The Mets are heading into another offseason with obvious work to do, and the bullpen sits right near the top of the list. New York still needs two starting pitchers and a first baseman, but if David Stearns wants to solve the relief problem with more imagination than money, the trade market looks like the most realistic path.
One name that would sit at the top of any wish list is Trevor Megill. The current closer for the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers has become one of the best relievers in baseball over the past three seasons, and the numbers back it up. In 61.2 innings this year, Megill put up a 2.63 ERA, struck out 69, posted a 0.89 WHIP, and nailed down 30 of 33 save chances.
At first glance, it seems hard to imagine Milwaukee moving a pitcher like that. But the Brewers have shown they’re willing to deal closers with one year of control left, as they did with Josh Hader and Devin Williams.
Megill is in that same spot now. If he does become available, the Mets should be all over him.
New York already has Devin Williams as its current ninth-inning option, and pairing him with Megill would give the bullpen a nasty late-game edge.
The Mets also could look a little closer to home in the National League East. Tanner Bender has spent the last five years as one of the Miami Marlins’ best late-inning arms, and he turned in another strong season. He logged a 2.62 ERA with 41 strikeouts and a 0.96 WHIP across 34.1 innings.
Bender is entering his final year of team control, which makes him an obvious trade candidate for a Marlins team that has never shied away from moving veteran pieces before they hit free agency. His low three-quarters arm slot is part of what makes him so tough to hit, especially for right-handed batters.
In 81 plate appearances against him, righties hit just .148. He may not be the flashiest arm on the board, but he could matter a lot in a high-leverage Mets bullpen.
Another left-handed option is Seattle’s Tayler Speier. He has been a steady bullpen presence for the Mariners for the last four seasons and has handled important moments regularly, piling up 45 holds over the past two seasons.
In 2026, Speier worked 46 innings with a 2.93 ERA, 45 strikeouts, and a 1.09 WHIP. Left-handed hitters didn’t do much damage against him, either, batting just .188.
It’s unclear whether Seattle would actually move him, but the Mariners do have pitching depth across the majors and minors, and Speier is entering his last year of team control. For the Mets, he’d fill a real need. Outside of rookie Nate Lavender, their left-handed relief options don’t inspire much confidence, and Speier could serve in a role similar to Brooks Raley from last season, giving manager Andy Green a flexible piece for different situations.
Then there’s Scott Bernardino, a pitcher whose path has been unusual from the start. He didn’t debut in the majors until 2022, when he was already 30 with the Mariners.
Since then, he has moved from Boston to Colorado and settled in as a dependable late-inning arm. This season, Bernardino posted a 2.81 ERA with 49 strikeouts and a 1.16 WHIP over 64 innings.
The underlying numbers help explain why he’s attractive. Bernardino generated a 30.5% hard-hit rate and a 5.6% walk rate, both ranking in the 92nd percentile or better, per Baseball Savant.
Even with three more years of team control, the Rockies could decide to cash in while they’re still years from competing. His age, 34, gives them another reason to listen.
The Mets already took a similar approach with Huascar Brazoban, moving the 37-year-old at the deadline despite his team control, and Bernardino could fit that same first-man-out-of-the-pen role after a starter leaves or even work as an opener.
The wild card in the group is Ben Joyce. Baseball fans remember the 2024 breakout with the Los Angeles Angels, when he grabbed attention by blowing Tommy Edman away with a 105.5 mph fastball.
That moment fueled talk that he could become one of baseball’s elite closers. Injuries have slowed everything down since then, though, and he has thrown just 19.2 innings over the last two seasons combined.
That medical history would scare plenty of teams off, but Joyce still brings a ceiling few relievers can match when he’s right. He also has three more years of team control, so any deal would come at a price.
The Mets and Angels could line up on a swap involving Mark Vientos, whose future in New York is still uncertain. Vientos would give Los Angeles an intriguing young bat, while the Mets would be betting on big upside in the bullpen.
If the medicals check out, Joyce is the kind of gamble worth at least seriously considering.
In Other News...
Luis Torrens Just Became More Important To The Mets Than Ever
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The Mets also got more than just glove work from Torrens once he took on a heavier workload. His defense remained elite, and he gave the offense a lift in August, a useful development for a catcher whose main calling card has typically been run prevention. Now locked in on a two-year extension through 2028, Torrens looks like more than a temporary fix, and the bigger question for the Mets is how much his expanded role changes their plans behind the plate going forward. [Read more 🡒]
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But the case is not as clean as the hindsight version makes it sound. Martinez was older, and his track record before this stretch did not make him an obvious must-sign last winter, which is why labeling the Mets choice a miss feels too tidy. He could still become a fit for New York down the road, including as a possible option for 2027, but the larger point is that not every offseason decision becomes a mistake just because the outcome looks better in reverse. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Face One Crucial Pitching Decision If Skubal Signs Elsewhere
The Mets are heading into the winter with starting pitching squarely on the shopping list, and Tarik Skubal sits at the top of it. A two-time Cy Young Award winner would obviously change the conversation in Queens, but the market rarely cooperates that neatly, which is why the club is already being linked to other arms who could help stabilize the rotation if the big swing does not land.
Michael King and Clay Holmes have both surfaced as possible fallback options, giving the Mets a couple of different ways to address the staff without waiting on one outcome. There is also a trade idea involving Drew Rasmussen, though it is viewed as the wrong kind of gamble, which leaves the front office with a familiar winter task: decide whether to chase the premier prize or settle for a lesser fit before the market thins out. [Read more 🡒]