New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels can help each other out with a trade

The New York Mets and Los Angeles Angels could help each other out with a multiplayer trade before the season begins.

As the New York Mets and their front office look to complete the 2020 roster, there are still some pressing needs that should be addressed before the season starts. We still need a solid backup catcher who can split time with the offensive-minded Wilson Ramos and add some much-needed defense to the catcher position.

Some more bullpen depth would be nice (especially another lefty if possible) along with an upgrade at the backup shortstop position which would be useful. We may also need another outfielder if Yoenis “Wild Boar” Cespedes is traded to another team and/or is not ready for the regular season as usual.

As I look at all the depth charts of all the other MLB ball clubs, I keep looking for teams that would make good trade partners.

The Los Angeles Angels roster and current depth chart offers some opportunities. They also have some pressing needs.

The Angels, having spent many dollars this offseason in an attempt to compete in 2020, in my opinion still haven’t done enough to address their starting pitching unless you think Julio Teheran and Dylan Bundy will make a big difference.

It is a good thing that the Mets have a surplus of starting pitching and do think they can take advantage of that fact when looking to upgrade their own 2020 roster. So with all that being said, it does seem like both teams can help each other out in finalizing their 2020 rosters before spring training starts in a few weeks.

Cam Bedrosian

With my opinion of the Mets still needing to add at least one more solid bullpen arm, let’s make that a priority with any potential trade with the Angels. The son of former 1987 Cy Young award winner Steve Bedrosian (a former Mets rival pitching mostly with the 1980’s Phillies) would be a solid fit for this additional bullpen piece.

Cam Bedrosian is coming off another solid season in 2019, as he posted a 3.23 ERA and 1.141 WHIP with 64 strikeouts over 61 plus innings. He had his best season in 2016, as Cam did show how dominant he can be with his 1.12 ERA and 1.091 WHIP over 40 innings to go along with 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

If I was the Angels general manager, I wouldn’t want to give up such a solid, consistent performer, but with the Angels desperately needing some starting pitching, you have to give something good to get something good.

The Angels may have to make some difficult decisions in order for them to reach their goal of winning the American League West division.

David Fletcher

The Mets still need a backup to Amed Rosario at shortstop, why not trade for a player who can not only back up the shortstop position but has the ability to back up all positions on the baseball field (with the exception of pitcher and catcher). With the Angels free agent signing of Anthony Rendon to man the hot corner for the next eight years and Tommy La Stella penciled in to take over as the starter at second base, David Fletcher may be available to be included in any Angels trade.

Fletcher is an old school type hitter and comes from the mold of one of my favorite Angel players of all-time David Eckstein. What I like about Fletcher is that he is a contact type hitter, who can do the little things like bunt and be productive with his outs moving runners along. Fletcher also has an extremely low strikeout rate. I believe he would be a solid fit for any team with his ability to play any role needed in any situation especially in the National League.

Yes, he could be considered redundant to what Jed Lowrie may provide for the 2020 Mets, but with Lowrie coming off a lost season of injury and being a year older, you have to question whether he still has the range to play shortstop at a major league level.

Anthony Bemboom

With the second biggest Mets need being to add some more catching depth, we can dip into the Angels farm system for a relative unknown in Anthony Bemboom. His name reminds me of one of my favorite New York Ranger defensemen and we do need to bring in some competition at catcher to push Tomas Nido into improving his hitting and to hopefully claim the backup catcher role. Otherwise, Nido could be gone.

Looking at his numbers, Bemboom seems to an average to below-average hitter as his .239/.312/.355/.668 career minor league slash line shows, but I do like his minor league career 32% caught stealing rate and his 46% major league caught stealing rate (granted in a small sample size).

With the Mets being a laughing stock in regards to giving up stolen bases, in an era when opposing teams rarely steal bases, I believe Bemboom can possibly help in that area and improve the overall defense for the Mets catching core.

Now that we have identified which Angels players would make sense in a possible trade, who would the Mets make available to trade back to the Angels to either obtain some or all of these players? Which starting pitchers would the Angels want to acquire? How desperate are the Angels for starting pitching are they willing to start the season with what they currently have?

These are all some common sense type questions and if I was the general manager of the Mets (which would be great) here are the following pitchers from our current 40 man roster that I would make available for a possible trade with Halos.

Robert Gsellman, Steven Matz, Walker Lockett, and Corey Oswalt

I know some people are still really high on Steven Matz, but with the additions of Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha this winter, he may not really have a role with the 2020 Mets.

Personally, I think Matz is a slightly overrated pitcher with his career 4.05 ERA and 1.299 WHIP, which are just average. When players are homegrown, coming through the minor system and are from New York City area (growing up in Long Island), we tend to overrate them and think they are better then their numbers suggest.

So after long thought and examining both teams, I think the most realistic trade might look something like this:

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What do you think would make sense in any possible New York Mets/Los Angeles Angels trade this offseason?