With the Mets in need of left-handed bullpen help, the trade market may offer a solution.
With key lefties A.J. Minter and Danny Young both ruled out for the season, the Mets’ bullpen has been a little light on left-handed options.
The situation has gotten much better recently, as Brooks Raley has been stellar since his return, but his two innings of work after a year plus on the shelf are not enough to simply say the problem is fixed. Beyond Raley, the Mets have Brandon Waddell on the 40-man roster, who has been serviceable in limited action. Further, the Mets also have Jose Castillo and Colin Poche currently in Triple-A Syracuse, offering additional depth with big-league experience, though neither projects as a particularly reliable option for October.
Given this, some may argue that the Mets should pursue high-leverage, front-line lefty — which isn’t exactly unreasonable. While it may not be likely, or depending on your point of view, wise for the Mets to invest a significant amount in an elite left-handed reliever, the market does offer a couple arms that would represent clear upgrades in this section.
Overall though, especially with Raley back, the more immediate focus for the Mets may instead be a reliable middle-inning arm — a way to further fortify a bullpen that’s been stretched thin and provide more options in lower-leverage spots. As a whole, a rental on an expiring deal wouldn’t require a massive return and could give Carlos Mendoza another trustworthy option for the stretch run, slotting in the place of someone like Waddell.
Here, we’ll only be exploring options for teams that, at this point, definitely seem to be selling at the deadline. That said, options from teams who are still somewhat in the Wild Card race — like the Giants, Twins, and Rangers — also deserve some consideration depending how the next week of baseball unfolds for them.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, way back in the standings as usual, presents two interesting opportunities with a pair of lefties on expiring contracts: Caleb Ferguson and Ryan Borucki. Of the two, Ferguson is clearly the more reliable option. He’s been excellent this season, who posted a 2.70 ERA before an uncharacteristic 4 ER performance against the White Sox in his last outing buoyed his ERA to 3.57. Ferguson has an elite ability to limit hard contact, allowing just an 83.1 mph average exit velocity and an 2.6% barrel rate — both in the 99th percentile or higher.
Borucki, meanwhile, has struggled to a 5.26 ERA this year, though his history of inducing ground balls and limiting pull fly balls inspire some confidence. While a FIP of 4.30 does indicate a bit of bad luck, his overall profile is less promising than Ferguson’s. Either pitcher could help bolster the Mets’ depth without requiring a significant return, but Ferguson’s superior performance and peripherals make him the more appealing fit.
Another option is Gregory Soto, currently pitching for a struggling Orioles team that just flipped reliever Bryan Baker to the Rays. Baltimore is now 8 games back of the third wild card spot, meaning with Soto a free agent at the end of the year, there’s a good chance he’ll be available. His 3.67 ERA and his underlying numbers — mainly a 3.27 FIP and a 94th percentile barrel rate — point to him being more successful down the stretch.
Similarly, the Diamondbacks’ Jalen Beeks, despite a 4.39 ERA, features one of the best changeups in the game by pitch run value (99th percentile) and has a respectable 3.70 FIP. That said, it’s still not clear yet whether the Diamondbacks will be full-on sellers at the deadline — being 50-51 and 5 games back in the wild card — so we’ll likely have to wait a couple more days to see how things shake out for them.
Looking now at the Twins, who are currently 4.5 games of the AL Wild Card, we see one lefty set to be a free agent at the end of the year: Danny Coloumbe. This year for the Twins, Coloumbe has had an excellent season, with a 0.65 ERA and a 0.940 WHIP over 27.2 innings. Ultimately though, due to his stellar performance and the higher price that would entail, Stearns would make this move only if he believes a truly elite lefty arm would be necessary to pitch in front of Brooks Raley.
Meanwhile, for the other lefties on expiring contracts — the White Sox’s Tyler Alexander and the Athletics’ Sean Newcomb have struggled and don’t project as meaningful upgrades over the Mets’ current internal options. Andrew Chafin of the Nationals is another name that could surface, but given the Mets’ lack of interest in him this past offseason, a change of heart seems unlikely.
Finally, the teams further down the standings that haven’t been mentioned yet — namely the Braves, Marlins, Angels, and Royals — have just two lefties between them with less than two years of team control: Aaron Bummer (Braves) and Brock Burke (Angels), who both become free agents in 2027. While Bummer does offer good peripherals — a 3.41 FIP and a 94th percentile barrel rate — which offset somewhat his 4.39 ERA, he is owed $6.5 million for both the 2025 and 2026 seasons, which the Mets should be hesitant to take on.
Burke, on the other hand, is more promising, being on an arbitration deal that only owes him $1.15 million for 2025. However, his peripherals are slightly worse, sporting a 4.29 FIP in contrast to his 3.38 ERA this year for the Angels. If the extra year of team control doesn’t play too much of a role for the Angels — the Mets could be suitors here.
Overall, while it may be sufficient for the Mets to rely on Raley and another surprise internal option to stabilize things down the line, adding a proven lefty like Soto, Ferguson, or Beeks would go a long way toward giving Carlos Mendoza more flexibility down the stretch and giving this beleaguered pen some more support.