February 3, 2014

Mets Add Kyle Farnsworth On MiLB Deal

In a move that likely rounds out the back end of the team's bullpen, the Mets have signed Kyle Farnsworth to a minor league deal which includes an invitation to major league spring training. The Mets will become the eighth team on which Farnsworth will have played in his major league career. He will turn 38 this upcoming April.

The Mets have been seeking a veteran reliever with closing experience all winter long.  Farnsworth doesn't really fit the mold of the latter despite 54 career saves, with nearly half (25) coming in 2011 while playing for the Tampa Bay Rays.

More recently, Farnsworth was released by the Rays in August of 2013 after a less than stellar summer that saw him pitch to a 5.76 ERA over 39 appearances.  He promptly picked up with the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitched well down the stretch, but did not appear in the post season.

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Farnsworth is a back up plan and its for that reason I don't think anyone should go crazy over this deal.  Yes, he is a far cry from Grand Balfour, but he is the low risk type of guy the Mets were probably looking for all along.  Bullpens are always in a state of flux, so if the team gets 40-50 quality appearances from Farnsworth then the deal will be considered a win.  If not, then he's just another minor league deal gone astray.

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