There’s one last Cardinals player the NY Mets can trade for, it's not Lars Nootbaar

Brendan Donovan was a popular trade candidate this offseason, even linked to the New York Mets early in the offseason. His versatility made him a Jeff McNeil upgrade. It’ll be the Seattle Mariners who get to bring him to battle in 2026 with a Groundhog’s Day special which sent him away from the St. Louis Cardinals. The Tampa Bay Rays got involved, too.

Donovan is far from the lone Cardinals player linked to the Mets. Willson Contreras was a much-discussed trade target as was Lars Nootbaar.

Nootbaar remains in St. Louis as does another player who might be a good fit for the Mets, lefty reliever JoJo Romero.

Trading for JoJo Romero would be a nice way to end the Mets offseason

The Mets bullpen has five guys we figure to have guaranteed spots while healthy. One of them probably won’t be to start the year, A.J. Minter. Picking up Romero, another lefty, to handle those innings early in 2026 wouldn’t be unwise. Minter is more of a high-leverage setup man whose handedness doesn’t matter so much. Romero can pitch well against righties too, but feels more like a dedicated 6th or 7th inning arm to mow down left-handed hitters with ground balls galore.

A free agent after the 2026 season, Romero seems bound to draw trade interest throughout 2026. The Cardinals aren’t competing. What’s keeping this talented reliever put?

The Donovan trade reminded us the offseason is far from over. Free agency still includes Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen. Eugenio Suarez only just signed, settling on a one-year deal with the Cincinnati Reds.

The obstacle when it comes to envisioning a way for Romero to fit in with the Mets is to find a way to delete a member of the rotation. They have yet to subtract anyone, only adding Freddy Peralta. They’ll want to keep optional pieces around, maybe more so with a six-man rotation. Romero makes the relief corps better, but takes away one spot they could otherwise use on someone else who’ll serve a different kind of purpose.

Back in December, ex-big leaguer Lance Lynn said if the Mets were to acquire Contreras, the package would also include Romero. Contreras went to the Boston Red Sox solo. Romero remains with a team showing no interest in playing competitive baseball.

Adding Romero would probably need to include a starting pitcher subtraction in a separate trade. No declaration has been made publicly that they will have six starters. The loss of Minter last year set up off a string of underwhelming additions to the Mets roster who could throw left-handed. A potential hesitation here would be the Mets’ disinterest in carrying three southpaws in the bullpen when all are healthy.