Reese Kaplan -- A Look at Three Trade Candidates to Play LF

One of the more interesting topics to ponder is the list of potential candidates other than Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker to fill the left field and center field vacancies.  There are trades that can be made or other free agent possibilities but thus far the Mets have been fairly tight lipped about which alternatives are appealing.  A few names have come up and are worth a few mental calisthenics to consider if they are net positives or not.

One potential player whose name has come up fairly frequently is the now Sacramento Athletics multi positional slugger Tyler Soderstrom.  He came up as a catcher, moved to first base and then to left field.  A lefty swinger, Soderstrom posted a nice line in 2025.  He hit .276 with 25 HRs and drove in 93.  Those are Brandon Nimmo type numbers with much more positive outfield defense.  His 4.3 WAR reflects a combination of his offense and defense.  For comparison, Nimmo earned just 2.9 WAR given his defensive decline.  Playing this upcoming season while turning just 24 would make him a most appealing candidate to try to prospect-bundle to his current employer to engineer a trade.  Given his very limited tenure in the majors he makes nearly nothing and would be a Mets property through his controlled and then arbitration eligible years.

Another name that’s come up more than once is the now San Diego outfielder Ramon Laureano.  More of a veteran who will turn 31 in the upcoming season, Laureano has a nice bat when he gets to play.  He’s floated between the Athletics, Guardians, Orioles, Braves and Padres.  While he’s never posted a 500 AB season, he’s twice been in the high 400s and delivered 24 HRs in each of those seasons and four times he has had double digit stolen bases.  For his career he’s just a .253 hitter but with 24 HR power (potentially 30 if he had 100 more ABs), he might be worth considering.  Given that he earned just $4 million last year and had before Baltimore dumped him a $6.5 million option for 2026, he wouldn’t break the bank but would cost quite a bit more than the youngster Soderstrom. Is he worth it?

The third name that’s frequently mentioned is stellar defender Steven Kwan of the Guardians.  He has been in the majors since 2022 and while patrolling left field in Cleveland he has been awarded the Gold Glove each of the four seasons he’s been in the majors.  He’s not just a defensive wizard.  He has a career batting average of .281 and steals about 20 bases per year.  He’s up to $4.175 million in salary this past year and is in his arbitration years keeping him around for 2026 and 2027 before potentially becoming a free agent in 2028.  While the numbers are not middle-of-the-order type with high water marks being 14 HRs and 56 RBIs, he makes up for it in the run prevention side of the equation.

The real question for David Stearns and Steve Cohen to decide is how much they want to spend, what the meta data for having an All Star is worth vs. a more reasonably priced candidate and what it would take to form attractive trade packages to bring any of these three players to Citifield.