NY Mets rumors: Longtime NL East rival suggested as a trade deadline solution

Even with how good the New York Mets have been in 2025, there is always room for improvement. Area of the team that could use improvements or reinforcements in case of player regression. While several position fits this, the biggest area of need is the bullpen. With how essential relievers are in today's game, there should be an abundance of them at the trade deadline.

Recently, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com wrote an article about 14 players who could be moved at the deadline. In this article, he mentions Washington Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan as a potential target for the Mets. Despite the two being division rivals, Finnegan would be a great addition to the Mets' pen. But what kind of pitcher is Finnegan, and how would he help the Mets?

How Kyle Finnegan fits the Mets roster

Finnegan is in the middle of another good season. Through 26 games, the righty has a 3.12 ERA in 26 innings, with 21 strikeouts to eight walks, a 1.308 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 129. He's also been the primary closer for the Nationals, earning 18 saves in 22 attempts. These numbers fall right in line with his career numbers. In his 316 and a third big league innings, he has a 3.53 ERA with 309 strikeouts to 125 walks, a 1.318 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 117.

While Finnegan has three pitches in his arsenal, this season he has mainly used his four-seam fastball and split-finger fastball. Out of these two pitches, his four-seamer has been the more effective pitch. This is due to this pitch averaging 96.1 mph, which is in the 80th percentile among MLB pitchers. Opposing hitters have a .222 average against it and a .397 slugging percentage.

Although his split finger has not produced much success this season, with hitters having a .343 batting average against it, this is more of an anomaly. This pitch has historically been his put-away pitch and has been used 27.7% of the time this season to get batters out. In 2024, this pitch had an opposing batting average of .188. It will be up to the Mets' pitching lab to get this pitch back to its 2024 form.

He can come in and be one of the relievers Medonza can trust, most likely settling into some set-up role. He can also come in to the ninth inning when Diaz needs a day off, something the Mets are in desperate need of. It's been a significant problem for the Mets to close out games when Diaz isn't out there in the ninth. Finnegan can be that answer and allow Medonza to get more creative with the bullpen, and play the matchup better.

Now it would likely cost the Mets a little bit more to get him due to them being in the same division. However it should only cost the Mets a prospect somewhere in the 15-25 range. If the Mets want to repeat what they did in 2024, they need to go get a high leverage reliever and Finnegan could be that guy.