3 ways Mets can boost offense at Deadline
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This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
The Mets are five days out from Tuesday's Trade Deadline with only one deal on their ledger so far -- a relatively minor trade that brought Daniel Vogelbach to Queens for reliever Colin Holderman. While plenty of uncertainty always swirls around the Deadline, one thing is clear:
The Mets are going to do more.
Specifically, the Mets intend to acquire relief help, whether that takes the form of Gregory Soto, David Robertson, Joe Mantiply or one of many other available bullpen arms. The list is so long that it’s difficult to speculate where the Mets ultimately find help. Trust me when I say they’ll get somebody.
Of greater intrigue is the Mets’ continued desire to land a bat despite the presence of Vogelbach. Here are a few ways they could do it:
Find a platoon partner for Vogelbach
It will be more difficult for the Mets to improve upon J.D. Davis than it was for them to upgrade Dominic Smith, who is on the injured list and wasn’t producing when healthy. But it’s certainly not impossible. Recent rumors have the Red Sox considering selling J.D. Martinez, who still hits right-handed pitchers well but absolutely crushes lefties. If the Mets acquired Martinez, he would instantly become their full-time DH, pushing Vogelbach to more of a bench role. There’s little doubt it would upgrade their lineup, and the Mets have an advantage in negotiations due to their likely willingness to absorb all of Martinez’s remaining salary. (He’s making $19.35 million this season.) The only problem? This plan requires the Red Sox to consider themselves sellers.
Another option is Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini, whom Mets manager Buck Showalter knows well from their mutual time in Baltimore. Mancini has produced reverse platoon splits this year, and his history as a neutral-split hitter suggests that’s not much of an aberration. Still, he’s been a more consistent player than Davis and is considered a strong clubhouse presence.
If the Mets go this route, they could dangle Davis in other trades. He’s a legitimate chip. Although Davis has struggled this season in large part due to an inflated strikeout rate, his underlying numbers -- specifically, his 99th-percentile hard-hit rate and 97th-percentile average exit velocity -- are likely to tempt teams that believe they can “fix” him.
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Trade Vogelbach
Just because the Mets only recently acquired Vogelbach doesn’t mean they can’t still flip him. Admittedly, this is the least likely of the scenarios presented here, because it would involve multiple moving parts that aren’t always easy to orchestrate in Deadline deals. But part of the reason why the Mets acquired Vogelbach was so that he could give them cover at DH with Smith on the IL. If they find a more attractive piece in the days leading up to the Deadline, Vogelbach could become redundant.
Go big, because why not go big?
Juan Soto is still out there. Shohei Ohtani could be too, if you’re prone to believing such things. On a lesser scale, Josh Bell is having a fantastic season, and the Nationals have more incentive to trade him than they do Soto. The Mets could still be players for any one of these sluggers.
If general manager Billy Eppler lands this type of big fish, the move would likely shift Vogelbach to the bench and almost certainly spell the end of Smith’s time in Flushing. It would also significantly upgrade the Mets’ offense, which is the entire point of this exercise.
“I know he’s grinding,” Showalter said of Eppler. “Billy’s grinding it, as is the whole front office.”