Mets Prioritizing Bullpen Help

The Mets have several areas where they could plausibly pursue upgrades prior to next week’s trade deadline, but president of baseball operations David Stearns indicated yesterday that his primary focus is on improving the bullpen (link via ESPN’s Jorge Castillo).

Mets relievers have been a middle-of-the-pack unit overall, ranking 13th with a combined 3.87 ERA on the season. They’ve struggled to a 5.30 mark over the past month, however, due in no small part to injury. A.J. Minter’s season ended in early May when he required surgery to repair a torn lat. Fellow southpaw Danny Young had Tommy John surgery that same month. Righties Max Kranick and Dedniel Nunez both went down with season-ending arm injuries as well.

The Mets have used a staggering 30 different relief pitchers this season, including 23 over just the past 30 days. They’ve treated the final couple spots in the relief corps as a revolving door, frequently shuttling in waiver claims and minor league signees when they need a fresh arm, than designating those players for assignment in favor of the next arm that comes down the conveyor belt. It’s led to a dizzying number of Mets transactions and constant turnover among the relief corps. Many of those stopgaps have been hit hard, and mainstays Reed Garrett and especially Huascar Brazoban have struggled over the past month.

Edwin Diaz, Ryne Stanek, Garrett and Brazoban have been constants in Carlos Mendoza’s bullpen. The Mets clearly have room to add multiple arms and should likely be expected to do just that. They were in the mix to sign David Robertson before he opted to reunite with the Phillies, and they reportedly have some interest in Twins left-hander Danny Coulombe (at a time when Minnesota is said to be increasingly open to offers on rental players).

The Mets have been tied to rotation upgrades, reportedly showing interest in Pirates righty Mitch Keller and in Marlins righty Edward Cabrera. Stearns downplayed the possibility of adding to his starting staff, however, stating that he’s “comfortable” with the in-house group and its ability to navigate a postseason series. If Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes, David Peterson and Frankie Montas can all remain healthy, New York’s starting five indeed looks sharp, but health is hardly a given. Each of Senga, Manaea and Montas has had a monthslong IL stint within the past 15 months. Holmes is in his first season stretching back into a rotation role after years as a high-leverage reliever.

Similarly, while Stearns acknowledged that he expects to explore the market for center fielders, an acquisition isn’t necessarily likely. The Mets have been pleased with Jeff McNeil’s increased comfort in center and Tyrone Taylor’s defensive play. “[T]he bar to improve center field has probably risen over the past, let’s say, two weeks,” Stearns said.

Stearns naturally did not decisively rule out a center field addition, but it’s a thin market in terms of options. Cedric Mullins is likely available in Baltimore, and the O’s have multiple relievers available (e.g. Gregory Soto, Seranthony Dominguez and perhaps Andrew Kittredge). Similarly, if the Mets already have interest in Minnesota’s Coulombe, they could look into both him and old friend Harrison Bader, who’s on a one-year deal and has performed well on both sides of the ball in the Twin Cities. The White Sox have both Luis Robert Jr. and Mike Tauchman available. The former has finally begun to heat up in recent weeks, while the latter has hit well for much of the season. If the Mets wanted to take a bigger swing, they could try to pry Oneil Cruz from Pittsburgh. He (reportedly) is not completely off the table, but the asking price would surely be extreme.

The Mets are willing to deal from their collection of young infielders, which includes Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña. They also have several pitching prospects on the cusp of the majors, including Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean and Blade Tidwell. Stearns noted that any of the three could be a candidate to join the bullpen down the stretch but added the Mets will be cautious with such decisions, as once a starting pitcher is ramped down to a bullpen role during the season, it’s hard to stretch him back out.