MLB insider names his best NY Mets trade deadline fit, it might not be who you think

Sitting just under a week from the trade deadline, all eyes are on David Stearns as he looks to upgrade the New York Mets. The Mets, who currently sit at half a game above the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East, look to bolster several areas in need of enhancement, including centerfield and their bullpen.

While most Mets fans name Eugenio Suarez or Luis Robert Jr. as dream deadline targets, ESPN's Jeff Passan believes Minnesota Twins reliever Griffin Jax is the best candidate for New York to acquire.

Jax will strike some, if not most, as an unusual target. The Mets, a team looking to make a deep postseason run, should focus on a reliever with a 4.09 ERA? It might look bad, but never let a reliever's ERA fool you; Jax has a WHIP of 1.23 this season.

The biggest problem with the Mets' bullpen is that most of their relievers lack command. Jax, on the other hand, is a command machine; his Pitching+ this season is 134, with a chase rate of 40.7% (100th percentile), a whiff rate of 39% (98th percentile), and a strikeout rate of 36.4% (98th percentile). It's safe to say Jax is an elite swing-and-miss pitcher, something the Mets' bullpen desperately needs.

The issue with Jax lies in the contact that is induced against him, even if limited; his hard hit rate sits at 44.3% (23rd percentile), and his BABIP is .376. A lot of his contact issues stem from a subpar four-seam fastball. Hitters mash against Jax's four-seamer, with the xwOBA of the pitch this season being .503, and the run value of the pitch at -6 (11th percentile). He can't rely solely on his elite sweeper and changeup, but for him to rise to the level he reached as one of the league's prominent relievers last season, he needs to find a way to weaken the contact of pitches hit in play against him, especially with his fastball.

Regardless, Jax provides the Mets' bullpen with what it needs. He's a quality set-up guy with elite command and wicked stuff, a perfect formula for inducing whiffs and strikeouts. Plus, Jax is under team control until 2027 with his current contract expiring at the season's end, so in the improbable scenario that Edwin Diaz opts out of his contract at the end of the season, they'll have a solid replacement ready, and Jax's contract will likely not be as large as Diaz's. That, however, is also the exact reason it's unlikely Diaz will opt out; he probably won't find himself a better contract anywhere else.

In any case, a Griffin Jax trade significantly bolsters the Mets' bullpen, providing them with strike zone control that they currently lack from their relievers. His high ERA and batted ball issues will scare enough teams away to lower his cost, and if the Mets land him, they'll leave that problem to the skill of Jeremy Hefner to correct.