4 Mets trade duos that add a starting pitcher and reliever in one fell swoop

Some bullpen help is essential for the New York Mets to compete for a playoff spot. You’ve probably gotten to know a lot of the alleged names available out there starting from the worst teams in baseball and working your way up.

The MLB trade deadline will be here before we know it and the Mets have yet to differentiate themselves as true buyers or sellers. The in-between is the lousiest place to be. Let’s not do this “just friends” thing with the 2024 team.

In addition to relief help, the Mets could do themselves a favor by adding a starting pitcher, too. Not only could they trade away one of their current starters for something and upgrade with someone else, they could always move someone to the bullpen for additional help. With these four duos, the Mets can target a starting pitcher and reliever in one fell swoop in an attempt to bolster the roster for an attempted run at the postseason.

1) Mets trade for Andrew Heaney and David Robertson

There are a lot of really good options on the Texas Rangers roster. If there is one team you should root hard against over in the American League, it’s them. 

The defending champions made one of their biggest trade deadline moves last summer with the Mets. The Max Scherzer for Luisangel Acuna deal was significant because of the money involved. It’s still one of the wackier trade deadline moves a team has ever made. Thank the power of Steve Cohen’s wallet for making it possible.

This year, the teams could be on opposite sides. The Rangers have too much ground to make up. With plenty of pending free agents, the Mets can seek help from their talented pitching arsenal. Two of the targets who make sense are starting pitcher Andrew Heaney and reliever David Robertson.

Heaney is a lefty on an expiring contract for the Rangers. Making $13 million this year, he’d probably be a tougher sell for teams than Michael Lorenzen who’d be equally as intriguing for the Mets to consider. Ironically, it was before the 2023 season when rumors of the Mets targeting Heaney came about in the offseason. This past winter, Lorenzen was a target.

Heaney is 3-9 with a 3.80 ERA in 17 starts and a relief appearance. Perhaps not a huge solution for the team in the rotation, his ability to throw strikes would be welcomed.

We know Robertson best from his time with the Mets last season. On a $10 million deal this season with a $7 million mutual option for 2025, he’s a guy many fans eagerly wanted back again in the offseason. Known to handle himself well against left-handed pitchers despite being a righty, he can help be a solution for the team’s woes with Jake Diekman.

Odds Mets trade for these two: A snowball's chance in a Canadian April.

2) Mets trade for Erick Fedde and Tanner Banks

Erick Fedde is someone the Mets targeted in the offseason and should keep a close eye on as the trade deadline nears. Signed to a two-year deal worth $15 million with the Chicago White Sox, he’s more than a rental like Heaney and Robertson could possibly end up. Fedde is an investment for next year. Going 6-3 with a 3.13 ERA in his first 18 starts this year has made him a Mets offseason miss. David Stearns can rectify it by paying up and bringing Fedde from the lowly Chicago White Sox over to Queens.

In addition to Fedde, the Mets should pluck a reliever from the White Sox, too. Tanner Banks would be a guy to try to get.

Banks is even more controllable with free agency not taking place until after the 2028 season. Now in his third big league campaign, Banks has been a steady lefty for Chicago. He has gone 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA in 42.1 innings this season. Slightly better in his career with a 3.91 ERA, he is at a career-high 9.8 strikeouts per 9 and low of 2.3 walks per 9.

This is the kind of trade we can’t complain too much about because both players are under contract for next season. Consider it a head start for the 2025 campaign. Fedde would make close to double what he is in 2025 if he wasn’t under contract while Banks is a late-blooming converted starter who doesn’t need to be handled with kid’s gloves. 

Odds Mets make a trade like this: The upcoming presidential election making America look like a joke.

3) Mets trade for Chris Bassitt and Chad Green

There are a few combinations to consider in a trade deadline deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. This one is all about saving our friendly neighbors up north a bit of money by taking on a pair of older veteran pitchers.

The first is the starter, Chris Bassitt. A member of the Mets in 2022, he has performed gloriously for them yet again this season. At 7-7 with a 3.43 ERA in 18 starts, he is in the middle of yet another steady year. Owed the remainder of his $22 million from this year and the same total for next season, it’s a contract a potential rebuilding or resetting Blue Jays might want to get out from under.

The same could be said for Chad Green. Another ex-New York athlete, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza can vouch for him. Green spent his first seven seasons with the New York Yankees. After a disappointing 12 innings for the Blue Jays in 2023, he has been a whole different kind of pitcher this year. Health remains a concern but with a 1.57 ERA in 23 innings, he’s too tempting to pass over completely.

Green is getting paid a lot for a reliever. A two-year deal worth $21 million split evenly between this year and next should have the Blue Jays looking for some buyers if saving some loonies is on the agenda.

To acquire either of these pitchers, the Mets will need the Blue Jays to sell more than their rentals. An alternative pairing could be Yusei Kikuchi and Trevor Richards or even Yimi Garcia.

Odds the Mets make a trade like this: A stranger pays off your home mortgage without revealing themselves for the credit.