The Mets opened the 2009 season in Cincinnati against the Reds. The theme of the previous offseason was the bullpen—the Mets signed Sean Green, J.J. Putz, and Francisco Rodriguez to pitch the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. On that day in Cincinnati, Johan Santana pitched 5.2 innings before handing it to Green, who gave way to Putz, who gave way to K-Rod. The Reds didn’t score against the relievers and the Mets won 2-1. It had gone exactly as planned, and all the post-game talk was about the Mets’ rebuilt bullpen. Of course, not all of the remaining 161 followed that script, and the Mets finished 70-92.
The theme of this past offseason was, well, financial problems, but as far as player acquisitions it was once again the bullpen. The Mets traded for Giants reliever Ramon Ramirez and signed free agents Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco, both with Toronto last year. Yesterday, on Opening Day at Citi Field against the Atlanta Braves, Santana pitched five scoreless innings. Ramirez relieved him, Rauch and Francisco each threw a scoreless frame, and (with the aid of two big outs from Tim Byrdak) the Mets bullpen preserved the 1-0 win. (As a bonus, the only starting position player acquired this offseason, Andres Torres, scored the game’s lone run.)
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