NY Mets: 1 realistic trade candidate from every team

Astros

Aledmys Diaz has been a key bench piece for the Astros in each of the last three seasons. He’s got a pretty good bat as he slashed .259/.317/.405 with eight home runs and 45 RBI in 294 at-bats this season.

Diaz can fill in on the left side of the infield if someone gets hurt or can be useful as a bat off the bench. The 31-year-old has one year of arbitration remaining and can be a solid bench option for the Mets in 2022.

Angels

Mike Mayers has been a solid arm out of the Angels bullpen the last two seasons. This season he went 5-5 with a 3.84 ERA in 72 appearances. He struck out 10.8/9 and allowed just 1.3 HR/9.

Mayers has two years of arbitration left and can slot in nicely in a middle relief role for the Mets.

He recorded more than three outs 18 times this season and served as an opener in two games so he can fill in at a bunch of different roles for this Mets team which can be very useful.

Athletics

A.J. Puk was at one time a highly touted prospect in Oakland’s system. He’s a left-hander who throws hard and has good stuff.

The Athletics seemed to have given up on him being a starter, but there’s still a chance he can be an effective reliever in this league. The 26-year-old struggled in his cup of coffee in the bigs this year as he went 0-3 with a 6.08 ERA in his 13.1 innings pitched. However, in those 13.1 innings, he struck out 16 batters, a 10.8 K/9. That shows me that the stuff is there, and if he can locate it, he can be effective.

He might not help the Mets immediately, but with some additional seasoning in AAA, Puk might prove to be useful later in the year in 2022. It’s worth the gamble since I don’t think he would cost very much in a trade.

Mariners

The Mariners were one of the great stories in baseball this season and that was thanks in large part to Mitch Haniger. After suffering through multiple injuries and setbacks in 2019 and missing all of 2020, Haniger came back in 2021 and put up a monster year. He slashed .253/.384/.485 with 39 home runs and 100 RBI.

Yes, the Mariners had a great year and would be trading one of their better players but they have every reason to sell high while they still can. Haniger has one year of arbitration left and then he is a free agent in 2023.

He is 30 years old and the Mariners have plenty of young outfielders to count on including guys like Jarred Kelenic, Kyle Lewis, and Taylor Trammell. Is it likely they will opt to pay him what he’s going to get on the open market when he’s already over 30?

Haniger would provide much-needed power and would be a nice replacement for Michael Conforto for 2022 and potentially beyond.

Rangers

Jose Leclerc missed all of the 2021 season after recovering from Tommy John Surgery he had in 2020. Prior to the injury, Leclerc was one of the better and more underrated relievers in the game.

He’s got electric stuff and strikes out a ton of batters (12.5 K/9 in his career). While walks are an issue, (5.7 BB/9 in his career), he keeps the ball in the ballpark (0.6 HR/9 in his career.)

Leclerc is 27 and has three years of control left on his deal including two years with club options worth $17 million dollars in totality. The club option years make up $12.25 million dollars of the $17 million dollars.

The Mets would be getting Leclerc at pretty low value as he would be coming off of a major injury. While there is definitely some risk for the Mets acquiring him, I think the reward is very worth it. When right, he is one of the more dominant relievers in the game.

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