Reese Kaplan -- The First Order of Mets Trading Business

As much as folks have pondered the selloff of Mets starting pitchers and fringe position players, the fact is that the most appealing player on their roster to dangle in trades may be the veteran closer David Robertson.  While no team can function as effectively as they would like without someone to nail down the 9th inning, the fact is if the Mets indeed make the decision to enter a "for sale" mode after the first week back from the All Star break then Robertson should be front and center on the trading block.

How good has Robertson been in the emergency takeover for injured Edwin Diaz?  Well, look at the numbers and they are pretty eye popping.  Right now he's been in 36 games with a 2-2 record accompanied by 13 saves.  His ERA is a tidy 2.06 and his WHIP is just 1.02 suggesting that he's doing a great job keeping batters off base.  

At a salary of $10 million with roughly $5 million due for the second half, he's a modest investment for any other club in quest of a strong presence for their bullpen as they seek to play October baseball.

There are two obvious questions that surface in the theoretical prospect of trading David Robertson.  The first is what would it take from another team to obtain this solid and consistent performer.  We could do a 5-10 team analysis one-by-one going over their MLB rosters and minor league top prospects.  Howver, that type of speculation (calling it analysis would be arrogant) is mostly guess work.

No, the other question is more ripe for today's talk is who takes over the closing role if Robertson packs his bags and jets off to another employer?  There are a few legitimate in-house candidates.

Veteran reliever Adam Ottavino was rock solid in 2022 and earned himself a new and more lucrative contract for 2023.  This year like many of his teammates his performance has been less robust than they would have hoped.  Right now Ottavino is 0-3 with 6 saves, 10 holds and an ERA of 3.72.  It's not bad but it's not great either.  His WHIP has been surprisingly good at 1.18, which suggests that while he gets into trouble he's been adept at getting out of it.  

More importantly in Metsville, he's a familiar face and long term veteran reliever who the club would not be embarrassed to use as a primary closer if the opportunity demanded it.  

The more surprising name on this list is the highly effective 2023 pitching of southpaw Brooks Raley.  He has had 17 holds to accompany his 1-1 record, a single save and a very impressive 2.30 ERA.  His WHIP is slightly higher than what Ottavino has been providing, but he's excelling in all of the other numbers.  Given his outstanding work in 2022 that has been even better in 2023, it's not as if entrusting Raley in this role would be off base.  It would, however, take courage on three fronts to nominate Raley to be the closer.  

First, who would fill that role formerly called a LOOGY to handle needs against left handed hitting?  Second, Raley has a player option for 2024 and if he excels at closing then he would want to reward himself by auctioning his skills to the highest bidder in free agency.  Third, two straight years of stellar pitching followed a long mediocre start to his career and this move would take courage from the front office and folks are not accustomed to seeing that type of bravery.

Most of the rest of the Mets bullpen has been suspect rather than filled with prospects.  Drew Smith has been in pitching free fall for most of the year.  Recent arrivals Trevor Gott and Grant Hartwig haven't exhibited enough work yet to suggest they would be considered seriously.  The remainder of the Syracuse shuttle crew have not done anything to distinguish themselves in a positive way.

It would be a bit odd for the Mets to trade away their top reliever and then to make a trade to find a new closer, but it's possible.  Remember that the Mets had anticipated Robertson in an 8th inning role when Diaz went on the shelf.  Next season the club will have Diaz resume his closer duties, so a temporary closer this season could morph into that 8th inning guy in 2024.  There are loads of relievers who will be shopped around but we're not looking at Josh Hader or others of that ilk.