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My wife has trouble sleeping some nights. She’ll stay up tossing and turning wondering about how life will go. She stresses about bills, family, and health. Inches away, I’m lying there having my own trouble getting some shuteye because I’m not quite sure where it is the New York Mets will turn at this year’s trade deadline.
Do they really need to overpay for a bat? What about the bench? They seem pretty secure there. With more than enough starting pitching within the organization, is it really worth giving up a prospect for a rental? I think about it a lot.
One area the Mets could always use a boost is the bullpen. As effective as they have been this year, it wouldn’t hurt to check on the price some of the top trade candidates have pinned to them this July. MLB Trade Rumors recently published their early-summer list of the top 40 trade candidates in baseball. Specifically selecting relief pitchers, these are the three guys I would like the Mets to keep tabs on.
Mets Trade Deadline Target: Richard Rodriguez
I think any team looking to compete this year will look at Richard Rodriguez as someone their bullpen can use. It’s exactly why MLBTRs has him listed as the seventh-best trade candidate on their list.
For four straight years, he has been one of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top arms in relief. This year is no exception. Although he isn’t striking out guys much, his ERA through 23.1 innings of work is only 1.54!
Rodriguez may be the closer in Pittsburgh but that would change if he were to land with the Mets. It would probably be a better role for him anyway. The 31-year-old has the stuff more akin to a middle reliever, something you can never have enough of.
The cost to acquire Rodriguez, I suspect, will not be exceedingly high. It does get a boost because of the two additional years of control a team gets with him. Considering Aaron Loup and the surprisingly effective Jeurys Familia are free agents after this season, I like the idea of bringing in a guy the Mets could keep around.