The Mets have signed left-hander Ian Krol to a minor league deal, Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review Journal reports (Twitter link). The Angels designated Krol for assignment two weeks ago, and the veteran southpaw elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.
Krol signed a minors deal with the Angels in February and ended up appearing in just one game for the team, tossing two scoreless relief innings back on May 27. He’ll seemingly have a better chance at catching on in a Mets bullpen that is short on lefty options — Jerry Blevins is the only southpaw on the big league roster, while P.J. Conlon is the only other left-hander on the 40-man. It should be noted, however, that left-handed batters have actually fared better against Krol than right-handed batters over the last few years.
After mixed results in his first three MLB seasons, it seemed as through Krol had turned a corner when he posted a 3.18 ERA, 9.9 K/9, and 4.31 K/BB rate over over 51 innings out of the Braves’ pen in 2016. Last year, however, his ERA ballooned up to 5.33 thanks in large part to renewed problems with allowing home runs — his 1.5 HR/9 in 2017 matched his number from 2013-15, though he avoided the long ball in 2016 to the tune of just an 0.7 HR/9. His rough season led to the Braves outrighting him off their roster, costing Krol a projected $1.3MM salary in his second year of arbitration eligibility.
Smart. I’m expecting Ian Krol to get his act together. Hopefully it’s before the trade deadline so he can be traded to a contender.
I like Ian and his family. I hope he does well with the Mets.
Uh. PJ Conlon was claimed by the dodgers. Come on… get ya facts straight!
Dodgers dfa’d him and the Mets reclaimed him last week.
Now we know who’s getting saves with familia out
The Mets are a dumpster fire.
Cmon. They’re even afraid to set the dumpster on fire.