NY Mets rumors: Desirable Jeff McNeil upgrade may be too popular on the trade market

Anything, and everything, is available to the New York Mets this offseason. Thank Mr. Steve Cohen for that. Although there’s no snap of the finger to get it done, his deep pockets paired with David Stearns should have us constantly guessing as to what’ll come next. This includes subtracts like Jeff McNeil and immediate external replacements.

According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the Mets are one of the teams most interested in St. Louis Cardinals utility man Brendan Donvoan. Immensely popular on the trade block, the challenge for the Mets is offering St. Louis something good enough to get them to bite.

Is a Brendan Donovan trade feasible for the Mets?

Offensively not as good when McNeil was at his best, Donovan is a current upgrade over what the Mets have in their longtime second baseman. A regular all over the field with second base being his most familiar stomping grounds, he’s essentially the time machine version of McNeil with more predictability at this moment.

McNeil used to hit .300 in his sleep. Not anymore. Other than his 2022 batting title, McNeil has been a much less productive offensive player. Donovan, on the other hand, has played four seasons and has hit between .278 and .287. A guy who’ll hit about a dozen home runs with 30+ doubles in a full season, it’s understandable why any team would like a guy who could play second base or left field or a combination of both over the course of a full season.

As Morosi dove into, the Mets are hardly alone in thinking Donovan would be a good fit. The Houston Astros in particular feel like a threat after trading away Mauricio Dubon. The one asset the Mets have at their disposal is on the financial side. If they were to take on a bad contract, the Cardinals might have to think harder about a deal with the Mets.

Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, and Willson Contreras are all roster matches for the Mets even if they come with some undesirable trades whether it be a decline or scars from playing in New York previously. The Cardinals aren’t going to just hand over Donovan for the sake of saving money, though. It’s still going to cost the Mets controllable players. They can still compete there, but then arises the other problem, can they find a taker for McNeil?

Second base is a crowded yet wide open position for the Mets next season. With Donovan out there earning far less money than McNeil and being a far better player at this point in his career, it only makes it more difficult for the Mets to find a trade partner. Having them both is redundant.

The Mets win many of their free agent battles. Trades have been a different story. Stearns has been cautious. And with so many internal options available for the Mets to play second base, it doesn’t feel quite as feasible as we may want it to be.