The surging New York Mets will be buyers at the trade deadline.
New York owns the best record in the National League, as their walk-off win on Tuesday night propelled them to a season-high 19 games over .500. Their roster is as complete as anyone in baseball, but their bullpen may still crave upgrades.
As good as the Mets' rotation has been, their starters aren't going deep into games, throwing the 17th-most innings in Major League Baseball. They could use a couple of fresh relievers at the trade deadline, and one insider has an outside-the-box suggestion.
On Tuesday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic named Seth Halvorsen of the Colorado Rockies as his favorite trade target for the Mets to improve their bullpen and make a run at a World Series title.
"My favorite option would be Halvorsen, a right-handed reliever who has a 4.91 ERA over 26 appearances and three saves for the Rockies. His fastball averages 100.1 mph. He also ranks in the 78th percentile in off-speed run value, the 92nd percentile in ground-ball rate, and the 90th percentile in extension," Bowden wrote.
"Halvorsen, 25, made his major-league debut in 2024 and finished last season with a 1.46 ERA in 12 outings. Wait until the Mets’ analytics and pitching experts get a hold of him."
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These are the kinds of trade deadline acquisitions shrewd teams make. You find the reliever whose underlying metrics look fantastic (and it helps that the Rockies might not even have those metrics to look at), and grab him because you can predict he'll break out before it happens.
The main complaint about Halvorsen's fit for the Mets is that he throws righty, and the Mets look much more needy on the left-handed side of the bullpen. José Castillo is their only southpaw, and their entire stable of setup men in is right-handed too.
Still, there's no reason the Mets couldn't nab both Halvorsen and a lefty for a couple of lottery ticket prospects each.
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