Veteran reliever David Robertson had an opportunity to choose a team where he could come in and serve as their primary closer. He certainly has the track record for it having compiled 149 saves over his last eight seasons.
Instead, the 37-year-old right-hander signed with the New York Mets where early expectations tab him as the main set-up man for Edwin Diaz where he’ll see a bulk of his action in the eighth inning.
“I’ve never been a guy who really cares when I pitch,” Robertson said on Wednesday. “For me, I want to win. Sometimes, there’s somebody who’s better suited to be at the back end than me and that’s fine. That doesn’t bother me one bit.
“I just have to get the ball to that guy because that’s what he’s there for. I don’t really worry about it. I’ll throw the first inning through the ninth. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Such a laissez-faire attitude is something the Alabama native picked up in his early days in the majors when he broke in with the New York Yankees, working in a bullpen anchored by the Hall of Famer in Mariano Rivera.
“You watch those guys day to day and you see their routine and you see how they go about their business and how they don’t let one day affect them the next day,” Robertson said. “If they have bad outings, you never notice that. I’ve always tried to be that guy who does what they’re supposed to do and doesn’t get upset about it.”
Robertson rose to prominence as one of the top relievers in baseball during a nine-year stint in the Bronx — including a World Series title in 2009 — posting a 2.75 ERA and 53 saves during that time. He picked up 84 saves in two-plus seasons as the Chicago White Sox’s closer.
Following a second stint with the Yankees, he was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2019 while with the Philadelphia Phillies. Over the past two seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Phillies (again) upon his recovery, he posted a 2.74 ERA and 20 saves in 75.2 innings of work to prove he’s worthy of being the Mets’ eighth-inning guy.
“David has had a successful history of pitching late in games and big spots, high leverage situations,” general manager Billy Eppler said. “His postseason experience and ability to hold down the fort in those moments, it’ll be big for our club and for what we want to accomplish.”
At this point of his career, the only thing that matters to Robertson is winning a second World Series ring, and the Mets’ big-time offseason sent the right message to him as he weighed his options in free agency.
“Going into the offseason, seeing all the moves they’ve been making, they want to win. I want to win,” Robertson said. “I’m not getting any younger. I want to be on a team that wants to win. I want to be in a competitive city and a good market and that’s what the New York Mets have to offer.”
