Mets bullpen is two arms shy of full strength

While the New York Mets were busy changing their starting lineup and blowing us away with the Max Scherzer signing, they forgot to add some relief help. Well, maybe forgot isn’t the right word. They didn’t do it. They had bigger fish to fry before the lockout began.

Fortunately, the bullpen isn’t exactly in disarray.

Currently, the Mets have Edwin Diaz in the ninth with Trevor May and Seth Lugo likely to work as his main setup men. In front of them, we have two quality relievers, Miguel Castro and Drew Smith. Finally, I would consider Trevor Williams as a strong long reliever to add in there.

This leaves them with two spots to fill. Essentially, it’s replacing Jeurys Familia and Aaron Loup; more so the latter than the former.

The state of the Mets bullpen is pretty good

The lockout will give us all plenty of time to sift through the different free agent relievers available and maybe look at some trade candidates on other teams. It still seems as if the Mets will trade at least one of their position players. Many have realized the best the Mets could hope to get back for in some of those dealings would be relief help.

It’s never easy to know which relievers will or won’t be good the following season. Knowing this would be a superpower.

However they do it, the Mets can’t begin the season with Jake Reed and Sean Reid-Foley in the bullpen. Illiteracy stinks but Reed and Reid-Foley work best in an emergency situation.

The Mets have a couple of names they could turn to in free agency. Andrew Chafin and Brad Hand would be a nice pairing with the former in the main lefty role and the latter serving as the cheaper buy option with possible upside.

None of the current relievers I have named throw left-handed. And while they survived a lot of 2021 with only Loup throwing from that side, it’s a mistake to think they can get away with another season of this.

An intriguing lefty to potential pluck away in a trade would be Minnesota Twins’ part-time closer Taylor Rogers. Someone the Mets checked in on during the November frenzy, he could provide the club with a little bit of insurance if Diaz blows up.

There are a lot of ways the Mets can go in their attempt to open 2022 with a strong bullpen. Signing one guy and picking the other up in a trade seems to be a likely route, largely depending upon what other teams are willing to give up.

The worst thing they can do is ignore the need and insist they believe in the guys they already have. This thought would go against what the front office has already done. We should all feel confident something will get done and the front office punt team doesn’t come onto the field when it comes to the bullpen.