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

As the New York Mets look to upgrade the major league roster this offseason, there are three under the radar trades for positions of need that the organization should consider.

There is nothing more exciting than playing the role of General Manager of the New York Mets from the comfort of your couch and analyzing the many different signings as well as trades that the team should consider this offseason. While many of us fans are enamored with the higher-end free agents and blockbuster trade options such as J.T. Realmuto, Francisco Lindor, and Trevor Bauer, just to name a few, there are also some under the radar trades that the Mets should potentially explore this offseason.

The Mets have a couple of spots in their starting lineup that need upgrading this winter both offensively as well as defensively. The two positions I’m referencing that are in dire need of an upgrade include catcher and center field. As I’ve stated in previous articles, I firmly believe the direction of the Mets’ entire offseason will be determined by how they address the catching position this offseason.

If the Mets don’t break the bank for J.T. Realmuto there are certainly other options that could be explored this offseason including an under the radar but a familiar name that had been connected to the Mets at this past year’s Trade Deadline.

For all intents and purposes of this article, I wanted to cover three under the radar positional players that the Mets should consider making a trade for this offseason. While I firmly believe the Mets should be active in acquiring the top tier talent on the free-agent market this offseason, they can also easily upgrade their positional talent on the current roster with the following moves.

1) Center Fielder Ramon Laureano

There is no guarantee that the Oakland Athletics will be looking to deal their 26-year old starting center fielder, but there may be no other team in baseball that has as many key impending free agents than the A’s this offseason. With the number of impact players that the A’s may need to re-sign and as a team that operates with one of the smallest budgets in baseball, the front office in Oakland may need to get creative in acquiring Major League talent this offseason.

The Mets have a gaping hole at center field and the Dominican-born Laureano would be a shoo-in to the starting lineup next season as he is regarded as one of the better defenders in center field in all of baseball, and he also has one of the strongest arms in the entire game. Adding Laureano to the Mets would give the organization the ability to play to their strengths and slide Brandon Nimmo back into a corner outfield position where his defense profiles better than in center field.

While Laureano had his worst offensive season in 2020, Laureano had hit .288 in consecutive seasons during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns, and also has shown some pop with his bat as he slugged 24 home runs back in 2019. Laureano also can get on base with his career .343 on-base percentage and has a good career OPS of .818. It also doesn’t go without saying that Laureano who is a right-handed hitter would help break up the left-handed heavy Mets lineup.

New Team President Sandy Alderson who just recently spent time with the Athletics organization would be very familiar with Laureano’s skill-set and Alderson’s connection with his former organization could possibly make a deal easier to make for the Mets sake. This deal would also would not just be an impact move for 2021 but also for future seasons to come as the Mets would have team control of Laureano until 2025, which would make him an additional piece of the young core of players currently in Queens.

With the Athletics potentially having a hole at shortstop with Marcus Semien hitting the open market, Amed Rosario could potentially be a trade asset the Mets could use to acquire the stud center fielder this offseason.

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.