3 trades the Mets should have made at the trade deadline

With the trade deadline officially past, the New York Mets missed out on some great opportunities to bolster their roster ahead of the pennant race this fall. With shortcomings in their bullpen and catcher positions most glaring, let us look back at three potential trades the Mets should have made to gear up for the playoffs.

The Mets should have had the Tigers yield two relief pitchers to complete a "super pen."

This was the trade proposal we referenced on this site back on July 14. The Mets missed a golden opportunity to acquire a quality left-handed reliever on a deadline season where not many relievers were traded. The Tigers seemed unwilling to move expendable trade pieces, despite the fact they have become irrelevant in the standings. The Mets should have done a better job convincing the Tigers that they would be better off as sellers.

Chafin and Jimenez would both be upgrades over what the Mets currently have. Chafin would be an overwhelmingly better alternative to Joely Rodriguez, while Jimenez could have slid in to Drew Smith's role while he is out with injury. The Mets had intriguing mid-level prospects that should have enticed the Tigers more.

Chafin has been one of the best late inning relievers in baseball over the past two seasons, with a 2.04 ERA in 101.2 innings. Jimenez finally figured things out this season, and has been one of the toughest relievers in baseball, with a 7/1 strikeout to walk ratio.

It should be considered more of a shock than a disappointment that the Mets didn't add a lefty reliever. This was a nine month puzzle that the Mets failed to solve, and the one lefty the Mets did acquire, as a consequence of not bringing back their effective lefties, has been ineffective.