3) Kansas City Royals
Amazingly, the Kansas City Royals finished with the same regular season record as the Tigers. They were in the race much longer and would suffer defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees. They are a little more crowded than some of these other teams. What makes them a good candidate is how lousy their outfield and DH situation was.
Hunter Renfroe didn’t deliver in right field. Nor did MJ Melendez in left field or Kyle Isbel in center field. All hit .229 or lower. Their most regularly used DH, Nelson Velasquez, hit .200 with only 8 home runs.
One obstacle with a trade between the Mets and Royals involving Marte is they do like to put Salvador Perez in the DH spot with some regularity. This shouldn’t be too detrimental.
This is a ball club that loves to run. They had three players steal over 30 bases. Another stole 11. Everyone else was under 10. Marte can still use his legs effectively. As poor o a defender as he has become, the athleticism on the base paths has yet to disappear entirely.
We do find some interesting lefty relievers on their roster. Angel Zerpa, Daniel Lynch IV, and Sam Long all had good years. The Royals would be foolish to send a younger player like Zerpa away in exchange for Marte. Something to make this deal a little more expanded to acquire Zerpa plus more would be to get Brett Baty involved. Third base was a problem for the Royals last season as well. I’m not sure the pairing of Marte and Baty can truly improve any deal enough, but it’s a conversation worth having with the Royals about each player separately and together.