Why this offseason will be more like 2017-18 than 2022-23

This offseason feels oddly familiar.

New York Yankees v New York Mets
New York Yankees v New York Mets / Rich Schultz/GettyImages
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3. Building a bullpen

The closer for the 2017 Mets was expected to be Jeurys Familia. After a 15-game suspension and missing most of the season due to injury, Addison Reed became the closer and was dealt to Boston at the deadline. Going into the offseason, the Mets only had 3 definitive relief pitchers for 2018: Familia, Jerry Blevins, and AJ Ramos. Alderson attempted to fix the bullpen by signing Anthony Swarzak to a 2-year contract and converting Gsellman and Lugo into relief pitchers.

This Mets team is no different; Diaz missed all of 2023 due to injury, and Robertson was dealt at the deadline to Miami. Aside from Diaz and Raley, the Mets have no definitive relief pitchers heading into this offseason. If Stearns follows the same model Alderson followed, we should expect at least 2 relief pitchers to be signed with Butto, Lucchesi, and Megill filling the same role Gsellman and Lugo filled for the 2018 Mets.