The New York Mets are in a good spot, and as they aim to further improve the 2022 club, it’s clear it won’t be at the expense of their long-term potential.
After surging to a hot start at the beginning of the season, the Mets have leveled out while the Atlanta Braves came storming back toward the top of the division standings. But with Max Scherzer back and Jacob deGrom expected to soon return, there’s plenty of reasons to believe that the Mets are positioned to make a deep run this postseason.
That said, keeping starters healthy has been a challenge, the designated hitter spot when not occupied by Pete Alonso has effectively been a black hole, and the bullpen has had a few-too-many meltdowns.
So, there are areas for improvement. Appearing on "The Show: A NY Post Baseball Podcast", Mets president Sandy Alderson offered his thoughts on where the needs are.
“Starting pitching has not really been an issue for us over the last six weeks," Alderson said. "It hasn't been uniformly great, but it hasn't been bad in certain spots that would force us to go look for a starting pitcher. Look, starting pitching is going to be very expensive to acquire at the deadline. It's something that most clubs will be looking for.
“Will we look at the possibility of adding starting pitching? Yep, probably, depending on where we are with Scherzer coming back, deGrom should be back about that time, we'll see."
Alderson was a little less wishy-washy about adding a bat or relief arm.
“We've got among the lowest DH productivity in the game," he said. "Take Alonso out of it and it's been very poor. Is DH a spot that's going to be highly-competitive in the marketplace? I don't know, maybe, I doubt it. Doesn't mean that some team in our division might not try to hold us up for a top prospect. But again, I think probably an opportunity to improve there.
“And then the bullpen just needs to be strengthened. ... We've lost three or four games at least in the last 20 games with home runs late in the game after the starter has departed. That can't continue with a championship team, we can't just keep giving up bombs that determine outcomes. Is the bullpen an area that we'd probably look at? Yeah. The other thing about the bullpen is those acquisitions aren't always that expensive, either. …
“We've got to be careful about who we move and for what reasons. To give you a short answer, I'd say a hitter and some bullpen help.”
The solution to the Mets’ DH problem probably is playing for another team right now, but Alderson technically could look internally.
There’s tons of buzz around top prospect Francisco Álvarez, who was just promoted to Triple-A. He’s got tantalizing pop in his bat, and there could be a world in which the Mets give him a look to see if he can be a stopgap as the DH this season.
Such a move seems unlikely, though.
“He was just moved to Triple-A,” Alderson said. “He's only played two or three games, he's on his way to the Futures Game. But in those two or three games, he's getting his feet wet. He's only had 15 or 16 plate appearances, a couple of hits, he has shown some discipline at the plate.
“But in order for Álvarez to be considered, we have to see sustained performance over some period of time at Triple-A and we haven't seen that because he hasn't had the opportunity to do it. So, I would say that's not an immediate option, that's not something we would rely on.”
That patience with Álvarez ultimately speaks to what the Mets appear to be trying to accomplish.
Whereas in the past, the Mets might be quick to flip a high prospect in a trade or rush him to the majors to make him a contributor, Alderson is preaching a more patient approach.
“There's no-question that some of our prospects are off-limits,” Alderson said. “We just promoted Francisco Álvarez, I'd be surprised if there were anything that would make him available. Brett Baty is very close to that status, as well. And then, you're talking about Matt Allan hasn't pitched in a couple years. It's easy to just say he hasn't pitched, who knows what he's gonna be, let's move him. ... You've got to be careful about discounting the value of certain guys just because they're hurt, so Matt Allan is sort of a good example of that.
“I can't sit here and tell you everybody is going to be off-limits or unavailable, but I think we're going to be very judicious and I think that's the approach Steve (Cohen) wants to take. I think that he wants to be very careful about moving prospects because moving prospects ultimately affects our ability to sustain success, you can't do it just with money.”
The MLB trade deadline is set for 6 p.m. ET on August 2.
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