Brodie Van Wagenen wasn't shy on Thursday when explaining what he thinks the signing of Dellin Betances could mean for the Mets.
"This signing is different. This signing was intended to blow the cover off of our ceiling," Van Wagenen said at Citi Field while introducing Betances as the newest member of the Mets.
"We believe that a healthy and dominant Dellin, combined with Edwin Diaz and Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson, Jeurys Familia, Brad Brach, Robert Gsellman. This collective group has the potential to be one of the best bullpens in baseball."
While the above can be viewed as hyperbole, it really isn't that far-fetched.
If -- there's that word again -- the Mets' relievers are healthy and perform as they have during their careers, they will have four largely dominant bullpen arms -- Betances, Diaz, Familia, and Lugo.
And that's something Van Wagenen is banking on, mentioning Thursday his hope for a "resurgence" from Diaz leading to a "lights-out bullpen."
When it comes to the Betances deal, Van Wagenen went into great detail about why there were mixed messages leaking out during November and December.
To sum up...
The process with Betances first started in November and the Mets were told by his agents that it was going to be long due to the number of interested teams.
While still maintaining interest in Betances, the Mets focused on starting pitching in the meantime and met again with Betances' agents at the Winter Meetings (they are also the representatives for Rick Porcello).
Still, Van Wagenen said the Mets remained skeptical a deal could get done and that one final pitch launched an "intense" four-day period that also involved Carlos Beltran, Jeremy Hefner, Robinson Cano, and Jeff Wilpon making pitches to Betances regarding why the Mets were the right choice.
Then, "it was a call and ultimately a text message" from Betances' agents on Christmas Eve morning that informed Van Wagenen the Mets could get it done if they made an aggressive push.
That text led to what Van Wagenen referred to as a "lockdown 72-hour session of brainstorming ideas" that also involved Jeff Wilpon and David Cohen. The result of that session was Betances winding up on the Mets
"He didn't want to just reestablish himself," Van Wagenen said about Betances. "He didn't just want to go out and perform his normal job. He wanted to dominate, and he expressed that very clearly."
Speaking after Van Wagenen, Betances touched on his excitement about the 2020 team, the pitches Beltran made to him, his health (he says he'll be ready for Spring Training) and his love of New York.
As far as what his role will be -- closer or setup -- Betances didn't have a preference.
"Whatever they see me in, I want to do whatever I can to help the team win," he said.