Mets improved at trade deadline despite missing out on top-tier talent

In the end, the Mets mostly addressed their needs at the trade deadline in competent fashion, even if there wasn’t anything particularly sexy about the moves they made.

It’s just that, particularly in the case of bullpen upgrades, general manager Billy Eppler had raised expectations last week when he traded Mets’ reliever Colin Holderman for lefty designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach, explaining that talks with teams had indicated to him the market for relievers would be “robust” at Tuesday’s deadline.

The implication was that Eppler felt OK about giving up Holderman, a rookie who had shown promise in his work this season, because the Mets were going to be able to add a couple of quality bullpen arms.

And Mychael Givens, acquired from the Chicago Cubs minutes before the 6 p.m. deadline, seemingly qualifies as a quality right hander, having pitched to a 2.66 ERA mostly as a set-up man this season.

Yet Givens wasn’t as highly-sought as Cubs’ closer David Robertson, who went to the Philadelphia Phillies, or Baltimore Orioles’ closer Jorge Lopez, who went to the Minnesota Twins, or the Detroit Tigers’ Michael Fulmer, who also went to the Twins.

We’ll see how all of that plays out. Two scouts told me that Givens, at age 32, is a solid reliever who has had success in utilizing his slider more as he has lost a couple of ticks in velocity, from 95-96 to more like 93-94 in the last couple of years.

However, both scouts said it was a stretch to consider Givens a “lockdown” reliever who would be more suited for the role of eighth-inning guy than Adam Ottavino or a well-rested Seth Lugo.

“He’s like a lot of relievers, he needs to command his four-seamer and his slider to be effective,” one scout said of Givens. “He’s done a good job of that this year. But he’s not going to overmatch hitters.”

More to the point, the Mets didn’t get multiple relievers, and didn’t fill their need for a lefthander as they couldn’t pry either Gregory Soto or Andrew Chafin away from the Detroit Tigers.

So what happened to the robust relief market Eppler had predicted?

Apparently he was expecting asking prices to fall as the deadline neared, and when it didn’t happen the Mets remained committed to holding on to their top prospects.

“Undisciplined thinking can lead to years of mediocrity,” was the way Eppler put it, speaking to reporters after the deadline.

Specifically addressing the Mets’ attempt to trade for a lefty reliever, Eppler said, “We just couldn’t get the price point to an area where we thought that was responsible for us to do.”

In the case of Robertson, however, the price didn’t seem to be all that high

The Phillies gave up Class-A minor league starting pitcher Ben Brown, and the scouts said his ranking as the 26th best prospect in Philly’s system (by MLBpipeline.com) was deceptive because the right-hander has made “a big leap, potential-wise” the last couple of months.

“He’s showing some promise,” one scout said of Brown. “But it shouldn’t have been that hard for the Mets to make a better offer. They have a top-heavy system but they do have some young arms that are starting to show potential. I know they want to build up their system, especially on the pitching side. Givens should help them but for me Robertson was more attractive because of his excellent stuff and his experience in high-leverage spots.”

So if the Mets essentially passed on Robertson, will that decision come back to haunt them?

Perhaps not if Ottavino can continue his strong season and avoid hanging sliders in key spots; if Lugo can build on his last couple of dominant outings and become more consistent than he has been most of the season; if Trevor May, due back soon from arm injury, avoids the mistake-pitches that have hurt him at times.

And if the newly-acquired Givens proves to be the right acquisition.

From an offensive side, again the Mets didn’t get a big name, most notably J.D. Martinez, who wasn’t traded by the Boston Red Sox, or catcher Willson Contreras, but in acquiring Darin Ruf from the San Francisco Giants, they did find a right-handed compliment to Vogelbach for what should be an effective DH platoon.

Ruf, 36, is hitting only .216 for the season but more importantly he has impressive numbers against left-handed pitching, with a slash line of .252/.364/.523/.886 and nine home runs in 111 at-bats.

“They’ve got a real nice DH combination now,” one scout said, speaking of Vogelbach and Ruf. “They both have good plate discipline, they take their walks, and they can do damage in their roles as platoon guys.”

Much like the players they acquired, then, it’s fair to say the Mets had a solid trade deadline. And their discipline in holding onto prospects may pay dividends in years to come.

But it’s also fair to say that more was expected.