NY Mets: 1 realistic trade candidate from every team

Cubs

Kyle Hendricks has been a lynchpin in the Cubs rotation for years and has been rock solid. He’s a guy that’s always making 30+ starts and eating innings. With the Mets having Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard entering free agency and potentially leaving, the Mets could trade for Hendricks to provide some stability to the back end of the rotation.

Despite having a down year this year, I believe Hendricks can go back to his old form as he is a groundball pitcher who would be pitching in front of a defense which was very potent this season. He has two years left on his contract worth $14 million dollars a season, not a crazy salary to pay. He’s a very similar pitcher to Marcus Stroman who had a great year pitching in front of this Mets defense.

Reds

With the Reds missing the playoffs this season and their best player Nicholas Castellanos poised to hit free agency and likely leave, the Reds might decide to rebuild. If they do, a guy the Mets should look into is Sonny Gray. He’s proven to be a reliable mid-rotation arm with a lot of upsides. This season in a down year in which he battled injuries, he went 7-9 with a 4.19 ERA in 26 starts. I think the Mets would definitely take that and if the Reds are rebuilding he won’t cost too much as he has only two years of team control and he’s 31 years old.

Brewers

Something the Mets missed in their bullpen for most of this season was a second lefty. Brent Suter has been a reliable southpaw in the Brewers ‘pen for years and can do the same for the Mets.

As a former starter, Suter can give the Mets multiple innings out of the ‘pen as he did this year with the Brewers. He pitched 73.1 innings in 61 appearances. He’s a guy that doesn’t walk people (2.1 BB/9 in his career) and keeps the ball in the ballpark (1.2 HR/9 in his career.)

Pirates

One of my favorite players in all of baseball is Bryan Reynolds. He’s a guy that can hit, hit for power, run, plays good defense, he can do it all. He was an all-star this season slashing .302/.390/.522 with 24 home runs and 90 RBI. Reynold’s 142 WRC+ was good for fifth in the National League and tenth in all of baseball.

With Michael Conforto set to be a free agent, the Mets will have at least one hole to fill in the outfield. The Mets can move Brandon Nimmo or even use Reynolds in a corner outfield spot. Reynolds is 26 years old so the Pirates might be willing to move him for a slew of prospects as they will not be competing any time soon. While it is definitely unlikely, he’s a name I’d love the Mets to look into.

Cardinals

One of the more electric relievers in baseball is Jordan Hicks. He hits 100 mph on the radar gun consistently, throwing as hard as 105. Along with that, he has a devastating slider and changeup.

Unfortunately for Hicks, he has had injury issues. Elbow problems left him out of the entire 2020 season and he pitched in just 10 games this season before his season-ending elbow injury in May.

Trading for Hicks would definitely be risky due to his injury history, but the potential is impossible to ignore. If the Mets can buy low on him I think that would be a great move.