Mets Rumors: Reds are the team to plunder for a lefty reliever

The New York Mets need plenty of help if they want to make the playoffs. If it’s a lefty reliever they seek, the Cincinnati Reds are the ones to talk with.

It’s pretty apparent that the New York Mets will need more than Jerry Blevins throwing with his left arm in the bullpen this year. I’m not a big proponent of left-handed specialists, instead preferring to play the percentages in a lighter way. Blevins a specialist who this year hasn’t looked so special.

The Mets do have a few internal options when it comes to finding a left-handed reliever. None are all too great and one involves throwing Steven Matz into the bullpen. In which case, with that route, the Mets would have bigger problems.

In searching for a left-handed reliever, the Cincinnati Reds look like the best team to plunder. They are possibly worse than the Miami Marlins this year. When the trade deadline approaches, expect them to sell whatever they can.

Two pitchers on the Reds the Mets should target are Amir Garrett and Wandy Peralta. Each is playing in his age 26 season and a left-handed thrower actually pitching well this season.

Garrett is the preferred choice between the two as Peralta is a bit wild. Though Peralta pitched to a 3.76 ERA in 2017 out of the bullpen and owns a 4.20 one this year, he’s walking batters at a terrifying rate. Unless the Mets are willing to take on a project, they may want to look elsewhere.

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Meanwhile, Garrett has the shorter track-record, but the better control. The Reds used him almost exclusively as a starter in his rookie campaign last year. The results were poor, ending with a 3-8 record and 7.39 ERA in 14 starts and a pair of relief appearances. In case you didn’t know, this was a typical stat line for Reds pitchers in 2017.

The move to the bullpen may save Garrett’s career. If the Mets are lucky, they can find a way to get him.

Since both Garrett and Peralta are in their pre-arbitration years, their value is quite high. The Reds would need to get a half-way decent haul of prospects back from the Mets if a deal is at all possible.

The Mets aren’t taking a financial burden away from the Reds by acquiring either. This makes a trade difficult as the Reds would much prefer to deal away the few veterans they have on their roster not named Joey Votto.

Unlike my idea on how the Mets may be able to land J.T. Realmuto from the Miami Marlins if they take Wei-Yin Chen, I don’t want the Mets taking Homer Bailey in a package, too. There’s more money committed to him and the Mets are only getting a relief pitcher as the sweetener.

One possibility would include the Mets taking catcher Devin Mesoraco in the final year of his contract. The Mets need a catcher and the Reds certainly don’t need him with the emergence of Tucker Barnhart.

Still, I’m not sold the Reds would give up on young left-handed relievers who are beginning to come into their own.

Unless we can creep into the heads of Reds management, we don’t know what their plans are for the future. They seem stuck in some kind of cruel purgatory of losing.

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Nevertheless, Garrett and Peralta are two players to watch on a team inevitably ready to sell in a few months.