MLB rumors: New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals

Kick off your Sunday with some of the latest MLB rumors, including thoughts on the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals.

New York Mets rumors: Not a seller at the trade deadline?

Jon Heyman of The New York Post has an interesting theory on why he doesn’t believe the Mets will be a big seller at the upcoming MLB trade deadline.

In his Saturday article, Heyman writes, “there’s no sense for the Mets to sell since they lack the kind of players that make a sale worthwhile. The only way they could bring back top-100 type prospects is if they offered to pay most or all of the contracts of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, in effect buying a prospect or two. That seems unseemly.”

After splitting a double-header in Boston on Saturday against the Red Sox, the Mets stand at 46-52 and still needing to jump several NL teams to have a chance at the Wild Card. It certainly seems like a scenario fit for selling, but if the Mets don’t see a big return in some trades, will they keep the team together and hope a hot streak is coming in August or September?

There is talk of teams interested in acquiring Verlander, including the San Francisco Giants. However, Verlander still has another year left on his contract as well as a no-trade clause he would have to abandon to be sent anywhere.

With less than 10 days left before the trade deadline, there are a myriad of potential directions the Mets could go, including possibly doing very little to change the look of the team.

MLB rumors: Seattle Mariners interested in Mark Canha of New York Mets?

While some (including Heyman) think the Mets may stand pat at the deadline, there are reports that plenty of teams will be asking about various pieces of the team. That includes the Seattle Mariners inquiring about outfielder Mark Canha, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.

The 34-year-old Canha was slashing .241/.342/.390 in 269 plate appearances this season heading into Saturday’s action. In his second year with the Mets after seven seasons with the Oakland A’s, Canha has a team option for 2024 after finishing up a two-year, $26.5 million contract. He has stayed pretty much the same player from his time in Oakland to his era in New York, posting a 114 OPS+ with the A’s and a 117 OPS+ in Queens.

Seattle, like many other teams, could use outfield depth in a trade. However, it’s still not clear if the Mariners are going to plan to add depth for 2023 and look ahead to 2024, according to Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto. Will the Mets be selling and the Mariners be buying? Until we know the answers to those questions, it’s hard to know how much of a possibility moving Canha to the Pacific Northwest would actually be.