Importance of upgrading the bullpen at trade deadline continues to grow and grow every season

Days before Friday’s swap for Gregory Soto — the move that officially put the Mets on the trade deadline board — president of baseball operations David Stearns wasn’t shy about telegraphing his team’s intentions in the public forum.

At the top of his agenda, above the sexy items such as front-line starter or middle-of-the-order impact bat, was bullpen help.

Though that isn’t a surprise at this time of year, as most contenders are trying to fortify their relief corps, the importance of checking that box — over and over — continues to grow every season. Why spend a boatload of prospect capital on a solitary starting pitcher who pitches once every five days when you can upgrade a department that takes the mound each night in the highest-leverage situations?

Check out the workloads. Through Wednesday’s games, the Phillies — who trailed the Mets by a half-game in the NL East — led the majors in starter-pitched innings with 578, accounting for 63.5% of their total innings, the largest share in baseball. Beyond that, the results reflect the ever-shrinking rotation and the subsequent rise of the bullpen. Seven teams currently holding playoff spots are under 60% and the NL West-leading Dodgers — the defending world champs with the sport’s biggest payroll — sit dead last at 50.8%.

The Mets ranked 23rd with 518 1⁄3 innings pitched by starters, for 56.7% — slightly above the Tigers (56.6%) — and the Yankees were 14th overall with 542 2⁄3 innings, or 60.3%.

Also, the red flags are obvious. Since June 13, only the Dodgers have logged more relief innings (161 2⁄3) than the Mets (151), who have the third-worst bullpen ERA (5.30) during that span.

The Yankees haven’t relied quite as much on their bullpen in that stretch (125 1⁄3), but when they have, it’s been disastrous, as their 5.24 ERA is barely better than the Mets at the bottom. General manager Brian Cashman has always been at the forefront of building super-pens at the deadline. A shutdown relief corps was a key to their dynastic run, along with making the playoffs in 25 of the past 30 years.

Look at how the Dodgers did it last season. They ranked 25th in starter-pitched innings (797  2⁄3) during the regular season, and come October, with a decimated rotation, used starters for 60 of those 142 innings, or 42.3%. That percentage always shrinks considerably in the playoffs, when bullpens tip the scales, so front offices would be negligent if they didn’t spend the majority of their deadline minutes trying to pry the best possible relievers from selling clubs in what ends up being an overheated, crazy-competitive market.

Sure, relievers are always available. They’re the most plentiful asset and usually the lowest cost in terms of dollars and commitment. If you want quality, however, that’s where the stakes climb. On Friday, Stearns got the shutdown lefty in Soto he’s been seeking for months to replace A.J. Minter and Danny Young — both lost to season-ending injuries — and traded the team’s 19th-ranked prospect, the hard-throwing Wellington Aracena, along with Double-A reliever Cameron Foster in a half-season rental deal.

In the final week before the deadline, Stearns wasn’t sure how many true difference-making starters would become available with so many teams still on the playoff bubble. Not that the Mets couldn’t use one — their rotation has pitched very well but is riddled with questions. It’s just that replenishing a tired bullpen, which has kept the revolving door with Triple-A Syracuse spinning, has proved to be the most reliable method of stabilizing a pitching staff. Even as acquiring a No. 1 starter remains the dream across the league.

“I still think it’s really valuable,” Stearns said. “And there have been teams I’ve been around in my career that had one or multiple ace-level starters on their staff and got bounced early in the playoffs. That can be tough to figure out sometimes, too. So you’d always like to have the horse at the front of the rotation. There’s no question. But it’s not the only way to build a rotation. It’s not the only way to win a playoff series. It’s not the only way to win a World Series.

“I think we have multiple pitchers on our staff right now in that grouping of five who can lead a staff into a playoff series. I’m confident of that, I’m comfortable with that. We need to keep building those guys up. We need to keep those guys healthy. But I think from a talent perspective, we have guys on our staff right now that can lead us into a postseason series.”

One of those starters, Clay Holmes, could face increasing scrutiny — and perhaps be subject to a role change — in the coming weeks. Holmes’ ERA has jumped to 4.91 in five starts this month and he’s made it only as far as one out into the sixth inning twice. He’s also at 113 2⁄3 innings, nearly doubling his 63 as a reliever last season (Holmes’ career high is 70 in 2021).

As of this week, the Mets haven’t discussed moving Holmes to the bullpen — the equivalent of adding a closer-quality arm — as he’s pitched well enough to honor the commitment they made to him as a starter. But the source indicated that could change if workload fatigue becomes a factor and Holmes also believes it could be time to tap out of the rotation.

Given Stearns’ skepticism about acquiring another front-line starter, he has a few promising candidates down at Syracuse in Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat. McLean, who has a 3.01 ERA in 13 starts, struck out six without a walk and went 7 1⁄3 innings Thursday. Sproat has shaken off his early struggles to post a 0.64 ERA in his last five starts, striking out 30 in 28 innings.

Stearns hasn’t ruled out bringing up either one to help in the bullpen, depending on how successful he is at importing relief help by Thursday’s 6  p.m. deadline. Based on his priorities, the Mets’ prospect depth and owner Steve Cohen’s willingness to absorb tax-inflated salaries, it’s probably safe to assume Stearns will accomplish his deadline goals.

“We’re not going to close the door on other aspects of the team,” he said Friday after the Soto trade, “but as we’ve said all along, the bullpen is the priority.”

It’s probably the surest path to playing deep into October and even winning a World Series, as the Dodgers illustrated last season. While so many contenders scramble for relief arms this week, it’s coincidental that CC Sabathia — who authored one of the greatest post-deadline performances by a traded No. 1 starter — will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on Sunday.

The Brewers acquired Sabathia as a two-month rental from Cleveland, and despite his pending free agency, he had no issue carrying the weight of Milwaukee’s playoff push. Sabathia not only went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA but averaged 7.65 innings in those final 17 starts (after averaging 6.78 innings in his previous 18 starts for Cleveland). He pitched seven complete games and three shutouts.

By comparison, Zack Wheeler has the longest active streak of starts lasting at least five innings with 37 — averaging 6.34 over that span — followed by Tarik Skubal’s 36 starts (6.36 average) and Carlos Rodon’s 28 (5.89).

Preserving the bullpen is always the best way to optimize its performance, but as that becomes less and less possible these days, front offices must turn to the trade market for reinforcements. Whoever does the best job at that now could very well determine the team left standing at the end.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.