Mets Interested In Left-Handed Bullpen Help

The Mets are interested in trades that would bring in lefty bullpen help, according to a recent mailbag from SNY’s Andy Martino. The news comes after both A.J. Minter and Danny Young were placed on the injured list with ailments that might require season-ending surgery. In Minter’s case, he’s facing a “significant” lat strain. Young, meanwhile, may end up undergoing Tommy John surgery after he was sidelined by an elbow sprain.

With Minter and Young both facing significant absences even if they don’t ultimately go under the knife, it’s hardly a surprise that the Mets would like to add some left-handed depth to their bullpen mix. Genesis Cabrera is currently the only southpaw in their bullpen, and his debut outing with the Mets this year saw him surrender a run while recording just one out. A single outing isn’t enough to judge a reliever on, but the 28-year-old’s 4.03 ERA and 5.03 FIP from 2022 to 2024 while pitching for the Cardinals and Blue Jays doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in his ability to provide quality innings for the Mets’ bullpen.

Outside of Cabrera, the club’s internal options are few and far between. The team recently signed Brooks Raley to a big league deal, and his 2.48 ERA and 3.47 FIP in a Mets uniform over the last two years would certainly be welcome. But Raley is still recovering from last season’s Tommy John surgery and seems unlikely to be an option for the Mets until the second half given that the tentative plan appears to be for him to start a rehab assignment next month. Anthony Gose is in the organization on a minor league deal, but his 14.6% walk rate with Triple-A Syracuse is worrisome and it would be understandable if Mets brass felt they needed to see better numbers before calling him up to Queens.

As for external options, Martino doesn’t suggest any specific names. Jon Heyman of the New York Post floated the possibility of Orioles southpaws Keegan Akin and Gregory Soto as possible targets if Baltimore’s early-season struggles persist into trade season, but the Mets might have Raley back by the time July rolls around even if the Orioles haven’t rebounded enough to avoid a hypothetical sell-off. Perhaps a bottom-dwelling team like the Rockies or White Sox would make a veteran lefty like Scott Alexander or Cam Booser available, but neither has inspired confidence with their well-below average play to this point in the year.

Perhaps in the short-term, New York’s best hope of bringing in a lefty reliever could be looking for a veteran on a minor league deal in another organization. Brandon Hughes (Cubs) and Justin Bruihl (Blue Jays) are among a handful of former big league relievers in the minors with another club who the Mets could plausibly work out a minor trade for. Of course, another possibility would be simply cutting out the middle man and signing a current free agent to a minor league deal. Free agents are few and far between at this stage of the calendar, but Chasen Shreve is one example who elected free agency just yesterday after joining Atlanta on a minor league pact back in January.