Three Mets trades to upgrade a position where they could use a boost

2) Catcher Christian Vazquez

If the Mets don’t sign prized free-agent catcher J.T. Realmuto this offseason there won’t be a shortage of options for them to explore. One catching option the Mets could consider would be a familiar name from this year’s past Trade Deadline in Boston Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez.

The 30-year old catcher finished the 2020 regular season with a .283 batting average to go along with seven home runs and 23 RBI’s. In continuation of Vazquez’s great offensive campaign, the Puerto Rican born catcher’s OPS of .801 was 100 points higher than his career average.

While the offensive numbers are great for Vazquez, he has a stronger defensive reputation behind the plate, which is certainly an area the Mets need significant improvement on after Wilson Ramos’s defensive struggles this past season. Vazquez is widely known for the cannon of an arm he possesses and has thrown out 35% of the runners caught stealing over the past three seasons. Astoundingly Vazquez has only has committed five errors behind the plate over the past three seasons as well.

Vazquez is affordably under contract through the 2021 season at $6.25 million. His contract also includes a 2022 club option for $7 million with a $250,000 buyout, which would seem to be a no-brainer option for the Mets to pick up if his production both offensively and defensively remains steady.

The asking price for Vazquez is currently unknown, as the last we heard on Boston’s asking price during the Trade Deadline was that it was “very high” according to multiple reports. With the Red Sox in the middle of a rebuilding process, they would want young controllable players back in return and a name that comes to mind that could intrigue the Red Sox would be J.D. Davis who could be left without a starting position depending on how the offseason shakes out for the Mets.