Did Mets Cut Kyle Farnsworth for Financial Reasons?
I realize I’m a day late on this, but sometimes life gets in the way of blogging (crazy, I know).
Considering that the Mets would have owed Kyle Farnsworth a guaranteed $750,000 had he remained with the club through Saturday, one might surmise that the move was financially motivated. Was it?
I’m not so sure I can kill the Mets for cutting Farnsworth loose a few days short of the guaranteed contract vesting, because I didn’t think Farnsworth should have been on the 25-man roster in the first place, and I didn’t see anything terribly impressive from him in his brief stint in the orange and blue.
The timing is awful, though, from a PR perspective — it might’ve looked better had it been done a week ago. And was the decision made as much because Farnsworth of the dough as it was about his ineffectiveness? Absolutely.
What made the move more awkward was that it came so soon after the righthander was named the team’s closer — and only a few days after notching a save against the Yankees.
I didn’t see Farnsworth as a long-term bullpen option — as in, as long as another month or two. Did you? Did you have any confidence that Farnsworth would do something other than get lit up every time he climbed the mound?
The problem with the move is that the Mets don’t appear to have anyone better waiting in the wings. His replacement on the roster, Josh Edgin, was terrible in the spring, has tallied an unsightly ERA in AAA so far this year, and has lost significant speed from his fastball. We’ll see how it works out.
What’s your take? Are you surprised to see Farnsworth go? Do you think it was all about the finances? Were the Mets correct in dropping him? Answer in the comments.
There may have been other factors but I do believe that money was primary. My problem with cutting Farnsworth is that they kept Valverde. I wonder if that might be because one of them (V) might have been seen as a more positive influence on the younger pitchers? On simple production both should have been released.
On one hand, it certainly was financial – Dagnamit – they’re going to recover every penny of the Bay/Castillo/Perez/Bonilla/Carasco/Francisco/K-Rod/Putz/Santana debacle if it kills them lol.
Just for laughs – add up the total value of the guaranteed contracts given to the players named above. Feed a small country, anyone?
At best, Kyle was worthy of a back-handed compliment – I believed that he would screw up less than Valverde. In other words, his performance was not ineffective always.
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However, I do give Alderson some credit for his recent youth infusion into the Mets roster. Lets hope we soon see Nick Franklin or Stephen Drew in a Mets uniform sooner rather than later.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Kevin Plawecki – d’Arnaud is turning into d’Arnot, and KP would finally give us some semblance of a return on Reyes’ release.
Have a nice weekend.
Travis already has a nickname … ouch!
The last time I saw him pitch — in March — his mechanics were seriously messed up. Perhaps he’s fixed them.
I am on Alderson for many things, but this one I can’t blame him on and actually credit him on. I consider the backlash to be primarily a Pavlov’s Theory effect on an abused fan base.
Calling Farnsworth “the closer” is more a function of not providing a legit plan B to Parnell. Farnsworth did nothing last season or in his time with the Mets to merit retention. He couldn’t even get a big league contract not only before the season but at the end of ST when the Mets cut him for the first time. He has made millions in MLB and signed that 45-day deal in full awareness of the contract. Why shouldn’t the Mets keep him around until the end if needed? Regarding Edgin, I do not have high hopes for him, but this pen is in desperate need of another LH arm. LH batters have highest OPS in baseball vs. Met hitting, and Rice is proving why he was a 14 year minor leaguer. It is much wiser to provide a plan B to Rice and see if Edgin can help then to keep an old, mediocre RH arm in the pen and commit to the $750K guaranteed payout should Farnsworth (likely) need to be released before the end of the year. Good move, but they still need to import some better help for the pen.