Mets' World Series Hopes Hinge on Blockbuster SP Trade Amid MLB Deadline Rumors

The trade deadline in MLB is rapidly approaching and several teams are expected to add players at positions of need as they approach playoff pushes, including the New York Mets.

ESPN's Buster Olney reported that the team is looking for a starting pitcher "capable of starting Game 1, 2 or 3 of a postseason series." He added on Sunday Night Baseball that the targets include the Arizona Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly, the Miami Marlins' Sandy Alcantara, and the Minnesota Twins' Joe Ryan.

It is not surprising that the team would want to add a starter and carry a six-man rotation for the remainder of the season. Kodai Senga prefers an extra day of rest and both Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas are recovering from an injury-plagued first half. Then there is Clay Holmes, in his first season as a starter and already significantly over his career high in innings.

Adding another starter, who can go deep in a game and be the difference maker on the mound that the team does not already have on its roster is a monumental one, but also one that wins World Series games.

It is also a risky one.

Kelly is in the final year of his contract, and acquiring a potential rental in return for prospects is hardly a wise move. Alcantara is coming off Tommy John surgery and has had his struggles, accumulating an ERA straight out of a horror flick at 6.66.

Ryan is the best of the three available, with an ERA of .282 and 4.2 WAR, but also has two years of team control remaining on his current contract with Minnesota and is the least likely of the bunch to be moved.

Still, despite the roadblocks that exist in every case, the Mets need a reliable arm who manager Carlos Mendoza can entrust with setting the tone in a deciding series or the postseason, so it makes sense that general manager David Stearns would be doing his diligence when it comes to the three starters.

While the Mets have benefited from above-average outings from Manaea when healthy, and an All-Star season from David Peterson, the team needs an upgrade; a definitive ace who can help guide them where they want to go: back to the Fall Classic, with a chance to win their first World Series title since 1986.

All three can conceivably provide that for them.