4 NY Mets trades that, if reversed, could help them out this season

2) Jake Mangum to the Marlins

On a much smaller scale, the Mets could have been helped out by reversing a far less notable trade that involved a center fielder getting sent elsewhere. A fourth-rank pick by the Mets in 2019, Jake Mangum was traded on December 7, 2022 to the Miami Marlins as the eventual player to be named later. The deal brought them the pitching duo of Jeff Brigham and Elieser Hernandez, the former of which performed poorly and the latter who never even logged a game for the big league club due to injury.

The trade was easily forgotten but this year has become relevant again with Mangum playing regularly for the Tampa Bay Rays. A year and a day after he went to the Marlins, they sent him to the Rays. He was, yet again, the player to be named later.

A light hitter with speed and a glove, he seems to fit the exact model of the type of fifth outfielder David Stearns loves to have on his Mets rosters. Optional as well, Mangum’s presence on a fictional 2025 Mets team would have saved the team some grief and trade deadline searching. The switch-hitting 29-year-old has added irony based on the fact that the Mets went out and traded for Jose Siri this past offseason only for Tampa Bay to replace him with Mangum quite easily.

Mangum has quietly put together a fabulous start to the season, batting .313/.349/.402 in his first 51 games for the Rays. Adding 11 stolen bases in 13 tries, he’s exactly what the Mets would love to have in center field right now.