Mets: Why a trade for Francisco Lindor could put them over the top

Would a trade for Francisco Lindor and a few other pieces help put the New York Mets over the top in 2020?

I think we all agree that the New York Mets need to continue upgrading their roster if they plan to compete for the 2020 World Series. Let’s continue looking at some possible trades and signings that would allow the Mets to improve some of their own problems with their current roster and allow them to become more of a solid pick for winning the National League East division.

After the bullpen, the next glaring weakness with the 2020 roster is their below-average up-the-middle defense. The Mets need to support their extremely solid starting pitching with solid defense, especially from the positions of catcher, second base, shortstop, and center field.

The combination of Wilson Ramos, Robinson Cano, Amed Rosario, and all the different guys who played center field for the Mets really didn’t cut it in 2019. We have addressed the center field defense with the acquisition of Jake Marisnick and seem to be stuck with Cano at second base, so we can possibly look to shortstop and catcher as positions that can be improved upon.

As I closely examine the current Cleveland Indians roster, there are some players that could be acquired to make the roster deeper, much improved and closer to being completed for 2020.

With the Indians listening to offers for Francisco Lindor and his five tools, the Mets should go all-in, and look to win while they have this excellent starting pitching in place. But as I keep mentioning in some of my previous articles, it seems likes BVW and his minions are determined to show everyone that their 2019 free agent acquisitions and swaps were justified.

It’s time for the front office to continue working on the roster

Cleveland Indians Players that would fit nicely with the 2020 Mets:

Francisco Lindor

Francisco Lindor is one of the best overall shortstops in all of baseball. He would be a championship level type addition for the win-now Mets. With his .288/.347/.493/.840 career slash line and two gloves, he would be the perfect upgrade for the up and coming but flawed Amed Rosario.

I’ve read the Indians realize they will not be able to pay Lindor when he becomes a free agent in 2022 and are thinking about a total rebuild this winter.

Imagine Lindor and Alonso playing together in the same infield and batting first and second in the Mets batting order for the next 10+ years? Hopefully, Mr. Cohen has the same type of vision.

Roberto Perez

Another top-notch, Gold-Glove winning defensive catcher from the American League with some recently improved hitting ability, Roberto Perez would be a nice addition to the Mets. He would be an overall improvement to Wilson Ramos and if acquired, we would need to attempt to include Ramos in any trade with Cleveland or look to move him in a separate transaction.

His career .216/.305/.376/.681 slash line is not too impressive, but his 2019 slash line of .239/.321/.452/.774 was his best ever and looks to be still developing with the bat. Add in his career 39% CS percentage and low passed ball totals, he could be what is needed to get our pitching staff to the next level.

Oliver Perez

After leaving the Mets, good old Ollie has reinvented himself as a solid but under-rated lefty relief pitcher. At this point in his career, he may be considered a LOOGY, but after watching him pitch a few big games with the Mets earlier in his career, I think he would be a perfect fit for adding another lefty arm to the 2020 bullpen.

I don’t expect to close games but we know he won’t have a problem handling the New York pressure.

Jordan Luplow

Since we may need to include players including Brandon Nimmo and/or JD Davis in any trade with the Indians, we would possibly want to get back some outfield depth in return.

As the 2019 Indians fourth outfielder, Luplow put up a solid .276/.372/.551/.923 slash line in 85 games and 261 plate appearances. He can play all three outfield spots and is a right-handed batter.

So now we see which players we would want to target in a trade, who would the Mets be able to trade to obtain either some or all of these players?

Would the Indians be interested in players Brandon Nimmo, JD Davis, Amed Rosario and/or Andres Gimenez?

How many top prospects would it take to make the Indians to feel like they acquired equal value for Francisco Lindor?

Do the Mets have enough to make this type of trade happen?

These are all solid questions, so let’s see who the Mets would possibly have to trade with Cleveland. With the main player the Mets would be looking to acquire being Lindor, we would need to possibly make some difficult decisions with our current roster:

The players I would make available for a trade with the Cleveland Indians:

Robert Gsellman, Steven Matz, Edwin Diaz, Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez, David Peterson, Brandon Nimmo, and J.D. Davis.

I would hate to see Nimmo or Davis traded to another team but Lindor is the type of player I would want back for either or maybe both Nimmo and Davis.

So looking at both sides, I think the best trade would be:

Amed Rosario/Andres Gimenez (one or the other), Brandon Nimmo/JD Davis (one or the other), David Peterson, and Edwin Diaz  

FOR

Francisco Lindor, Roberto Perez, and Oliver Perez.

If we can convince the Indians to include Luplow, it would be an added bonus, but the main goal of this deal would be to first to acquire Lindor and second to acquire Perez.

What a big difference that would make with our extremely important up-the-middle defense that performed so poor in 2019. I’m sure deGrom and Thor would throw the team a party to get that level of offensive and defensive improvement on the ball club.

Some follow-up moves would then be needed, including the signing of a top-level reliever to take Edwin Diaz spot in the bullpen. Dellin Betances would slot in nicely, and the Mets would also probably need to find a taker for Wilson Ramos. I don’t think he would be happy splitting time with Perez or being his backup.

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What do you think would be a good New York Mets/Cleveland Indians trade this off-season?