Joel Sherman reported yesterday that the Mets passed on Chad Bradford and his 3.5 million dollar salary in 2009. This would be the second time in three off seasons that the Mets spurned Bradford. The term penny wise and pound foolish came to mind when I heard this news.

Omar Minaya has been criticized, to this day, for the mistakes of the 2006-2007 off season. If you remember, that was the period of time in which he traded Heath Bell, Royce Ring, Matt Lindstrom, and Henry Owens for the collection of Ben Johnson (gone), Jon Adkins (gone), Andrew Bostick (AAA), Jason Vargas (interesting possibility). I can forgive Omar for those deals because hindsight is clearly 20/20 with all the aforementioned names. What I do think he did wrong was misread the middle reliever market. He allowed that very same 2009 salary of 3.5 million get in the way of signing Bradford. Months later he gave Scott Schoeneweis a contract that will pay him $3.6 million during the same 09′ campaign. Hopefully this oversight results in a better alternatives. History indicates that we might see otherwise.

Bradford was so key to the 2006 Mets bullpen because of the big outs he obtained throughout the second half and playoffs. Not only is he great against righties (.240 BAA career), he sported a 1.42 ERA down the stretch in Tampa. With the prohibitive price of Huston Street, Aaron Heilman’s immanent exodus, and bullpen questions, Bradford would have made a nice addition.

Many argue that the Mets already have Bradford in the form of Joe Smith. I agree that Smith is the better pitcher, but his overall repertoire is different. Is there a rule that says you can’t have two submarine righties out of your pen? I really don’t see how $3.5 million is too much for a pitcher that doesn’t give up homers, gets right handed batters out at a high clip, and has playoff experience (0.39 career post-season ERA).

Acquiring Bradford wouldn’t solve all the bullpen problems, but it would help solidify the front end. The 2006 Mets made up for deficiencies with a dominant bullpen. These same deficiencies were far more glaring in 07′ and 08′ because of lack of bullpen depth. A pen of Bradford, Feliciano, Schoeneweis, Stokes, Street, Smith, and K-Rod has more potential then the 06′ pen. Swap Putz for Street and it might be even better.

Games are not only lost in the ninth inning, but in the sixth through eighth. Chad Bradford would have gone a long way to ensure that the future Mets closer would have more save opportunities. Hopefully, the alternative options this winter are better than the collection from 07′ and 08′. If not, that might be the worst $3.5 million dollars never spent.

Tags: Chad Bradford, New York Mets