The New York Mets came into the 2022 MLB trade deadline as one of the key teams to watch. They made a few moves but nothing too big, which was a bit of a disappointment for a team with legitimate World Series ambitions.
At the deadline, the Mets added another arm for the bullpen in Mychal Givens, a backup outfielder in Tyler Naquin and two players who will serve as a platoon designated hitter. Daniel Vogelbach will get the call against right-handers while Darin Ruf will face lefties.
New York certainly improved its roster at the deadline, even if it wasn't by the amount they should have. They needed more hitting and got just that while adding a reliever with a 2.66 ERA at the time of the trade. As they maintain their multi-game lead in the NL East heading into August, they look to be in a good position.
The biggest surprise from the Mets was not what they did but rather what they failed to do. New York not trading for a lefty reliever was a decision that needs to be questioned.
Mets' biggest MLB trade deadline surprise
New York not trading for a catcher is pretty shocking considering how badly they needed one. James McCann is finally back but does not strike much fear into opponents, nor do Tomas Nido and Patrick Mazeika.
However, the front office seems to have trust in who they have now and has top prospect Francisco Alvarez potentially coming up next season. Although Willson Contreras or Christian Vazquez would have been a major addition at the catcher spot, the Mets are not without a reliable (albeit, future) option.
The Mets not adding a catcher is at least someone explainable. However, unless they are leaning fully into big-screen Billy Beane's belief that a relief pitcher's handedness doesn't matter, not adding a single left-handed reliever is shocking, especially considering that they were looking into several names and plenty of relievers were eventually traded.
The lone southpaw in the Mets bullpen is Joely Rodriguez, who is not having himself a good season. The 30-year-old has a 5.72 ERA in 28.1 innings in 2022. Overall, the Mets' bullpen is not that great outside of superstar closer Edwin Diaz. The group's collective stats look great thanks in large part to having the 2022 season's premier strikeout artist. Adam Ottavino has been solid but the rest off the group has been shaky.
Having a versatile array of bullpen arms is key in the modern MLB as starting pitchers' workloads continue to diminish. Having pitchers with different handedness is also good to have. New York could have used more bullpen help than just Givens but especially as it pertains to their left-handers. They're not only setting Rodriguez up for failure but also themselves for not having enough of a mix in the ‘pen.
According to Tim Britton of The Athletic, general manager Billy Eppler claims that the team has “some options internally to potentially look at” in terms of a lefty reliever, which doesn't inspire much confidence and also may not be true. On the current 40-man roster, David Peterson is the club's only other lefty who is both healthy and has significant big-league experience.
Not pulling the trigger on a trade for a catcher is not a massive shock given Alvarez crushing it in the minor leagues. The lack of big moves they made for the bullpen, however, might come back to bite the Mets.
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