Mets Trade Rumors: Athletics would be willing to take Jed Lowrie at a price

According to the latest New York Mets trade rumors, the Oakland Athletics are interested in a reunion with Jed Lowrie. However, the Mets would need to eat a large portion of his salary.

Jed Lowrie has surprisingly appeared in multiple offseason New York Mets trade rumors. From learning the team’s interest in unloading him to a potential plan to package him with someone like Dominic Smith, the speculation involving his future has included a variety of angles.

One of the latest Mets trade rumors reports the Oakland Athletics would be interested in a reunion with Lowrie. Of course, there’s a price. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports, the Mets would need to eat a majority of the $10 million owed to Lowrie.

It’s a tough position to be in. Unloading Lowie is something I would personally enjoy seeing. He was a lost cause in year one and the Mets should absolutely see if they can move him for anything at all—even salary relief to then spend in other areas.

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However, in this case, I’m not so sure it’s worth a deal.

By trading Lowrie and eating a large percentage of his salary, the Mets would do little more than free up a roster spot and save some money. As many have speculated, Steve Cohen’s money isn’t arriving to Flushing anytime soon. The Mets’ decision to sign Michael Wacha shows just how frugal they should remain this offseason.

Considering this, it’s not so cost-effective to trade Lowrie and still pay him to go away. This is the kind of move a team in full “win-now” mode would do. The Mets seem non-committal to pushing all of the chips into the center of the table.

The Athletics are the first to appear in any Mets trade rumors involving Lowrie. Interestingly enough, they’re also the team we saw Jeurys Familia finish up 2018 with. Like Lowrie, Familia is a bad contract the Mets added to the payroll last winter and are now looking to move. Could we potentially see him go to Oakland instead or with Lowrie?

Oakland’s reputation as cheap spenders is a lot different than the perception of the Mets owners. The Athletics look for the best value that fits into their philosophy. The Mets, on the other hand, seem to prefer second-tier talent at B-level prices.

The Mets could conceivably keep Lowrie and find a way to use him. He won’t get much playing time, though. The team may already have trouble finding enough at-bats for deserving players.

Undoubtedly, we will continue to see Lowrie’s name appear in more Mets trade rumors this winter. He’s a poor fit and was from the start.

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Following the emergence of J.D. Davis and expectation of Jeff McNeil’s role as the everyday third baseman in 2020, Lowrie is one man who should stay on the trade block until the Mets find enough postage to ship him elsewhere in a fair deal that doesn’t leave them paying the bill.