By the end of August 2015, it was clear the Mets were going to the postseason.  With that in mind, the Mets needed to do something to address their bullpen – something that has been a theme of the Sandy Alderson Era.  The Mets did just that in August picking up both Eric O’Flaherty and Addison Reed.  Given the Mets lack of a LOOGY, it was believed O’Flaherty was the bigger pickup.  Boy was that wrong.

At the time Reed joined the Mets, he was having his worst season as a professional pitching to a 4.20 ERA with the Diamondbacks and having made a trip down to Triple-A.  Due to his relatively high salary, he was likely ticketed to be non-tendered in the offseason.  When the Mets obtained him, it was little more than a gamble for a pitcher with prior closing experience.  Certainly, Miller Diaz and Matt Koch were worth paying for the gamble.  As we know, that gamble paid off.

From the minute Reed put on a Mets uniform, it was like he was a completely different pitcher.  Seemingly, he found one of the remaining telephone booths in Queens, stripped out of his Diamondbacks uniform, and emerged as an elite MLB reliever.

To close out the year, he’d make 17 appearances going 1-1 with a 1.17 ERA, 1.043 WHIP, and a 10.0 K/9.  At a minimum, Reed locked down the seventh inning for a team hoping to make it to the World Series.  As we know, the Mets did, and Reed played his part.

Reed would appear in nine of the Mets 14 postseason games, and he would appear in all five World Series games.  Reed was reliable in those games allowing no runs in seven of those appearances and just one run in another.  That one run came in Game Two of the NLDS right after Chase Utley broke Ruben Tejada‘s leg.

In the World Series, where three of the five games had been a battle of the bullpens, Reed had mostly done his job.  Through the first four games, he had allowed no runs and just one hit.  Unfortunately, with him being on fumes, he fell apart in Game Five of the World Series becoming the losing pitcher after allowing three runs in the 12th inning.

Reed would emerge from this heartache as possibly the best pitcher in the National League in 2016.  During the 2016 season, Reed made 80 appearances going 4-2 with a 1.97 ERA, a 0.940 WHIP, a 10.5 K/9, 209 ERA+, and a 1.98 FIP.  His 2.9 WAR that season was the highest among relievers.  In short, he was great out of the bullpen.  All year long he helped a team with little bullpen depth stay afloat, and when he last stepped off the mound in the Wild Card Game, the Mets still had a chance to advance to the NLDS.

This year, all he had to do was step in for Jeurys Familia and become the team’s closer.  Like he had done in his entire Mets career, Reed took on the role the Mets needed him to do, and he was great at it.  In what was his final stint with the Mets, Reed made 31 appearances going 1-2 with 19 saves, a 2.57 ERA, 1.122 WHIP, and an 8.8 K/9.

Since joining the Mets, Reed was one of the best relief pitchers in baseball.  He has pitched the fifth most innings (142.0) while maintaining a sterling 2.09 ERA.  He has fulfilled whatever role the Mets needed him to fulfill by going from 7th to 8th and finally to the 9th inning.  In that sense, Reed has become the rare pitcher in baseball.  He took on whatever role was asked of him, and he performed well in that role.

In essence, Reed was exactly what you want in a bullpen arm.  He was a guy who went out there and did whatever the team needed.  He was used frequently, and he was one of the few arms who was not burned out by Terry Collins during his Mets tenure.  He was a great reliever, and some would go so far as to say he was Raddison.

Reed is now a member of the Boston Red Sox.  He goes to a team in need of a reliever capable of setting up for Craig Kimbrel.  As we have seen during his Mets tenure, Reed can certainly do that.  He can also give Kimbrel the occasional day off.

In the end, Reed is where he belongs.  He is with a contender.  Hopefully, he gets that ring he feel agonizingly short of winning in 2015.  Hopefully, he will have the same success with the Red Sox he found with Mets.  Hopefully, with his being an impending free agent, Reed finds his way back to New York.

Even if he doesn’t, Reed was a good Met who twice helped pitch the Mets into the postseason.  Now, it is time to wish him well as he once again pursues October glory.  Here’s hoping he finds it this time.