1 Mets trade deadline deal we really wish they made

The New York Mets needed a couple of trade deadline additions. Most of what they did involved adding to the pitching staff. Jesse Winker was the one bat they believed they needed. Thanks to the emergence of guys like Jose Iglesias, Luis Torrens, and even better than expected performances from others, the Mets were able to keep their focus on the pitching.

David Stearns got active with the bullpen. They added Phil Maton in early July. Paul Blackburn was added to the rotation at the end of the month. They also added Huascar Brazoban, Ryne Stanek, and Tyler Zuber to the bullpen although we have yet to see the latter in a major league uniform nor may we ever.

What about what the Mets didn’t do? With Brazoban and Stanek being shaky at times, it’s easy to make a case that a missing piece for the Mets could have been Michael Kopech.

Michael Kopech could have change the Mets bullpen in a major way

At first, I wasn’t on board with trading for Kopech. He wasn’t pitching all that well for the Chicago White Sox. Ending up with a 2-8 record and 4.74 ERA in his first full season out of the bullpen, he looked like an overhyped reliever that would cost the Mets far too much to obtain.

Since the deal, Kopech has gone on to appear in 17 innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has given up only one earned run on 5 hits and 4 walks. He has struck out 21 batters while boasting a 0.53 ERA and 0.52 WHIP among other fabulous numbers.

Kopech began to make sense to me when a few other factors were taken into consideration. He has minor league options and team control through next season. This was one of the reasons why adding Brazoban looked like such a savvy move by the Mets. More than a month later, it’s still good but hasn’t provided them with the same level of outstanding performances as Kopech has for the Dodgers.

It’s hard to predict what it would have cost the Mets to acquire Kopech from Chicago. He was involved in the three-team deal with the St. Louis Cardinals that also sent Mets trade deadline target Erick Fedde to the Red Birds. 

Days before the trade deadline, former Mets GM Zack Scott pitched trading Dom Hamel for Kopech. A seemingly light offer made to look even more weightless given how well Kopech has performed post-trade deadline, it seems like the kind of deal the Mets would like to go back to make. An investment in a time machine wouldn’t be so unwise for Steve Cohen. While they're at it, why not bring Jack Flaherty along, too?