Report: Mets Were In Contact With Jeurys Familia Prior To Lockout

With the Mets in need of bullpen arms, they aren't ruling out the possibility of re-signing a familiar face, or in this case, a Familia* face.

According to Mike Puma of The New York Post, the Mets were in contact with longtime reliever Jeurys Familia's camp prior to the lockout. However, if the Mets were to bring him back, it would likely be as a secondary piece in the wake of a bigger move as the team looks to replace their best reliever from a season ago, Aaron Loup, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels back in November.

Last season, Familia got off to a hot start with a 1.80 ERA in his first 20 innings of the year. However, a few bad appearances saw him head into the All-Star break with a 3.62 ERA, albeit, he was still one of the Mets' top relief arms.

Unfortunately, the second act of his campaign was less than stellar, surrendering eight home runs while posting a 4.22 ERA in 32 innings. Now, the 32-year-old is a free agent again, but could still return, despite a rough finish in 2021.

If you exclude the final two months of the 2018 season when the Mets dealt him to the Oakland Athletics at the trade deadline, Familia has spent the entirety of his 10-year big-league career in Queens. 

Familia emerged as the Mets' closer in 2015 and helped lead them to a pennant and back-to-back playoff appearances. The right-hander was one of the best closers in baseball during this stretch, saving 94 games, while setting the Mets' single-season record with 51 saves (most in MLB) in 2016.

After ex-general manager Brodie Van Wagenen re-signed him on a three-year, $30 million deal ahead of the 2019 season, Familia struggled mightily in the first campaign of his new contract. He was also pitching overweight, but buckled down in the winter of 2020 to drop 30 pounds with the help of celebrity trainer Dave Paladino, owner of Impact Zone Fitness Center in Norwood, NJ. 

With Loup gone, and Familia hitting the open market, the Mets could be looking for at least two arms to help bolster their bullpen once the work stoppage ends. 

As of Jan. 4, the Mets' bullpen features: Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, Trevor May, Miguel Castro and budding youngster Drew Smith. And they are likely to add at least one big relief option and some depth pieces to help deepen this unit before the season rolls around.

The Mets spent $254.5 million on four free agents prior to the lockout: Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha. This brought their current payroll up to $264 million with remaining holes still on the roster. While owner Steve Cohen and GM Billy Eppler have yet to address the bullpen, the expectation is that this will change after a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.