Reese Kaplan -- Better Get Those Sunglasses Ready Until Year's End

Suppose the Mets were theoretically playing first place baseball with a long seven-game winning streak, the trade deadline approaches to coincide with the long awaited return of Jacob deGrom, and aside from a few minor tweaks the club did nothing to improve its offense nor its bullpen?  How would fans react?

Well, Tom Brennan yesterday offered up the opinion that (if you'll forgive the one-hit-wonder reference of Timbuk 3), the future's so bright I gotta wear shades.  That is entirely a glass half-full perspective that after watching the Mets peddle away their top prospects in the recent past that this time they intend to hang onto them rather than having a Javier Baez sequel.  

As the trade deadline approaches (and it's entirely possible something will happen during my nighttime while I'm here in Malaysia 12 hours ahead of the folks in New York, but as it stands right now the additions of Daniel Vogelbach and Tyler Naquin may be all that comes into Queens from outside the organization.  

I'm not going to rehash the pros and cons of these two professional ballplayers, but even the most ardent Mets fans would have to agree that neither of them is in the same league as Josh Bell, Willson Contreras, CJ Cron or even a seemingly diminished Nelson Cruz.

To read the media lately it appears the high hopes for the team barring any 11th hour surprises that folks like the surprising (and former Met) Brandon Drury might be the buy-low caliber of player the team could potentially target.  Drury is having a fantastic full time season for the hapless Cincinnati Reds and with free agency pending it's also entirely possible that they would rather get something than nothing for him at this last opportunity of 2022.  

However, let's assume for the moment that David Robertson, Michael Fulmer, Aaron Loup, Andrew Chafin and other bullpen reinforcements are similarly off the table.  That would leave the Mets with what you see now plus the soon returning trio of Trevor May, James McCann and Tylor Megill joining the 391-deGromless Mets as August and September additions to the roster.  Is that as bad as it seems?

Well, right now former starters David Peterson and Tylor Megill appear to be slated to shift to the bullpen.  That would mean some of the shakier options (particularly when multiple innings are required) will not be expected to carry the load while standing on shaky ground.  That's a good thing if they can make the relief pitcher adjustment.  

David Peterson got off to a rough start after enjoying a streak of extended success in the rotation.  However, everyone is entitled to an off-day.  Megill is still an open question and may be seen in about 2+ weeks.  Trevor May is really the key man here as he carried a heavy workload of 68 games during his Mets debut season in 2021.  Having him back will fill Jeremy Hefner and Buck Showalter with quite a bit more confidence than they have in the suspects occupying seats in the bullpen right now.  

Add Trevor Williams into the positive side of the equation as well as he's floated between starting and relieving, pitching to a 3.38 ERA and making folks' pulses slow down a tad after they spike when seeing instead the likes of guys like Chasen Shreve.

So on the pitching side, the Mets would appear to be in pretty good shape even without external resources entering the clubhouse.  However, the right handed half of the DH platoon is still a wide open question as JD Davis couldn't even hit against the subpar starter like Patrick Corbin.  Having Billy Eppler not pull the trigger on someone to complement new acquisition Daniel Vogelbach seems short sighted.  

Some believe an imminent promotion of Mark Vientos is happening and his right handed bat is indeed looking formidable in the minors.  This year he's looking pretty productive with 19 HRs and 54 RBIs in about a half season's worth of ABs.  However, not everyone enters Citifield and immediately turns it up a notch to face the stronger caliber of pitching, fielding and base running found in the majors.  

At 22 years of age he likely has a future in the big leagues but whether or not now is the time is a question without an answer.  Here a 29 year old Brandon Drury might be a better option.  

Well, this speculation will all shortly come to an end as the trade deadline is rapidly approaching.  No one can confidently predict what will happen.  All we can do is speculate what if nothing does...what do the Mets do to engineer August and September baseball in preparation for the national stage in October.