Ranking the 4 most critical NY Mets trade deadline needs by severity

3. Adding another bullpen arm would help the Mets in October

As a whole, the New York Mets' bullpen has been acceptable this season, ranking 12th in the majors with a 3.74 ERA. With that said, some cracks have started to show with the unit posting a 28th-ranked 5.30 mark since June 1.

Losing A.J. Minter was a huge blow to the team, and the Mets have seen the likes of Ryne Stanek, Reed Garrett, and Huascar Brazoban falter at times. In October, shortening games is key, and while Edwin Diaz finally looks to be back to his pre-WBC injury dominance, the Mets need more in the lead-up.

The good news is that not needing a closer gives the Mets a greater assortment of options in what is a robust reliever market. They could target another team's closer with the idea of making him Diaz's setup man, or they could take advantage of the fact that they don't need someone with ninth-inning experience and go after some of the elite setup men on the market.

The Pittsburgh Pirates present various options with closer David Bednar and setup man Dennis Santana likely on the move. There are also rumblings that the Minnesota Twins could move on from one or both of the dynamic duo of Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax, both of whom have years of control remaining.

Meanwhile, some insiders have connected the Mets and Rockies to a deal with Jake Bird and Seth Halvorsen making their way to Queens to shore up the bridge to Diaz.

The options are plentiful here for the Mets, which causes this need to rank above the last critical hole the Mets will investigate filling at the deadline.