No, this wasnt Yoenis Cespedes arriving (both literally and figuratively) on his white horse as the seconds ticked away toward the 2015 trade deadline, a move that landed the Mets in a World Series. It wasnt Donn Clendenon arriving a few hours before the deadline of June 15, 1969, the final push the young Mets needed to shock the world a few months later. There wasnt that kind of one-man blast-furnace available this time. So David Stearns went another way. He bought bulk. His players, for weeks, have urged him to upgrade the teams talent, honoring the push theyve made from the bottom of the National League to a tie for the second wild card entering Tuesdays game with Lenny Dykstra Jersey the Minnesota at Citi Field, and they maintained their place . Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post He did that. It is impo sible to say with certainty that the Mets are better than they were July 9, when GM David Stearns purchased reliever Phil Maton from the Rays and began what wound up as a six-player influx between then and 6 oclock Tuesday night. But the Mets are certainly different , much different, than they were then. Maybe thatll be a footnote by seasons end. But Stearns performed an act of basic baseball dentistry: he identified the cavities on the Mets roster and did what he could to fill them. Huascar Brazoban was traded to the Mets by the Marlins to help their bullpen. AP The Mets bullpen was such a disaster area for two-plus months, it was eligible for federal relief. They lost six games in between May 1 and June 2 when they led after eight innings (and just imagine how different their playoff odds would be if theyd merely closed out half of those). Even when the Mets started winning there was a three-week stretch where the bullpen ERA was close to 8.00. Now there will be four new faces out there. Maton has pitched well so far, allowing just one run in seven appearances. Ryne Stanek arrived last weekend and was filleted in his first outing Sunday, but as recently as two seasons ago he was a key member of a championship pen in Houston. And on Tuesday Stearns added Tyler Zuber from the Rays and Huascar Brazoban from the Marlins. Out with the old, in with the new. See what sticks. More From Mike Vaccaro The Mets know they needed starting depth and so they acquired Paul Blackburn from the As and hope that the Oakland-to-Flushing translation works as well for Blackburn as it did for Chris Ba sit two years ago. Lastly, the Mets had grown impatient (about two months after the bulk of their fans had) that DJ Stewart was their best lefty option off the bench. So Stewart was sent to Triple-A Syracuse and old friend Je se Winker was acquired from the Nationals, and thats the one pickup you have to believe is a no-doubt-about-it upgrade. Will this be enough? The Mets acquired Paul Blackburn from the As to add rotation depth. Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports In truth, it depends on what your definition of enough is. The biggest pieces to move Wednesday were probably Marlins closer Tanner Scott (to the Padres) and Tigers starter Jack Flaherty (to the Dodgers). Should Stearns have been in on those? Surely he inquired. Should he have started dealing away key elements of the future to get those deals done? Look, hes been transparent about this from Day 1, as has Steve Cohen. The Mets were committed to dueling tracks this season, hoping to stay in the playoff hunt while simultaneously developing, maintaining and strengthening their farm system. Je se Winker was the lone bat the Mets added at the trade deadline. Robert Sabo for NY Post Whats been interesting is that the first part staying competitive had been the easy part, especially when you consider how far theyve come the last month and a half. A lot of the Mets highest-profile prospects have either struggled this year or battled injury. Its not always easy to be patient with kids, but what if the Mets had given up on Mark Vientos after last season, when he hit .211 with 71 strikeouts to only 46 hits? Stearns and Cohen both insisted early that they expected the Mets to be in the thick of the playoff race, and while that seemed fanciful in May its turned out to be true as we near August. Their push the last seven weeks flipped the team from likely sellers to active (if not aggre sive) buyers. They look a lot different than they did even five days ago. The next few weeks will determine if different can be a synonym for better. Spencer Turnbull Jersey