Rising Apple
FanSided

3 potential trade partners who could complete the NY Mets' roster

The NY Mets are one of the best teams in baseball. But they should still be active at the trade deadline, and these three teams have players that would fully complete the Mets' roster.
ByNoah Wright|
New York Mets v Colorado Rockies
New York Mets v Colorado Rockies | Justin Edmonds/GettyImages
3 of 3

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the opposite problem the Orioles have: they have plenty of pitching but no hitting, which has still resulted in a poor 25-40 record. Again, barring a miraculous comeback in June and July, it seems that they’ll look to move whatever shorter-term pieces they can. One of said shorter-term pieces that would help the Mets’ depth chart is infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

The shortstop is slashing .303/.351/.382 with a .327 wOBA and 106 wRC+ across 192 plate appearances. IKF has never hit for much power and has just a single home run with a .079 isolated slugging percentage. He also doesn’t have a great walk rate, sitting at 5.6%. However, IKF has always been good at limiting strikeouts. His 15.6% K% is a career-low, and his 14.9% whiff rate sits in the 92nd percentile of all batters this year.

Kiner-Falefa has mostly played shortstop this year, where he has +1 DRS, albeit with -4 OAA. But he has over 1500 innings logged at third base, a position he won a Gold Glove at once, and has +24 DRS/+27 OAA. Plus, IKF has over 500 innings at the keystone. If the Mets feel they need another infielder, one who won’t cost a fortune and won’t block a youngster like Luisangel Acuña or Ronny Mauricio, Kiner-Falefa would be the guy to go after.

The Pirates also will likely shop left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson. The veteran southpaw has a 3.42 ERA, 3.26 FIP, and 1.22 WHIP. Ferguson has only struck out 18.2% of opponents with a 10% walk rate. However, he’s been great at limiting hard contact. He is in the 100th percentile of exit velocity (82.3 MPH) and hard-hit rate (21.3%), as well as the 92nd percentile of barrel percentage (4%). He has yet to allow a home run this year.