Reese Kaplan -- Jumping Into the Deep End of the Pool

After the news was announced that the Mets had made two significant additions to their bullpen there was happiness, pride and a propensity to set up a long overdue celebration to cap off the forgotten 100 days of the 2025 season while finally seeing a significant step towards overdue change.

Everyone is aware of most of the new bullpen alignment by 5:00 AM on July 31st:

• Edwin Diaz
• Ryan Helsey
• Tylor Rogers
• Gregory Soto
• Brooks Raley
• Ryne Stanek

Then there are the two others still theoretically part of the Mets organization:

• Chris Devenski
• Rico Garcia

Obviously one of them is likely to go to make room for the newcomers.  Jose Butto is already off the current roster.  Would the Mets go with an eight-man bullpen and a collection of 13 position players?  Or is the roster construction ready to accept the return of Paul Blackburn in the very near future which would likely force them to jettison another of the fringe relievers?  Further on down the road you have Tylor Megill, Drew Smith and Brandon Waddell all recovering from injuries as well.

The real issue with the three new acquisitions is that they are all rentals with contracts expiring at year’s end.  While some folks were probably sorry to see Jose Butto go and others might whine over never having seen what Drew Gilbert could provide, the fact is that eight players were given up to obtain these three short term gains.  It clearly paints the “We’re in it to win it” shape of the final two months of the season which hopefully translates into October baseball. 

The flip side, of course, is that while this piece is being written nothing until the 11th hour has been done to improve the club’s offense.  They still have too many infielders, no true center fielder and no true full time DH.  Yes, Starling Marte when healthy has been a good bat but he’s no longer capable of playing in the field regularly.  Jesse Winker is hurt again.  Mark Vientos gets occasional DH duty or as part of the four-man rotation on either side of Francisco Lindor.  No one is sure where Brett Baty is going to line up each day and Ronny Mauricio is fighting against a .227 hitter for playing time.  Luisangel Acuna has become baseball’s version of as the invisible man.

When I woke up on the morning of August 1st it is still the 31st in New York and time exists for David Stearns to bolster the offense as well.  The headline read that the Mets acquired Cedric Mullins from Baltimore for another trio of lower level prospects.  Granted, he didn't cost much to acquire in terms of personnel and his salary share for the remaining two months isn't much.  However, his last three years have been .234, .233 and .229.  It doesn't seem like this stellar outfielder with great base running speed is really going to help the offense.  For a frame of reference, he's just two points better than Brett Baty.

Perhaps a better approach would have been to seek out a high OBP and high contract hitter like the Guardians’ Steven Kwan, but a guy who hits singles and doubles won’t generate the same type of headlines as a home run slugger would.  Brent Rooker, Brandon Lowe and others probably take the heat off the Mets’ front office since they do get the headlines.  Of course, Lowe is still on the IL which might take him out of the running, but many of you will be watching your X feeds and other sources religiously for this final day to obtain playoff eligible personnel.  Cedric Mullins was not what people were hoping to get.

Here’s hoping something better happens.