NY Mets: 3 trades to explore with their NL East rivals before the deadline

Less than one month away from the trade deadline, the New York Mets are currently sitting in first place in the NL East, and are primed to be a contending team as we head closer to the postseason.

Despite being a first place team, the Mets could stand to improve in a few areas, as they have been plagued with injuries throughout the 2021 season, and many of their starting players have underperformed over the first half of the season.

Naturally, any contending team would look to make a trade around this time of the year with one who is out of contention. However, teams typically avoid making trades with their division rivals as they are directly competing against each other and play one another the most often.

However, at the time of writing, the Mets are the only team with a record over .500, and while the year is far from over, it isn’t unrealistic for either the Nationals, Braves, Marlins or Phillies to be “sellers” at this year’s trade deadline.

The Mets should consider making a trade with an NL East Rival before the 2021 trade deadline.

In particular, the Mets have been without third baseman JD Davis for the bulk of the season, and starting pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco have yet to appear in the big leagues in 2021, all due to injury.

As for the underperforming players, Francisco Lindor, Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil have been batting well below their career averages through the first half of the seasons, and starting pitcher David Peterson has also underperformed in his sophomore year.

As such, it seems like a perfect time to speculate which players the Mets could look to trade for if they decide to make a trade with another team in the NL East.