NY Mets rumors: These 4 players were labeled a "perfect trade target" for AL buyers

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden must not be getting much sleep these days. MLB trade rumors season is when he gets to work most. With the New York Mets as one of the primetime sellers, he’ll need to have a good idea of which players they could deal before the August 3 trade deadline as well as which teams could line up best for a match.

Bowden’s most recent story tries to find one player for each perceived buyer to add. His Mets selections were…how do we put this without sounding mean…different. There seems to be very little buzz elsewhere about any of these trade scenarios. He's not wrong with the match even if all four are probably better fits somewhere else.

The goal was to find the best trade match for each team while apparently skipping over Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes entirely, maybe because their market is incredibly wide. Despite ignoring them, Bowden found four more Mets who could be traded and tried to match them with a team.

Luke Weaver - Baltimore Orioles
Brooks Raley - Minnesota Twins
Luis Robert Jr. - Detroit Tigers
Huascar Brazoban - Texas Rangers

How good are these trade matches for the Mets?

The Orioles and Weaver are fascinating because he’d be taking the closer spot from Ryan Helsley who recently landed on the 60-day IL. A failed Mets trade deadline addition last year, the Orioles are one of those below .500 teams that have inched closer to AL Wild Card relevancy. Weaver would be a good addition for them, but there are probably teams with a better shot at the playoffs in need of a closer. The Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates immediately stand out as a pair who should put together a larger sweetheart offer to bring Weaver to town.

Raley to the Twins isn’t much different and unfortunately for him, could be another instance of a team buying a player who’ll change uniforms and not even make the playoffs. Because of the wide-openness of the American League, the Twins almost have to try to compete and Raley shouldn’t cost them a ton. Their most frequently used lefty, Taylor Rogers, has a 5.45 ERA. It makes sense.

If the Tigers actually do decide to buy, trading for Robert definitely strengthens center field. Matt Vierling, a .209 hitter with a -0.8 bWAR this season, doesn’t cut it. The strangest twist of the MLB trade deadline would be for Tarik Skubal to stay put in Detroit. How the Tigers perform over the next few days should decide their fate. In 2024, they sold and still ended up making the playoffs. If ever there was a year to buy into a strong finish, it’s this year when you might only need 83 wins to make the playoffs as was the case in the National League last year.

Finally, there’s Brazoban to Texas. It’s hard to eliminate him from any kind of trade negotiations because of his versatility as a reliever. Their two most frequently used relievers are lefties. Brazoban, who can give a team 2 innings at a time, would be a welcomed addition. Furthermore, if the 51-51 Rangers don’t make the playoffs, he’s around for a few more years if they choose.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow