Braves reportedly sign former Mets hurler Bartolo Colon
The Atlanta Braves are wasting no time in filling the openings they have in their starting rotation. Just one day after they signed veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, the Braves have reportedly done the same thing with veteran New York Mets starter Bartolo Colon, pending a physical.
Source: Bartolo Colon has agreed to a deal with the Braves, pending a physical. Terms of the deal have not been revealed.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) November 11, 2016
Some terms have been discovered, though. And they’re pretty significant.
Colon’s $12.5M salary with #Braves will be his highest since 2007, when he earned $16M with #Angels. Made $7.25M with #Mets last season.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 11, 2016
That’s a lot of money, but it might be worth it. Colon made 33 starts in 2016, pitching to a 3.43 ERA and coming just short of 200 innings. Jon Heyman says the Mets are “disappointed” they couldn’t reach a deal with Colon, but they probably weren’t willing to pay that much to keep Colon for one more year. (Though they certainly think that spending $13 million on one year of Jay Bruce in 2017 is worth it.)
At 43 years old, Colon is a cult hero for Mets fans. He’s a large guy, which goes against the current type for pitchers. His nickname is Big Sexy. When he’s at the plate, he swings with all his (considerable) might. Watching him on the bases is a sight to behold. And in 2016, he hit his very first career home run. At the very least he’s staying in the National League, so he can continue to try and do stuff like this.
Im happy for the Cubs and all and Imma let them finish but Bartolo Colon's homer was the greatest moment in the 2016 season of all time pic.twitter.com/BAx7tmIY35
— Andres (@AndrewMoooon) November 3, 2016
Mets fans aren’t the only ones who are going to miss Bartolo. Noah Syndergaard, Colon’s rotation-mate with the Mets, isn’t taking this loss well.
Feelings right now ???? #BigSexy pic.twitter.com/RQLzQ945p3
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) November 11, 2016
Mets fans feel you, Thor.
The Braves have a reasonable objective with their two recent pitcher signings. They want to sign veterans to fill out their starting rotation to help the younger members of the staff, or to perhaps set a record for oldest starting rotation ever.
The Braves have signed two starting pitchers in the last 24 hours. Their combined ages are 85.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 11, 2016
But it also feels like they want to stick it to the Mets as much as humanly possible. Signing two of their most-loved pitchers in the span of 24 hours has got to sting for Mets fans. And watching them actually play in Braves uniforms won’t feel any better.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
