5 NY Mets players who can save them from overpaying for someone at the trade deadline

3) Felipe De La Cruz

The Mets just lost both of their left-handed relievers who were on their Opening Day roster. Both A.J. Minter and Danny Young will miss the rest of this season. Since they need more left-handed options in the bullpen, Felipe De La Cruz can save the Mets from having to spend a ton at the trade deadline to bolster the bullpen.

De La Cruz is off to a great start to 2025. He's pitched 21.1 innings between Binghamton and Syracuse, working to a 1.27 ERA, 2.35 FIP, and 0.75 WHIP. The southpaw has struck out an impressive 37.8% of opponents with a walk rate of only 4.9%. He is currently one of only 52 minor league pitchers who have a walk rate under 5% in 20 or more frames, and his K%-BB% is the tenth best. On top of that, De La Cruz has only allowed two home runs.

De La Cruz was also solid in 2024 at High-A Brooklyn. His 4.25 ERA may not stand out, but his 3.09 FIP did. He only allowed two home runs in 106 innings, and had a 24.8% strikeout percentage, albeit with a 9.6% walk rate. After this promising campaign, Baseball America ranked him just outside the Mets' top 30 prospects, at #35.

De La Cruz has made one appearance as a starter and one as a reliever at Syracuse. He's primarily a sinker/slider pitcher, occasionally mixing in a change-up. When starting games, he sits around 94-95 MPH, but sees a slight uptick, closer to 95-96 MPH when coming out of the pen. His slider typically comes in around the mid-80s.

Bullpen arms can go for a lot at the deadline. Just look at last year's deadline when the San Diego Padres gave up a handful of top 30 prospects to acquire both Tanner Scott and Jason Adam. If Felipe De Los Santos can come up and prove himself as a decent left-handed reliever, he'll save the Mets a lot of time and prospects at the deadline.