Mets’ trade deadline plan can’t only be about relievers

It’s not often I write something in this space and the general manager publicly agrees with me a day later, but Mets head baseball honcho David Stearns confirmed in his weekly media session on Tuesday that the bullpen is his No. 1 priority precisely 24 hours after I penned exactly that. 

Reinforcing the relief corps has been bordering on a necessity for the Mets, we get that now. But things do change almost daily, and with setup men Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek looking strong this week, José Buttó back from his mystery illness, and a few other obvious roster imperfections to consider, let’s face it: the Mets need to upgrade elsewhere, too. 

It’s nice that a rededicated Francisco Alvarez has returned from Syracuse, that co-aces Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga are here now, too, and that the Mets stole a few wins over the improved L.A./Anaheim Angels, including a 6-3 victory that sealed the sweep at Citi Field Wednesday. But, from here, the team from Queens doesn’t look quite good enough to compete for a title, not against the superteam Dodgers in the superior National League. 

While it’s also a plus they’ve spent $332 million and are well into the top-tier Steve Cohen 110 percent luxury tax, they’ll need to pony up more loot to get where they want. We can celebrate them for digging themselves out of the abyss, but they’re still six games to the bad since June 12.