NY Mets: 1 realistic trade candidate from every team

Diamondbacks

One of the more underrated pitchers in baseball in my opinion is Zac Gallen. This season was a down year for him as he went 4-10 with a 4.30 ERA in 23 starts. Gallen battled through multiple injuries this season which might have led to his down year.

He is a pitcher that strikes out a lot of hitters (10.4 k/9 in his career) and keeps the ball in the ballpark (1.2 HR/9 in his career). I expect next season when completely healthy Gallen will be closer to the pitcher he was in his first two seasons when he pitched to ERA’s under 3.

Gallen is 26 years old and the Diamondbacks are coming off of a 110 loss season. He would cost a lot but they might be willing to move Gallen for the right price, something the Mets should definitely look into.

With the Mets set to potentially lose Marcus Stroman, bringing in someone like Gallen who will not make a lot of money and has years of team control left would be very beneficial.

Rockies

Pitchers at Coors Field seem to be destined to fail. The Rockies never are able to build a strong rotation and that has a lot to do with Coors Field. Pitching in the altitude 81 games a year is very tough. Even with those difficulties, German Marquez has been rock solid in his six-year career.

His success is largely due to his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark, something that is not easy to do at Coors Field, as he has allowed 1.2 HR/9 in his career. He also doesn’t walk people, (2.6 BB/9 in his career.)

This season, Marquez made 30 starts and threw 180 innings, something the Mets could’ve really used with their injury-riddled rotation. Having someone take the ball every five days and be reliable enough to deliver a quality start while pitching most of his games at Coors Field would be huge for the Mets.

Marquez is 26 and has two years left on his deal worth $26 million dollars along with a $16 million-dollar club option in 2024. Getting a mid-rotation arm who’s already locked up on relatively cheap money would be great for this Mets team.

Dodgers

Coming off of a horrible year in which Cody Bellinger posted a 48 WRC+ and only played 95 games thanks to injury, his value is never going to be lower.  With that in mind, it’s unlikely the Dodgers move on from the former MVP but the Mets should do their due diligence.

Bellinger bouncing back in the postseason points to the fact that he has fixed whatever went wrong during the regular season and he should be closer to his former MVP self in the years to come.

With two years of team control left, it would likely take a haul to get him but if the Dodgers actually listen to offers it would be foolish for the Mets to not inquire.

Padres

For the longest time, Craig Stammen has been one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball. He can pitch in a variety of roles. He was an opener four times this season, can pitch late in games and can give multiple innings in long relief. Stammen threw 88.1 innings in 67 appearances this season.

Instead of turning to someone like Robert Gsellman or Yennsy Diaz for length, the Mets can get the 37-year-old to pitch in that role or pitch later in games if that’s what’s needed.

Giants

While Mets pinch hitters had great success this season, I believe they would benefit from lengthening their bench next season. One guy who can be in that role and can also step in and play every day at a couple of different positions if needed is former Met fan favorite, Wilmer Flores.

This season for the Giants Flores slashed .262/.335/.447 with 18 home runs and 53 RBI. He’s a career 105 OPS+ hitter and if the DH is instituted in the NL, Flores becomes even more valuable with his poor defense.

The 30-year-old has one year left on his deal and would be a nice fit on a team lacking a lot of right-handed power.