Report: New York Mets Could Target These High-Leverage Relievers
With Major League Baseball's August 2 trade deadline slowly approaching, the New York Mets are expected to be highly active as we get closer to this date in order to upgrade their club, which has gotten off to an impressive start to the regular season.
While the Mets will likely go after a big bat, they also appear destined to upgrade their bullpen with a high-leverage arm.
According to SNY's Andy Martino, the Mets will explore adding late-inning relievers such as David Robertson, Andrew Chafin and Trevor Rosenthal (free agent who threw in front of teams during the week, including the Mets).
Making a case for Robertson, the 37-year-old has been one of the few bright spots on a rebuilding Chicago Cubs team. Robertson, who signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with Chicago in the offseason, has posted a stellar 1.66 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 30 strikeouts and seven saves across 19 appearances. He'd be a solid rental option for the Mets, and the Cubs will likely be shopping him, given his expiring contract on a non-contending team.
Chafin is a lefty reliever, who seemed like an ideal fit to replace Aaron Loup in the offseason, but the Detroit Tigers swooped in to give him a two-year, 13 million deal. The Tigers are still in rebuild mode as well, and unless they're confident that their blueprint will come together in 2023, they could look to dump Chafin for a prospect. Despite missing the first three weeks of the regular season with a groin strain, the southpaw has since returned to produce a 2.57 ERA in 18 appearances.
Scouts said Rosenthal, a free agent, did not look to be in pitching shape at his showcase earlier in the week. He also suffered a hamstring cramp, which cut his bullpen session short. But the 35-year-old righty, albeit coming back from surgery for both thoracic outlet syndrome and a torn labrum in his hip, was hitting 96 mph on his fastball and his changeup looked sharp as well. Should Rosenthal continue to trend in the right direction, he could be a possible option in July. The Mets are among the teams that are interested.
As Martino went onto report, the Mets will engage in conversations about starting pitchers, with the idea of targeting high quality arms. If New York is unable to acquire a high-leverage reliever, they could potentially move Tylor Megill to the bullpen in the postseason if they get there.
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