In the short term, the Mets will continue to shuffle relievers between Triple-A and the big leagues, from high leverage to low-leverage situations -- whatever manager Carlos Mendoza and the front office can do to keep the team in the playoff race.
But what about the necessary long-term fixes to get them through the rest of the season?
The Mets, as SNY’s John Harper wrote earlier today, are good enough to be a postseason contender. But that hinges on the team getting its depleted bullpen fixed.
Mendoza has shown himself to be aggressive in shifting roles, like when he moved Adam Ottavino off setup situations to pitch earlier in games. But that won’t prove to be enough in the long run; new personnel are needed, and not just the folks who qualify for the near-daily bullpen shuttle.
Tylor Megill, down in Triple-A as a starter, is perhaps the most intriguing internal option. If you’re interested in how Megill’s heavy fastball would play in shorter, high-leverage relief stints, so are some Mets people. But it’s not as easy as shifting his role today.
First of all, the team would have to be confident in the health of its starting depth to the point where it could scratch Megill off that list for the remainder of the year. Once a starter is un-stretched out, it’s not easy to re-stretch him during the season.
Also, a move to the bullpen only works with player buy-in. Megill -- like David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi, two other starters in the organization who might be able to help in the pen -- has been one type of pitcher his entire life. A sudden shift of identity and workflow is a big ask.
Add to that the fact that such a move can cost a pitcher money; relievers tend to earn less during their arbitration years than back-end starters. A pay cut for the sake of a company’s broader needs is another big ask.
Despite all that, Megill to the pen is a possibility to keep in mind for later this season.
As for the trade market, the Mets will likely have to wait several weeks to bolster the pen in an impactful way. According to league sources, prices are predictably high for all early trade targets, including relievers. There is a reason why teams wait until the deadline to make most of their moves: Asking prices in late June and early July are usually unreasonable. This year is no different, at least not yet.
As president of baseball operations David Stearns said during his media availability on Friday, all trade deadline strategies remain possible at this stage. The next few weeks will present a clearer picture of what the Mets should do.
Having said that, I can add through reporting that the idea of both buying and selling -- say, moving a Luis Severino or Pete Alonso but adding bullpen help, elevating young starters and moving Mark Vientos to first base -- is almost impossible to imagine if the Mets are in playoff position.
If the team is sitting in a wild card spot, or is very close to one at the end of July, don’t expect to see Severino or Alonso moved for prospects.
But if Grimace fails to spearhead another white-hot stretch and the Mets fall back to the fringes of the race, that’s when the front office could try to thread a needle between buying and selling.