Mets trade candidates: What could they get back for their best relievers?

In an ideal world, the Mets’ front office would be hunkered down this week, thinking through how best to fortify a team clearly headed to the playoffs. Nothing about the 2023 season has been ideal, however, and this is the week when we most tangibly see the consequences.

Instead of that ideal approach, the Mets appear headed for a selloff. You can craft an argument for standing pat or buying or only selling off a little in hopes of making a run. To get a better sense of those options, The Athletic is examining the potential values of the Mets’ most attractive trade candidates this week. Yesterday, we looked at the position players who might be moved at the deadline. Today it’s relievers, with a focus on the late-game arms that might fetch real value.

David Robertson

Contract status

Robertson is owed roughly $3.4 million through the end of the season, at which point he’ll become a free agent.

Since signing with the Mets over the winter, a couple of key things changed for Robertson. He expected to be a setup option yet became the closer. He anticipated staying with the Mets for the entirety of a playoff run yet because of the team’s struggles, he could get dealt by the deadline. The thing that’s remained the same for Robertson? No matter the role or situation, the 38-year-old has excelled. He’s been so consistently good that evaluators peg him as the market’s top reliever, if the Mets choose to make him available. Should they?

2023 performance

39 appearances (43 1/3 innings), 2.08 ERA/3.61 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, 28.2 percent strikeout rate

Long-term fit?

As a free agent this winter, Robertson’s time with the Mets is set to expire in 2023 whether they trade him or not. Either way, they can try to re-sign him. And they probably should, especially if it’s again for another high-end one-year deal. Star closer Edwin Díaz will return next season — if not by the end of 2023 — but the Mets will again need viable options in front of him. Few would profile as a better fit than Robertson, who brings experience, know-how and dependability.

The market

Everyone. E-ver-y-one.

OK, sure, just the buyers, the contenders, the teams that want to win in 2023. But it’s perhaps counterintuitive that it’s easier to drive up prices for relievers than for starters or position players because the demand is universal. Robertson can help every contender, and that’s not true of even, say, Pete Alonso.

The versatility that made Robertson so appealing (and ultimately valuable) to the Mets should do the same here: He’s experienced in the ninth inning but also accustomed to pitching before the ninth inning. There will be no learning curve to whatever role a team plans for him.

The Rays and Rangers, who have been at the top of the American League for much of the season, can each use help in the pen. The Diamondbacks have played closer-by-committee, and Robertson could give them a more established veteran option late in games.

Projected…