Jenrry Mejia’s career as a Met is very much a mystery after his 80 game suspension.
After Major League Baseball nailed Mejia for taking and using a performance enhancing drug and suspending him for nearly half of the regular season, the question is when he does come back from this punishment, will he be a part of the Mets future plans at all? That is a question that now will linger with the Mets organization until he is eligible to be brought back. Sure for now he is out of mind, out of sight and the team can forget about him in the present, but it sounds as if the team will be prepared with a plan to deal with their now disgraced closer.
Sandy Alderson had some strong words for Mejia in his remarks about the recent developments with his closer (via Michael Hurcomb, CBS Sports):
“That definitely is a consideration,” Alderson said. “It will be factored in when he comes back. I hope our bullpen is pitching so well there is not a spot for him. I hope he is not a factor.”
Alderson said he was “disappointed and unhappy” when he learned about Mejia’s suspension. The disappointment doesn’t stop with the general manager.
You can understand Alderson’s frustration with Mejia, especially after giving him this golden opportunity to be the franchise’s closer each and every game they play. Also the chance to make himself a nice living money wise if he performed up to expectation this season and possibly set himself up for a nice payday after this season either with the Mets or some other team who would be in the market for a closer to help seal the back end of their bullpen.
Mejia had it all going for him and now he has put himself in a position where he will have to scratch and claw his way back to the major leagues and on top of that, prove he is remorseful in person to Mets brass and his teammates plus beat out some very stiff competition to regain his closers role.
New York is blessed to have some depth at the closers position with the likes of Jeurys Famila, who has shown that he is more than capable of executing and being reliable to get those last three outs of a game to preserve a victory. They also will consider Bobby Parnell, who was penciled in to be the team’s closer last season until he blew his elbow out on Opening Day and had to go through Tommy John surgery. Parnell has the arsenal of pitches to reclaim the role but it will depend on just how fast he can get his velocity up.
The competition between Parnell and Famila will be intense enough for the Mets to concern themselves about. When Mejia comes back, who knows how deep that competition will be, it could be too late for him to get into that race.
The Mets are not considering releasing him at this point, but it certainly will be an option on the table that the organization will look at when it comes time to make a decision on Mejia. They do not owe him a lot of money, which would make releasing him not hurt as much in the grand scheme of things.
For Mejia, he is now on the path that others have gone and failed to rehab their career entirely. It is a path that will be long, challenging, and test his patience and will, to comeback and recapture the very promising and bright future he had in New York and in baseball.
