The New York Mets need a lot of help in their bullpen, but the club feels that Brian Wilson is not their guy as he still has a lot of work to do in his recovery.
The Mets held a private workout with Wilson, who's fresh out of Tommy John surgery, and were not impressed with what they say. Therefore, they were willing to offer Wilson a minor league contract, but Wilson declined to accept a minor league contract.
The former San Francisco Giants closer missed most of the 2012 campaign with elbow issues and was cut by the World Champions at the conclusion of the season.
The Mets bullpen was rocked, battered and bullied in 2012, which is why they had strong interests in acquiring Wilson who presents a cheap solution. He would have given the bullpen some much needed help and possibly taken over Frank Francisco's job as the team's closer.
As a team, the Mets posted a 4.65 ERA for second worse in the league. Though they aren't expected to compete, the bullpen is a major part of their game the Mets have to work on. Their division rival Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals finished in second and seventh place, respectively, in bullpen ERA among all major league teams.
Wilson was once the game's most dominant closer, but those years are long behind him as he played through injuries. In 2008, he broke through saving 41 games. Wilson followed this performance with 38 saves in 2009. In 2010, he led the league with 48 saves and longest beard in the game.
The struggles began the year following where his ERA skyrocketed from 1.81 in 2010 to 3.11 in 2011. Wilson somehow managed to save 36 games, but only pitched 55 innings after throwing at least 70 in each of the two previous seasons.
For now, the Mets will have to look elsewhere for pitching help, but they have yet to completely cancel out the possibility of landing Wilson saying they could watch him workout later on.
