The
New
York Mets appear to be leading the race to sign free agent Bronson Arroyo,
although the veteran pitcher is believed to have a number of options ahead of
the new season. The 36-year old is reportedly looking for a multiyear contract
worth upwards of $14 million per year following his departure from the
Cincinnati Reds, with a number of MLB teams monitoring Arroyo’s situation.
But
while the Mets are definitely interested in signing the experienced pitcher,
their limited budget could make any move potentially problematic. Even though
the hefty contracts of both Jason
Bay
In
32 starts last season, Arroyo went 14-12 with a 3.79 ERA (101 ERA+) in 202
innings, continuing his run as one of the league’s hardest working pitchers.
Arroyo has made at least 32 starts and thrown at least 199 innings every year
since 2005. CC Sabathia and Mark Buehrle are the only other pitchers in the
league to throw at least 180 innings in each of the last nine MLB seasons.
But
while Arroyo would be a solid and extremely useful signing for most of the
teams in the MLB, the Mets may not even need to splash out on the pitcher when
considering the options they already have at the franchise.
Even
though Matt Harvey is expected to miss the entire 2014 season following his
elbow surgery, the Mets still have an enviable pitching roster boasting the
likes of Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and Zack Wheeler, with talented pitchers Jenrry
Mejia, Rafael Montero and Carlos Torres all supplying solid back-up.
While the MLB odds may not be
giving the Mets much hope of challenging next season, reaching the
postseason is more than achievable for this team if they can keep their key
players fit. But, as ever with baseball, that’s a big ‘if’, and Betfair customers won’t be flooding to
back the Mets to be in with a chance of challenging for honours next season.
Betfair will have
a wide selection of betting options throughout an intriguing 2014 MLB season,
but they won’t be expecting to see the Mets still in contention by the time the
postseason arrives.
