Bullpen, bullpen, and more bullpen.
We knew that was going to be the Mets’ top priority this trade deadline season.
David Stearns made that clear during his press conference last week at Citi Field, and the president of baseball operations has already stayed true to his word.
The Mets pulled off their first deal of this deadline season on Friday, acquiring left-hander Gregory Soto from the Orioles, as first reported by SNY’s Andy Martino.
In exchange, the Mets sent Baltimore a pair of intriguing right-handed pitching prospects with upside in 26-year-old Cameron Foster and 20-year-old Wellington Arecena.
While it’s a bit of a hit to the depth in the system, Soto is a very strong addition for this group.
The 30-year-old is a power southpaw who has had his share of ups-and-down over his career, but posses big swing-and-miss stuff and has plenty of experience pitching in high-leverage innings.
He struggled his first two years, but finally broke onto the scene during the 2021 campaign — securing the Tigers closers role as he saved 48 games and logged his lone All-Star appearances the next two seasons.
Soto ended up being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, whom he spent a year and a half with before ultimately being shipped off to the Orioles ahead of the 2023 deadline.
He had a bit of an up-and-down start to his time in Baltimore, but has been relatively effective this season, especially against left-handed hitters — whom he has held to a .138 batting average and .547 OPS.
Soto isn’t quite as effective against righties, but the Orioles did a good job of limiting his exposure to them, so Carlos Mendoza will just have to be sure to call upon him in the correct spots.
Either way, he gives Mendy a bit of flexibility and a strong second lefty option out of the ‘pen.
With Soto joining the mix, here’s how things will likely stand:
– RHP Edwin Díaz
– RHP Reed Garrett
– LHP Brooks Raley
– LHP Gregory Soto
– RHP Ryne Stanek
– RHP José Buttó
– RHP Huascar Brazobán
** On the Bubble: RHP Rico Garcia, LHP Jose Castillo
It seems like Soto won't be active for Friday's series opener in San Fran, but when he does eventually arrive you have to figure that either Garcia or Castillo will be the corresponding roster move.
Castillo seems like the more likely option of the two being that he is also left-handed, and he was just called up on Friday with hard-throwing righty Alex Carrillo heading down to Triple-A.
With the arms that end up staying, though, this is shaping up to be a very solid group down the stretch and according to numerous reports more help appears to be on the way.
Stearns isn’t stopping with Soto, reports have indicated that he'll continue to look to add more relief help leading right up to the July 31 deadline.
It remains to be see whether that’ll be in the form of a big splash such as David Bednar, Emmanuel Clase, or Jhoan Duran or a bit of cheaper option like Griffin Jax, Dennis Santana, or Andrew Kittredge.
Either way, it’s become obvious that Stearns is ready to add to this club.
According to Martino, the Mets also remain in the market for an upgrade in center field, but adding another third baseman is looking like more of a long shot at this point.
It’ll be interesting to see how things play out in the coming days.
