Mets have no shot at acquiring a superstar at this year’s trade deadline

A weak farm system and plenty of competition fighting against them, the New York Mets have no shot at acquiring a superstar at this year’s trade deadline.

The New York Mets need to face the facts. All of the positive rumors about them landing a star at this year’s trade deadline are overly optimistic. They have no shot at acquiring a superstar caliber player this summer.

Every contender will outbid the Mets. Their lack of farm system means settling for less should they decide to buy at the trade deadline.

When I say superstar, I mean players like Manny Machado. Although he’s a rental, the Baltimore Orioles know they can get at least one amazing prospect in return for him. The Mets don’t have any to offer.

What the Mets can get is a Jay Bruce type player. In fact, they can get a dozen if they’d like. That’s where this franchise is at the moment and I don’t see anything changing.

It’s unfortunate that even their current MLB roster with former notable prospects already on it has little trade value. Amed Rosario‘s MLB struggles have drastically lowered his trade value. His recent stint as a top-five prospect is practically worthless at this point.

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Some seem to believe Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo hold value. What those few need to remember is that they aren’t prospects. At the trade deadline, it’s prospects teams want. Specifically, it’s ones ranked really high according to the experts.

Let’s take the Jose Quintana trade from last summer as an example. Quintana went from the Chicago White Sox to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, and two others. Jimenez is a top five prospect this year and Cease is creeping up into the top fifty on most lists. This is the level of talent needed to land a quality player.

The Mets’ best hope at acquiring top-level talent in any trade would be to make it a deal about money. If they took on a large salary, they have a much better shot at outbidding someone. The haul the Detroit Tigers received for Justin Verlander was lighter because of his huge paycheck.

The chances of them doing this are slimmer than anything.

As subjective as top prospects lists can be, general managers care about them. They don’t want to get duped. When they trade a star player, they need to know they are getting something back in return. These trades are not the time to find an overlooked talent. That’s what the Rule 5 Draft is for.

In order to acquire talent this summer, the Mets will need to make smart moves for the right players. At best, they can hope to acquire the 2018 versions of Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe.

Next: Searching for the next Mets' franchise catcher

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A weak farm system and plenty of competition fighting against them, the New York Mets have no shot at acquiring a superstar at this year’s trade deadline.

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