MLB rumors: NY Mets and Astros may soon be fighting over the same free agent

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. A different kind of bell is ringing for the New York Mets. Some holiday MLB rumors have sent out a warning. If they’re as serious about adding an outfielder via free agency as previous Mets rumors suggest, they might be competing alongside the Houston Astros for the same small crop of players.

We went into this offseason believing that if there would be any major bidding war between the Mets and Astros it would involve Pete Alonso and/or Alex Bregman. The Astros have already replenished both corner infield positions. The Mets remain a match to re-sign Alonso or choose the alternative path of signing Bregman to play third base.

Recent MLB rumors involving the Astros claim the team is in the market to add a left-handed hitting outfielder. A very small group of quality players in free agency fit this description. One Mets fans eagerly await to learn about is Jesse Winker.

The Mets and Astros are fighting in the same MLB rumors pit for a player like Jesse Winker

Here’s the good news: the Astros would be far likelier than the Mets to actually trade for a left-handed hitting outfielder. It doesn’t make much sense for David Stearns to use any asset to acquire a player fitting this description. What’s more, it’s not a top priority.

It is an assumption that the outfielder the Mets would seek would be a lefty. This was a major trade deadline need of the team. The loss of Winker in free agency has the same need returning.

Winker in a platoon situation with Starling Marte at the DH spot with each getting some starts defensively in a corner outfield spot is one logical direction the Mets could go. Better is for Winker to get the at-bats as the left-handed half of a DH platoon where the right-handed half is Mark Vientos or a mix of right-handed everyday players. For sure, what the Mets should avoid is getting into a situation where their everyday DH cannot play the field. The exhaustion of Daniel Vogelbach for a year and a half and the way things ended with J.D. Martinez should be enough to look at this spot in the lineup differently.

It is a bit ironic for the Astros to suddenly be in the market for a left-handed hitting outfielder when they just traded Kyle Tucker. That was more of a financial decision than anything else. For Winker fans, we better hold onto hope that they either trade for a guy like Mike Yastrzemski or believe Alex Verdugo could be an ex-New York Yankees killer for them. Neither of those options would be a particularly good match for the Mets.