Since Michael Fulmer‘s call-up on April 29th, he is an astounding 6-1 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.175 WHIP.  In his last four starts, he is 4-0 with a 0.32 ERA and a 0.635 WHIP.  These are great numbers from any rookie.  It’s all the more incredible when you consider he’s only made three starts in AAA.  The 23 year old is showing everyone why he was considered a potential ace, and why the Tigers wanted him in the first place.

It’s also a reminder that the Mets used their biggest trade chip last year.

While the Mets farm system is still stocked with pitching talent, there aren’t any pitchers with the upside of Fulmer, at least not any that are as close to the major leagues as Fulmer was last year.  Now, the Mets do boast some terrific position player prospects like Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario.  However, neither one of those players are close to ready to being major leaguers.  While these players are highly thought of around baseball, they are certainly not going to fetch a player of Yoenis Cespedes‘ caliber at the trading deadline.  That’s a huge problem for the Mets.

Right now, the Mets are without Lucas Duda, David Wright, and Travis d’Arnaud due to severe injuries.  The Mets don’t know the long-term status of Juan Lagares and the torn ligament in his left thumb.  Hopefully, d’Arnaud, who has started rehab games, can catch with the torn labrum. Realistically, all the Mets can do with each of these players is put a timetable on when they think they could return not fully knowing when these players can return.  As the Mets are waiting to figure this out, they are playing a group of players that are having problems just to reach the Mendoza Line.  The big solution they have so far was to acquire James Loney. Loney has been good so far, but he is still the player who was released by the Tampa Rays and was playing for the San Diego Padres’ AAA affiliate.  In short, the Mets are going to have to go out there on the trade market and obtain some players that can help them at catcher, first, and third.

The Mets have the pieces to make those deals.  However, they may not have the pieces to make that blockbuster deal that everyone wants.  The Mets don’t have the one big trade piece that could solve the issue at one or more positions.  The reason why is the Mets went all-in on the 2015 season.  The result was the Mets making it to the World Series. At the end of the day, the 2016 Mets may be hamstrung by what happened in 2015.

With that said, Sandy Alderson is a very good GM.  He has swung some good trades while he has been the manager of the Mets.  The deals he made with the Braves for Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe as well as the deal he made with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Addison Reed were absolute coups.  Alderson was able to acquire quality major league pieces without giving up much of anything.  The Mets are going to need the same type of performance this trading deadline, especially since he doesn’t have the same assets he had last year to get the job done.  It’s not going to be easy.  It’s going to require some creativity.  However, if anyone can do it, it’s Sandy Alderson.