Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets’ first acquisition of the Steve Cohen era might not be the flashiest, but it is certainly a move of substance.

The Mets signed free agent relief pitcher Trevor May to a two-year deal worth $15 million, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman.

May joins a Mets bullpen that has struggled over the last two seasons. In 2019, the Mets bullpen finished with a 4.99 ERA, the worst in the history of the franchise. The 2020 Mets did not improve a whole lot, finishing with a bullpen ERA of 4.60, good for 22nd in the MLB.

If the Mets want to take the next step in becoming legitimate World Series contenders in 2021, they need a bullpen that isn’t performing at the bottom of the league. Acquiring May is a huge upgrade that brings stability to a bullpen filled with question marks.

Over the last three seasons with the Minnesota Twins, May has established himself as one of the better relievers in baseball. Since 2018, May has pitched 113 innings with a 3.19 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 3.0 BB/9, and K/9 of 12.2 (he totaled 153 strikeouts over his 113 innings).

May’s strikeout rate is the 14th highest among relief pitchers over the last three seasons. With May, the Mets have one of the best strikeout artists in the majors. In 2020 alone, the 31-year-old struck out 39.6% of the batters he faced, which was the 11th-best mark amongst relief pitchers.

The home runs were a concern for May in 2020, giving up 1.93 HR/9 after only giving up 1.12 HR/9 over his 64 1/3 innings in 2019. In 2020, May gave up five home runs over only 23 1/3 innings pitched, after giving up just eight home runs in all of 2019.

The six-foot-five hurler throws extremely hard, averaging 96.4 MPH on his fastball in 2020. May pairs his fastball with a tight slider, giving him two excellent put-away pitches.

May was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He was the Phillies top prospect for multiple seasons before getting traded to the Twins alongside Vance Worley in 2012 for Ben Revere.

For the Twins, May made his MLB debut in 2014 as a starter, pitching 45.2 innings to an ERA of 7.88 (his FIP was much better at 4.77 and he even had positive fWAR value at 0.3).

In 2015, May started 16 games and made 32 relief appearances over 114.2 innings, improving his ERA to 4.00. His FIP of 3.25 and fWAR of 2.5 suggests May outperformed his 4.00 ERA in 2015. May had a fantastic HR/9 of 0.86.

May pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in 2016, throwing 42.2 innings with a 5.27 ERA. However, his FIP of 3.80 implies he might have been a little unlucky. May raised his K/9 rate to 12.66, compared to 8.63 K/9 as a starter the season before.

During Spring Training in 2017, May tore his UCL and underwent Tommy John surgery, missing the entire season. Since he returned from injury in 2018, May had been a consistent late-inning option for the Twins.

Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner worked with May as a member of the Twins coaching staff from 2017-2019. After two years as an advance scout, Hefner was promoted to assistant pitching coach in 2019. Hefner became the Mets pitching coach for the 2020 season and is experienced and familiar working with May.

May joins a Mets bullpen with a lot of intriguing parts, although there are a ton of question marks. Edwin Díaz and Seth Lugo are one of the best relief pitcher duos in baseball, but the bullpen becomes a lot thinner with Lugo in the rotation (the team should not plan for Lugo there).

A Díaz/Lugo/May bullpen is a playoff-contending relief core, with the upside of being one of the better groups of three in baseball.

However, there is a lot of uncertainty after that.

Dellin Betances and Jeurys Familia are former studs who could be productive members of the 2021 bullpen, but the Mets cannot count on them returning to their former selves. May provides insurance to the Mets bullpen as a quality arm in the likely scenario that Betances and Familia are unable to perform productively.

Chasen Shreve and Miguel Castro are both pitchers who have shown promise, but the Mets could still do better when it comes to solidifying their bullpen.

While Trevor May is an excellent signing that improves the Mets bullpen, the Mets need to invest more resources into top-of-the-line relief arms.

Imagine how nice that Mets bullpen is looking with Liam Hendriks and Brad Hand in it?

The Mets could lock both of those guys up for $30 million total next season (2/3 of the Canó salary) and have the best bullpen in New York Mets history.

Even if they prefer to sign cheaper options, the Mets need to sign more quality arms if they truly want to solidify a strong bullpen that can last a long season.

Regardless of the Mets’ moves the rest of this offseason, the Trevor May acquisition is an extremely welcoming and productive first signing to begin the Steve Cohen era.