3 trades the NY Mets should have made at the deadline

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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.

The Mets should have addressed their final two offensive needs with this trade package.

The Red Sox showed they had no idea what they wanted to do going forward. The Red Sox, who went 8-19 in July, found themselves in last place in their division, and on the outside looking in when it came to the AL Wild Card conversation. They made little sense with what they did, bringing in Tommy Pham and Eric Hosmer, while keeping J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, while getting fleeced in the Christian Vazquez trade, getting very little from the Astros.

The Mets could have gotten an impact bat and an above average catcher, both with championship pedigree, as both won the World Series four years ago with Boston. Martinez would have fit into Eric Chavez's offensive philosophy. Martinez is a pure professional hitter, making four All-Star teams in his five years with the Red Sox with his complete bat.

Meanwhile, Vazquez hit .282 with 8 home runs and a 108 OPS+, numbers that are a premium at the catcher position this year for the Red Sox before he was traded to Houston earlier this week.

Both players are free agents at the end of the season, and it would not have costed the Mets much to acquire both of them, and it would have taken the Mets offense to another level.

The J.D. Martinez sweepstakes for the Mets ended when the Mets acquired Darin Ruf from the Giants.

The Mets missed out on an easy relief package for David Robertson.

The Philadelphia Phillies only had to give up their No. 26 prospect (Ben Brown) to receive perhaps the best available relief pitcher not named Josh Hader this year in David Robertson from the Chicago Cubs. That's kind of a low return for a pitcher of Robertson's caliber. He is also a rental who becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

David Robertson was linked to Mets rumors throughout this trade deadline season, with the Cubs looking to add to their farm system. But the Cubs only gave the Mets Mychal Givens at the deadline on Tuesday.

Joander Suarez is the current No. 26 prospect in the Mets farm system, and now looking back at that trade, that's a trade the Mets should have made to get someone in an area of need, the weak point probably of this Mets roster is their bullpen. And now the Mets will have to see David Robertson in critical divisional games over the next two weeks wondering aloud how they couldn't give up what the Phillies did to get someone like him.

Still, after the Mets sent Colin Holderman to the Pirates to get Daniel Vogelbach, it became evident the Mets needed two relievers. They only got one, and that feels underwhelming to the fans.

Next. Mets acquire RHP Mychal Givens from the Cubs. dark

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