stretch who was far from underwhelming — Ryne Stanek.
Quickly about the rotation — Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, David Peterson, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes — don’t be surprised if on Opening Day that 1-5 is as currently constructed. Unless the Mets add Roki Sasaki — I’d be shocked if they added another starter before Opening Day.
The sixth options in a six-man rotation — Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn, José Butto, and someday Brandon Sproat — are all very interesting.
For Sasaki, he’s set to decide on an MLB team following the international signing period opening on January 15th — more on him in the coming days.
Currently across the league, very few free agent relievers have found homes. Clay Holmes, who was once a reliever, found a home with the Mets as a starter — but no other major bullpen signings have occurred for the Mets, yet.
The reliever market historically takes a long time to develop. Dylan Covey signed a one-year deal as the Mets’ first major-league bullpen signing a day into the offseason on Halloween; but not much has transpired since.
For bullpens league-wide, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson both signed one-year contracts with the Red Sox early on. Jordan Romano and Joe Ross signed with the Phillies, Connor Gillispie with the Braves, Shawn Armstrong, Jacob Webb, and Hoby Milner with the Rangers, Jonathan Loáisiga with the Yankees — are all some notable bullpen arms who recently inked one-year deals.
Blake Treinen signed with the Dodgers and Yimi GarcÃa signed with the Blue Jays on two-year deals, as well. In terms of the overwhelming majority of bullpen arms — few have been claimed.
Huascar Brazobán, Sean Reid-Foley, Kevin Herget, Justin Hagenman, Danny Young, and Tyler Zuber could be considered in the Mets’ bullpen — whereas Dedniel Núñez, José Butto, and Reed Garrett are as close to having a guaranteed spot of any reliever not named Edwin DÃaz.
In terms of the Mets’ minor-league bullpen signings — RHP’s Oliver Ortega, Chris Devenski, Grant Hartwig, Rico Garcia, and Luis Ortiz with LHP’s Génesis Cabrera and Anthony Gose are some names to watch vie for a bullpen role.
The Mets also declined Phil Maton’s $7.75 million club option for 2025 with a $250,000 buyout fee. He could still end up returning to the Mets at a lesser rate.
In terms of major league contracts — Ryne Stanek deserves one from the Mets. With the reports of Tanner Scott seeking 4 years, $80 million, you’re going to need a high-leverage arm that can close games when Edwin Diaz can’t. The preference is and should be Tanner Scott — though it never hurts to have a fall-back option.
The New York Post reported this week that if the Mets don't want to spend big in the bullpen, David Robertson, Chris Martin, or Tommy Kahnle could be a fit.
In the 2024 regular season, Stanek was not the reliable arm that many saw in the same postseason. The Mets traded for him at the 2024 trade deadline from the Seattle Mariners for minor-league outfielder, Rhylan Thomas.
Over the course of last season, Stanek’s numbers don’t due diligence to the necessity he is in the Mets’ bullpen — especially in big games. The Mets were interested in Stanek before last season; but before this season — I’d imagine they are again.
From his first outing with the Mets, Stanek struggled. On July 28th, he allowed three runs in one inning against the Atlanta Braves.
Against his former team exactly two weeks later, he allowed four runs in his fifth appearance as a Met.
In totality, Stanek appeared in 17 games for the Mets and posted a 6.06 ERA with 23 strikeouts across 16.1 innings pitched. He only improved as his time with the Mets went on — lowering his ERA from a 5.63 in August to 4.05 in September.
Stanek showed up in some major appearances in the postseason, including Game 1 of the Wild Card against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Stanek was seen pitching in another big postseason game, when he escaped the one run he allowed — closing out Game 1 of last year’s NLDS.
It wasn’t perfect for Stanek by any stretch of the imagination — but it’s hard to imagine the Mets bullpen without him. If he continues to elevate his fastball and fine-tune his slider, it should be money well-spent over the course of a full season.
Bullpen arms are the most volatile from year-to-year; but Stanek showed enough stability from the end of the season into the playoffs to warrant a bring back. He hasn’t been the same pitcher as he was in 2022 with Houston — where his 1.15 ERA was a single-season record for a reliever in Astros history.
Safe to say there’s upside even with Stanek’s declining metrics.
After making $4 million last year — if Ryne Stanek doesn’t have to settle for one year deal — a two-year, $15 million contract could be reasonable enough to bring Stanek back to Queens.