The state of the Mets bullpen

Filling out the bullpen

Behind the core four and whichever lefty joins the bullpen, the Mets will have to determine how to go about the remaining reliever openings. Thankfully, there are already some quality candidates on the active roster.

For starters, righty Drew Smith has earned a spot on the Opening Day roster. Acquired at the 2017 trade deadline, Smith appeared in 31 games this past season. He ended his career year having pitched 41.1 innings for a 2.40ERA and 0.8 WAR.

From there, New York has a lot of ways they can go with the final spots in the pen. Via free agency, the Mets can add Kenley Jansen, Colling McHugh, Ryan Tepera, Richard Rodriguez, and Archie Bradley. The Mets could also look at Craig Kimbrel, who the White Sox could deal to save money.

The Amazins also have a handful of quality arms already on the roster worth giving an opportunity to. Young hurlers Jose Butto, Adam Oller, and Antonio Santos are new faces to the active roster but are better as depth pieces. The same can be said about Yennsy Diaz, Jake Reed, and Sean Reid-Foley, all of who had their ups and downs in 2021 on the mound.

Lastly, New York could turn to Tylor Megill, Trevor Williams, or Jordan Yamamoto as multi-inning relievers out of the bullpen. As valuable as they are as starting rotation depth, they may be of more use as relievers in 2022.

Ultimately, the Mets already have the core of their bullpen ready to go for this upcoming season. Nonetheless, if the team ignores the remaining holes at reliever, it can come back to haunt them sooner than later.