Tim Byrdak will be coming off shoulder surgery and not ready to pitch until somewhere near the middle of the 2013 season, and the New York Mets have lost their other potential setup men to free agency.  For those reasons exactly, the Mets will likely not consider any trades involving Bobby Parnell.

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York says the Mets now consider Parnell virtually untouchable.  He points out that the team came very close to trading him last winter, but now they will hold onto the fireballing righty.


Parnell is 28 years old and has been with the Mets for five seasons.  Last year, he helped the Mets down the stretch quite a bit and finished with a 2.49 ERA overall in 2012.  Parnell has a career 3.83 ERA.

Should the Mets bullpen suffer significant injuries - or even minor injuries - the team will need Parnell.  It makes sense that they would not be willing to part ways with a reliever who can touch 100 mph on the radar gun.
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