Yesterday it was announced the Mets and Mariners agreed to a trade, pending physicals that would send Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to the New York Mets for Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, Justin Dunn, and Mets 2018 first round draft pick Jarred Kelenic to the Mariners. The Mariners are also sending the Mets 20 million dollars on top of eating Jay Bruce’s and Anthony Swarzak’s contracts. So this begs the question, what should the Mets do next?
First off, this is clearly a win now move. The Mets just traded two of their top five prospects and arguably their highest upside pitching and position player prospects. That should mean the Mets will be keeping the big three of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Zack Wheeler intact.
Edwin Diaz is a star closer and should lock down the ninth inning for the Mets, but the Mets still need two relief pitchers. The Mets should be interested in the likes of Andrew Miller, David Robertson, Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton Joakim Soria and Jeurys Familia. Getting two of the four I listed above will be a huge boost to the bullpen, and would give the Mets one of the best all-around pitching staffs in baseball.
The Mets need two big bats and have needs in the outfield and Catcher. Luckily, for the Mets the catching market this year is deep. Wilson Ramos, Yasmani Grandal, Martin Maldanado and Robinson Chirinos are available in free agency and Francisco Cervelli can be had in a trade from the Pirates. As for the outfield, the best fit is a centerfielder with Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo manning the corner outfield spots. AJ Pollock and Andrew McCutchen are the only noteworthy centerfielders available, but if the Mets are truly all in and want to make a splash, they should be in on Bryce Harper.
I am of the belief that the Mets need starting pitchers. This is especially true with Justin Dunn headed to the Mariners. The Mets need an upgrade from Jason Vargas and need to improve their depth. Some depth pieces the Mets could sign are Mike Fiers, Edwin Jackson, and Matt Shoemaker. J.A. Happ, Charlie Morton, and Gio Gonzalez are possibilities in free agency that would be improvements from Jason Vargas.
All in all, this is a win-now move for the Mets, but they gave up a lot. There are more moves to be made to make the Mets a contender. Brodie Van Wagenen should be a busy man in his first offseason as GM.
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