After Adonis Medina closed out the Mets’ thrilling win at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, a jumble of thoughts and feelings appropriate to the situation rattled around the organization -- triumph, newfound confidence, stress. Also, “we need to acquire more bullpen help.”
Medina acquitted himself extremely well after Buck Showalter made the gutsy decision to use closer Edwin Diaz against the meat of the Dodger order in the eighth inning. But a championship-caliber team should ideally want a more established pitcher in that situation, especially come playoff time. The Mets were left a bit exposed after burning Diaz, and won despite that fact.
The Mets are good enough to contend for a championship, and know they need more pitching, particularly in the bullpen, to improve their chances in the postseason.
Trevor May is expected to return, Drew Smith has outperformed his peripherals, and Adam Ottavino has struggled at times in postseasons past. All three are effective pitchers, but some in the organization are antsy to provide Showalter with at least one more lockdown option.
It's a given to expect an aggressive trade deadline from owner Steve Cohen and GM Billy Eppler, especially considering how well the Mets have played so far.
According to people familiar with the Mets’ thinking, the team will not merely be looking at late-inning relief help over the next two months, but quality pitching more generally, even though they expect to have Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tylor Megill back.
The Mets will look at late-inning types like David Robertson, Andrew Chafin and Trevor Rosenthal (a free agent who held a showcase for teams, including the Mets, on Tuesday), but they will also engage in conversations about starters.
To understand why, look at the way teams have game-planned in the postseason in recent years. Even the best starting pitchers often last a few innings, before giving way to another quality pitcher. A guy who started in the regular season could be a multi-inning reliever in October.
If the Mets reach the postseason, expect them to plan games that way. For example, if the search for a reliever does not go well, the Mets could shift Megill to a bullpen role in the postseason.
Given the Mets’ desire to retain top prospects like catcher Francisco Alvarez and third baseman Brett Baty, it’s hard to see them landing a front-end starter like Frankie Montas or Luis Castillo. But there is no question that Eppler will call their teams, just to be sure.
And oh, by the way: The Mets are open to adding a bat. Or a few. The team can smell October, so we’re about to see a busy July.