Ranking New York Mets' Trade Needs in Order of Importance

Even after losing two out of three to the lowly Chicago Cubs, the New York Mets find themselves just 4.5 games back of the Washington Nationals in the National League East race with a record of 46-40.

Terry Collins has got the best out of this team of overachievers up to this point, but the rest brought about by the All-Star break is certainly much-needed.

This season for the Mets has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. That much has never been as evident as it has over the last 28 games.

Over that span, the Mets have been swept by the New York Yankees, then had a sweep of themselves over the Tampa Bay Rays. After leaving St. Petersburg, the Mets were swept by the Cincinnati Reds, then swept Buck Showalter's Baltimore Orioles.

Collins then saw his team lose back-to-back series against the Yankees and Cubs before winning three-of-four against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Things were looking on the up-and-up heading into the final two series before the break, but the Mets split the final six games, taking two from the Philadelphia Phillies but losing a pair to the Cubs.

It's been a season of excitement, but one thing is obvious: This team needs some help.

They don't need as much help as other contenders, but they need help in areas that will prove crucial in their quest to reach the postseason for the first time since 2006.

Despite the positive results at the unofficial halfway point of the baseball season, there are plenty of things that the Mets' front office needs to address heading into the dog days of August.

Here are the Mets' top deadline needs.

1. Bullpen Help

This was the easiest aspect of the Mets to put on this list. The Mets' bullpen woes have been eerily reminiscent of the end of the 2007 and 2008 seasons when everybody that came into the game had a gas can in their back pocket to help the unsuccessful cause of the arson squad.

Miguel Batista has been the main culprit of the incompetence over the last couple of weeks. In his last 6.1 innings, Batista has allowed five earned runs, 13 baserunners and two home runs.

His latest two follies came against the Cubs and Phillies. Against Philadelphia, he allowed an inconsequential run against a light-hitting team. Most recently, he let up what proved to be the deciding run against the Cubs in an 8-7 loss that ensured the Mets would not finish the series with a sweep.

Before that it was against the Yankees when he let up a go-ahead homer to Robinson Cano. He's already proved that he can't do it against the good teams like the Yankees, now he's proved that he can't get the job done against non-playoff teams.

Jon Rauch's ERA has been consistently falling over the last month, going from the high-fours to the low-fours, but he's still not effective enough to get guys out every time he takes the bump.

He's not a terrible pitcher, but he's a borderline eighth-inning guy. I wouldn't trust him to come in with two outs in the seventh inning and strand a pair in a tie game. That's enough to make you realize that all help is welcome in the Mets' "pigpen."

Ramon Ramirez lets a man get on base literally every single time he comes into the game. In 26 appearances, Ramirez has allowed an astounding 46 baserunners. The laws of nature won't allow his 3.98 ERA to remain that low if he continues to allow so many people to reach base. It's just simple probability that it cannot hold up.

On another note, Ramirez has posted a gruesome .364 BAA against lefties in 56 at bats, which doesn't bode well when there is only one lefty in the bullpen.

Speaking of the lefty in the bullpen, Tim Byrdak is great, just as everybody who has seen him pitch knows. The only thing is that there's no other lefty to complement him, so Collins has to choose very selectively when he is going to call for the lefty.

Pedro Beato just came back, but he didn't fare well against lefties last season, allowing them to reach base at a .389 clip.

Bobby Parnell is good against any hitter—when he can find the strike zone. He gets erratic with men on base, which stems from his inability to pitch from the stretch. That's why it's never a semi-bad outing for Parnell; it's usually a catastrophic disaster when he melts down.

Frank Francisco, or "Frank Frank," as is he better known, will return from the disabled list sooner or later. Aside from a few bad outings, Francisco has been pretty solid this season. 

That doesn't change the fact that the Mets' need a lefty in the bullpen to bridge the gap from the sixth and seventh-inning guys to Byrdak to Parnell and Francisco. The bullpen is much more intricate and needs much more managing than most people know. Collins can't do his job without a second effective left-hander in the pen.

2. Right-Handed Bat

The Mets are sorely in need of a right-handed bat to bring off the bench when their manager deems necessary. Five of the Mets' eight position players that started on Sunday were lefties. 

Either Jordany Valdespin or Scott Hairston usually give way to Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the outfield. For the purposes of this next statistic, we'll imagine that Captain Kirk is playing center field and Valdespin moves to left. That means that David Wright and Ruben Tejada are the only two righties in the lineup.

David Murphy, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Josh Thole, Valdespin and Nieuwenhuis are hitting a combined 93-for-434 against left-handed pitching this season, which equates to a .214 batting average.

Of course, Hairston is raking against lefties to the tune of a .295 average and nine homers in just 105 at bats.

However, he's the only person in the history of the world to make it to the major leagues as a left-handed hitting specialist. He's hitting just .184 against righties, which isn't going to work out late into the season and into the playoffs if the Mets play well enough to get to that point.

According to MetsBlog, the Mets are reportedly interested in San Diego Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin. The two-time All-Star hasn't been the picture of health this season, but has swatted seven dingers in just 110 at bats. If he were to join the Mets today, he'd be just five back of Duda, Davis and Hairston for the team lead.

Quentin wouldn't need to play everyday, nor could he if called upon to do so, but the Mets have plenty of options in the outfield that would allow the former Silver Slugger to play primarily a backup role.

Wright and Tejada are the only two everyday players who can hit both lefties and righties. Having those two comprise two-thirds of the upper-third of the lineup is great, but the rest of the offense is close to an automatic out against left-handers.

The National League East has too many top-tier lefties for Sandy Alderson to neglect this glaring issue that the team has.

There's Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty in the Atlanta Braves' bullpen. The Nationals have Gio Gonzalez and Mike Gonzalez on their roster. The Miami Marlins have Mark Buehrle in the rotation and Randy Choate in the pen. The Phillies have Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels to throw two out of the five, not to mention Antonio Bastardo, who hasn't let up a run in five appearances against the Mets.

If Alderson is unable to swing some type of deal to break up the string of consecutive left-handed batters that the Mets' lineup boasts, there are going to be some problems heading into August, September and October.

If he doesn't get the right guy (or guys), the Mets may be out of playoff contention long before the final month of the season rolls around.

There really isn't much that Alderson needs to—or should do—by the last day in July. Should he be able to bring in the right kind of bullpen help, as well as a right-handed batter to come off the bench, Collins' chances of leading this team to the postseason will increase substantially.