NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 3 targets off the board, why they aren’t Queens-bound

3) Willson Contreras

On Sunday night, Willson Contreras was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Red Sox in exchange for three players. Dissecting the package to try to come up with something Mets-related is moot as there’s always a possibility of a difference in terms of how Cardinals view particular players as well as relationships between people. Chaim Bloom’s Cardinals trading another veteran (Sonny Gray being the other) to the Red Sox is certainly unique and will continue to have Mets fans hoping for a Freddy Peralta deal before Opening Day.

Even with Polanco, Contreras could have been a truer first baseman to push Polanco into more of a DH role almost exclusively with emergency starts here and there. Contreras has the added benefit of having catching in his background. It wouldn’t be so bad to have that up your sleeve if, for instance, you wanted to DH Francisco Alvarez at times.

Why the Mets ultimately passed on a trade for Contreras likely has to do with a few things. For one, they might just have a lot of belief in Polanco at first base. Contreras might not have been their top target for the missing lineup piece either with left field being a huge vacancy.

The asking price from the Mets, with three pitchers going to the Cardinals in exchange for Contreras, might’ve been less appealing to Stearns than Polanco and whatever other scenarios he envisions. Stearns’ reputation as someone who won’t pay a premium for a first baseman seems to be a milder reason than many of the other suggestions.

Skipping out on trading for Contreras is the most difficult to comprehend because he seemed to meet most of the criteria we believe the Mets are focused on both by theory and what we’ve been told. Someone else existing is surely the option we’d prefer most.