So let’s pretend for a moment that the Mets actually have a General Manager whose job it is to improve the roster for the upcoming abbreviated season. Forget for a moment the chronically injured and lightning in a bottle candidates the POBO felt were suitable replacements for All Stars like Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz. Let’s instead look at it from the other perspective of who could/should go in possible trades to help the roster become one better than a last place team.
The first name on the list is Kodai Senga who finished the 2026 season with a highly unexpected flourish after starting off with last pace Little League numbers as a starting pitcher. I’d advocated using him in the pen early in the season but David Stearns was apparently still clinging to his flashback memory about what kind of a pitcher closer Devin Williams was when both were in Milwaukee and actually attempted to win baseball games rather than getting crowned for who in the front office has the biggest ego and can’t admit when he was wrong.
The long overdue switch to closer happened more out of necessity than the attempt to win games. When Williams hit the IL with a shoulder strain in his pitching arm the Mets were in desperate need of someone to finish games for them in is place. Senga was tapped for this role and was surprisingly effective most of the time. With shorter outings than he had as a starter he was able to allow his velocity to creep up a bit. Coupled with his ghost fork, he turned himself into a highly credible reliever when the team needed it most.
Fast forward to the spectator seats during the off season and the Mets must make a decision moving forward about Senga. Williams is theoretically healthy and on the books not only for 2027 but for 2028 as well at an annual rate of $17 million. With that kind of pay he’s not likely to be the setup guy despite two consecutive subpar season in the Bronx and in Queens.
By contrast, Kodai Senga has just one season left at $15 million as his 5-year $75 million deal draws to a close after the 2027 season. Given the short term debt his deal would require for a potential trade partner it may indeed be possible to find a team either in need of a closer or who think they can return him into becoming the dominating starter he once was. The return on such a deal should not be throwaway players but the combination of Senga’s injury history and his erratic starting pitching performance for the past two years might mitigate the level of return you could expect.
The other relatively strong return candidate would be catcher Francisco Alvarez. I’ve already profiled that he is a much surer guy to sit behind the dish than anyone else in the system ready to play in the majors but here’s no denying that a power hitting young catcher would indeed generate a decent trade return. The issue here is the vacancy his departure would create.
The other trade candidates the Mets have are maddeningly inconsistent and worth very little in deals. Think Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Tylor Megill, Tobias Myers and other similar less desirable choices for other teams.
Finally there are the expensive deals that are rather difficult to move without paying down significantly or taking back an equally undesirable deal in return. Here you would find Marcus Semien, Sean Manaea and Jorge Polanco.
Now it is possible that some of the unproven minor leaguers could sweeten some trade offers but opposing teams can read analytical reports and smirk at the metrics they contain. You’re not going to get first class goods for a Ryan Clifford type but he might appeal to another team as a longshot wildcard prospect in a package deal.
23 comments:
Morning
I don't see any of the Mets players you have mentioned here as potential trade candidates unless the Mets will eat the lion-share of their existing contracts
Will Cohen eat contracts this off season if he signs Skubal?
Everyone says the pressure of the Mets media makes players miserable and eats into their game.
Do you notice how quick they turn their writing pads away from players that departed after being cut and eaten?
Cohen's got to do something to compensate for his misdirected and ineffective POBO.
Bury all the dead wood the same day you sign Skubal
His signing will dominate the news
How often to you read a Mets writer still write about Montas?
Even the shockers like McNeil and Nimmo
My sense is that no trades will be made until Skubal signs, either here or elsewhere. Slotting him at the top of the Mets rotation bumps everyone down a notch and might make one of the young arms available. If they don't land Skubal, I can see the Mets putting a package together with guys like Alvarez, Rojas and Tong to get a guy like Detmers or Kirby.
McNeil had a season to forget, and everyone forgot about it. Stearns actually did well there. Nimmo started strong but faded to a mediocre season. Still not as bad as Semien's, but the emergence of AJ Ewing was a direct result of that trade and the Robert injury.
I am not counting on a Skubal victory. Too many top dollar free agents have chosen "the other offer" and not signed with the Mets. They see the history, they see the disappointments, and they know there is still something broken here. Our best chance to get the top free agent is in times like the post-2024 season when the team made a strong run and looked like they were on the verge. That netted Soto.
All I can think about id the Lindor vasectomy article. Why would the Post deem that worth an article? Weird.
The press, and fans, here are tough and ubiquitous when things go south.
Not very often.
Not a bad idea. Blast the cap one season and be done with it.
My brother says… “I do not care how much you have to pay Skubal to get him here. Do it. He is an absolute beast. He looks tougher than Steve Carlton. And, how long do we have anyway let’s win while we’re alive.”
I’d keep Senga and Williams as co-closers, until Lambert or Ross can prove they can close…which might not be until 2028.
Ryan Lambert had a good Friday night shutting down the opposition in the ninth. Maybe he is finding those strikes and limiting the walks. The Mets need him in 2027.
Tom, I respectfully disagree with you, vehemently. Neither Williams nor Senga should be with the Mets next year after both have failed as closers.
After 6 amazing seasons with the small market Brewers, Williams demonstrated that he and New York didn't agree with each other as a Yankee and confirmed it last year with the Mets. What's the saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? Trade him to a small market team, away from the bright lights of New York and the intense media scrutiny.
Senga was fine when he was given the job of closer (Aug. 10.1 IP, 1.74 ERA, 1.065 WHIP) but h flamed out as soon as the adrenalin wore off. (Sept. 6.1 IP, 7.11 ERA, 1.737 WHIP) He is unhappy in the pen, crappy as a starter. Maybe he will benefit from a change of scenery. We should give him that opportunity.
Sadly, I agree with Mack, these guys, as well as others who should be traded this off season, will be difficult to move without paying down some portion f their contracts. With Williams, I think Uncle Steve will have to pay the deferred portion of his deal. Then, 2 years at an AAV of $13.5 million is not unreasonable for a pitcher with his record at Milwaukee. Senga's $14 million remaining is not unreasonable, but we may still need to take on some of it to move him.
One player who we will not have to subsidize to trade is Alvarez. How long will we have to wait for him to fulfill his potential. I believe we should trade him, and I would front him in the package to get his replacement. I would offer the D'backs Alvarez, and Devin Williams, plus our #8 prospect, Jack Wenninger and #21 Randy Guzman for Gabriel Moreno plus a prospect or two. (Two of the D'backs five top prospects are catchers, so they might be willing to give Alvarez 2 years to blossom before their prospects are ready.)
If Arizona passes, I would move on the the A's with the same package for Shea Langeliers, and if they pass, I would go to Colorado for Hunter Goodman. Any of those three would be a major upgrade from Alvarez.
Herb, who closes if they do not? I would be OK with starting out with them as co-closers, and hopefully Ross and Lambert are ready by the break and they can be dealt.
Herb, I am open to deals like these. Funny how Moreno is a REAL hitter, ans compared to Alvarez. Arizona fans might mutiny if he got dealt.
Tom, there has been talk about the Mets trading for Tylor Megill,. .Milwaukee has been known to part ways with players before they get too expensive. If not McGill, there are a few potential closers among this years free agents.
Regarding Arizona and Moreno, they would be getting a pretty fair package in return and they have 2 excellent catching prospects on the horizon.
We have Tylor, so you mean Trevor…but that would be interesting. Two NFL sized bros on the Mets? They’d pump one another up.
Maybe, Herb. I just hope Moreno wouldn’t drop 50 points playing in the Flushing Swamp. He is 9 for 32 in Citi Field career, so that’s decent enough.
Moreno looks like the real thing to me. The one I was concerned about was Hunter Goodman, because he's played half his games in Colorado. Turns out his away stats are better than at home.
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