New York Mets Rumors: Five potential Queens-bound trade options
By Paul Ashley
The New York Mets finished thirteen games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East division last season. Regardless of the 4th place finish, the Mets fully intend to compete for a division title next season. In other words, Mets rumors will be frequent this offseason.
Prior to the start of last season, the New York Mets made six free agent signings that were expected to help the team compete for a division title. These signings involved bringing in Jay Bruce (three-year, $39 million), Todd Frazier (two-year, $17 million), Jason Vargas (two-year, $16 million), Anthony Swarzak (two-year, $14 million), Jose Reyes (one-year, $2 million), and Adrian Gonzalez (one-year, minimum).
Unfortunately for the Mets, these six players did not perform at a high-level as they combined for a -0.8 WAR. Aside from the 1.9 WAR put together by Frazier, each one of the other five signings compiled a negative individual WAR last season.
Although the team got off to a phenomenal start last season with an 11-1 record, they were down to a .500 record by May 28th. After losing their first game in June to fall below .500 for the first time on the season, the Mets were not able to take their record back above .500 at any point.
Even though the MLB level signings from last offseason did not work out, a large part of the team not succeeding also came from Yoenis Cespedes only playing in 38 games. As Cespedes makes up a large portion of the Mets payroll, the team definitely missed his production, especially since they compiled a 20-18 record during the games he played last season.
Nonetheless, as the team received solid performances from Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Jeff McNeil, and Seth Lugo as well as an unforgettable Cy Young performance by Jacob deGrom, there is still hope for the team to compete next season. Due to this, the following are five possible trade options for the Mets during the current offseason.