It seems that finally people in the media are catching up to the “Do something!” mentality some of us have been preaching since Day 1 of the 2025 season. Everyone knows that the Mets are in trouble with pitching injuries and offensive inabilities, yet day after day and night after night nothing significant has been done.
On the pitching side of the ledger it is somewhat understandable to wait at least for the starting rotation. You will be getting back Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea eventually. You’ve already gotten back Frankie Montas. Until the injuries heal then you will live with the more off again than on again Paul Blackburn.
Obviously the bullpen is a mess after the top four or five pitchers. Edwin Diaz, Jose Butto, Reed Garrett, Ryne Stanek and Huascar Brazoban it’s been a merry go round of players from Syracuse, the waiver wire and even some with independent ball pedigrees. Nowhere are we seeing reasonable substitutes for the down and out A.J. Minter and Danny Young. The starters going 4-5 innings is putting way to much pressure on an already overworked pen.
The bigger issue is hitting. Right now on the 26-man roster you have hitters like Jared Young, Travis Jankowski, Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty and the two-headed catching duo who can’t hit in Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger. It has been clear since the injuries began early in the year the Mets need help in center field, at DH and they need to figure out their infield. Luisangel Acuna and Francisco Alvarez have both been dispatched to Syracuse but nothing of substance has been brought in to help contribute to scoring runs.
As the trade deadline approaches, many people are clamoring for the Mets to pull a Rafael Devers level hitter out of thin air to join them in the clubhouse. Bear in mind that Devers is in the midst of a very lucrative contract paying him on average about $30 million per season between now and 2033. The Giants opted to bite off and swallow all of that money to bring the three time All Star to San Francisco while also giving up a prospect package. I don’t think pulling the trigger on that kind of deal made a whole lot of sense for the now chunky Devers.
Others are thinking the way to go is to purloin a top center field prospect from a team who has no room for him to play in the majors. This approach is certainly more fiscally responsible, but as we have seen with other highly regarded minor leaguers there is no guarantee that what was done during the long bus rides from small town to small town translates to the jet-based major leagues.
So where does that leave the Mets’ front office when it comes to bringing in a player who can help them garner more wins? Well, it could be that the Minnesota Twins are worth exploring to see what it would take to obtain oft-injured but highly talented Byron Buxton in a trade.
Buxton?
Of course, the issue with Buxton has been injuries. In his entire career he’s only had two seasons in an eleven year career in which he’s played over 100 games. The odd thing this year is that he’s healthy and he is producing.
Given the track record for injuries this McNeil-priced player would likely not cost very much to acquire as he would give the Twins back the payroll dollars on their books for the remainder of 2025 as well as the 2026 through 2028 seasons. By 2028 Buxton will be 34 years old and ripe to let walk away.
Is there a risk in bringing in someone like Buxton? Obviously, yes there is. However, he would provide the power they’d hoped to get from Jose Siri, the defense from Siri and Tyrone Taylor, base running speed and a moderate level of salary. If you offered up some minor league prospects to Minnesota on both the offensive and pitching sides from the minor leagues it could get the deal done.
13 comments:
I like the idea of playing all 3 Baby Mets every day at 2B, 3B, DH
See who gets or remains hot
Then package that player before deadline for established bat
Buxton sounds interesting. But the Twinkies are in the Wild Card race.
I like Mack’s idea. As usual, they’ve gotten sub par offense from the bottom half of the line up. Alvarez needs to wake up, Winker needs to get healthy quick, and we still need another good bat.
Tom
Queens will not see Alvarez for quite some time
First needs to bat at AAA
Then needs to improve defensive
Might not be back until mid fall
How can a guy with a strong arm catch so much and be so deficient?
Although Parada has substantially improved, he still fans too much. Swing at first pitches! Pete hitting so well this year…hitting .430 on first pitches. Just do it. Fanless.
He has caught in 424 pro games. You Have a stronge arm and are still weak defensively? Maybe it is low IQ? Time to grow up.
As long as we can use finances to our advantage Buxton would be a good addition.
I still feel we have to baby him with 3 CF days and 2 DH days to keep him upright.
Would love to add the RP to that trade.
He also is sub-par defensively
Too obsessed with framing
3.0 WAR
17 HR
15 MIL THRU 2028
BYRON BUXTON
I LIKEY
Buxton yes, Broxton no.
Buxton is a nice idea, but it only solves one problem in a lineup that has 4-5 problems. Do you need to spend $15M/yr to solve each of them? We wouldn't be having this discussion if the Mets were not so woeful hitting with RISP. There is something about the approach that needs to be modified. You know that the hitting staff is aware of it and are likely studying the possible solutions. There is just not much time before the trade deadline to think about it much more.
It sure would be a lot easier if even one Baby Met worked out
At least we got one good season of Vientos in 2024.
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