For a while now, the Mets have been pointing to 2015 as The Year, the time when all the pieces come together and produce a big league roster capable of, at the very least, being a serious contender in a loaded NL East. Actually, things seem to be relatively on track in Queens. Ace Matt Harvey, who will likely miss all of this season due to Tommy John Surgery, should be 100% healthy and ready to go at just about the same time top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard is ready to break into the Show. On top of that, Zack Wheeler is in the middle of his second MLB season, both rather successful, and will be experienced but still only 25 on Opening Day.
Those big three starters will be the core of any contending Mets team next season and are certainly a good reason for excitement amongst the fans and the organization.
Three starters, however, do not a championship team make. They will certainly need help. Fortunately, the Mets have assets to use to that end.
The Mets finished the 1st half 45-50, not awful–especially considering a pretty sizable run differential–but certainly not great. They can use some major upgrades, particularly among their position players. Lucas Duda and Rueben Tejada are both seriously below average at their positions and need to be replaced. In addition, Chris Young is batting .202 in the outfield and Bobby Abreu, who is at least 100 years old by now, is actually getting some real playing time. Juan Lagares has emerged as a legitimate big leaguer but probably is best suited as a 4th outfielder.
David Wright, who is having a down year, and Curtis Granderson, who has recovered nicely from a poor start, can’t be counted on to carry the load offensively by themselves. This lineup works fine in a stopgap season, but not so much on a team with playoff aspirations.
Interestingly, the Mets biggest strength happens to be most teams’ biggest weakness: pitching. Including the 3 mentioned before, the Mets have 9 real candidates for their 5 starting rotation spots in 2015: Harvey, Syndergaard, Wheeler, Bartolo Colon, Jeremy Hefner, Jon Niese, Jacob deGrom, Dillon Gee, and rookie Rafael Montero. The Mets can and should deal from that stable of starters to fill some of their serious needs on the offensive side of the ball.
Typically, teams deal with this season this season, and next season over the winter. I think that the Mets would be ill advised to follow that strategy. This year, there are an abnormally high number of teams realistically in the mix for playoff spots. Those teams will without a doubt be buyers at this month’s trade deadline and many of them will be on the hunt for major league starting pitching.
The Mets should move to aggressively market a few of their starters now while teams are desperate and willing to part with better talent, rather than waiting for the winter when teams will act more cautiously.
Because the Mets are looking to contend next season, low level prospects won’t be their biggest targets and that will complicate things. However, there are some interesting trade possibilities out there.
The first one that comes to mind involves the Baltimore Orioles. The O’s are in first place in the AL East but have a seriously weak pitching staff, especially since Ubaldo Jimenez hit the DL. With Toronto struggling and the Yankees dropping like flies to the injury bug, Baltimore should be highly motivated to solidify their rotation. So motivated that they may be willing to part with young, talented infielder Jonathan Schoop in the deal. Schoop is a middle infielder who is hitting only .219 this season but has 6 homers and it’s his first full year in the Majors. Next year, he will be better acclimated to the league and his numbers should reflect that. I’m not sure if Schoop could play shortstop but even if he’s adequate there, he’ll be an upgrade over Tejada.
Another big trade that makes a lot of sense for the Mets doesn’t actually involve a contender, per se. The Colorado Rockies are a mess right now and are considering moving some of their veteran players in an effort to build a bit for the future. Troy Tulowitzki has been rumored to be on the block but that’s aiming a little high for the Mets, especially if they don’t want to part with one of the aforementioned Big Three starters. Carlos Gonzales, on the other hand, might be a bit more attainable and would be a perfect fit for the Mets. Gonzalez would slot right into the heart of the Mets lineup and would immediately and dramatically improve it. CarGo is a former batting champ and coming off four straight 20-20 seasons. He’s a big deal.
Gonzalez would certainly cost a lot but the Rockies are always in dire need of starting pitching and would match up well in a trade with the Mets. If New York agreed to eat the vast majority of the remaining money owed, this deal is actually possible.
There are a number of other interesting trades the Mets could look into, a few involve the Blue Jays and even Starlin Castro. In any event, the Mets should be looking for trade partners ASAP.
-Max Frankel
