Another starting pitcher is taken off the board, as the Mets still look to fill a hole in the rotation.
The Atlanta Braves have signed veteran starting pitcher Gavin Floyd to a 1-year, $4 million deal that is loaded with incentives. The 30-year-old Floyd is coming off one of the most dismal seasons of his career, where after having made five terrible starts, he underwent Tommy John surgery.
Floyd started his career in Philadelphia, where he pitched poorly for the better part of three seasons. Floyd and Gio Gonazalez were traded by the Phillies to the White Sox before the 2007 season for Freddy Garcia. It seems that this was the spark that Floyd needed, as he showed signs of life in the 2007 season before turning into a very good starting pitcher in 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, Floyd accumulated 15.2 fWAR, while increasing his strikeout rate and decreasing his walk rate. In that span, Floyd made no fewer than 29 starts in a season. So his injury came as somewhat of a surprise.
Floyd, at first glance, doesn't seem to be the type of pitcher the Mets are interested in. Sandy Alderson suggested that the Mets were looking for innings-eaters, but we also know that Alderson is certainly not opposed to bringing in a project player. Floyd has tremendous upside, and although the injury probably scared many general managers off, it would seem that $4 million is not much to pay for a back-of-the-rotation-starter who you may only need to keep a spot warm for either Noah Syndergaard or Rafael Montero.
