Mets need to lose a trade before they can re-sign Michael Conforto

The New York Mets roster is pretty tight. They have all of the position players they can fit with a four-man bench plus DH and the typical number of pitchers you will find on any club. They could, conceivably, go with a shorter bullpen but for whose benefit? A deep roster of position players is only helpful when you have your pitcher hitting or when injuries arise.

A lot of Mets fans are hopeful Michael Conforto will return to the ball club. He is now the best free agent available. With the qualifying offer attached to him and the resulting loss of a draft pick, many teams seem to have turned elsewhere to improve their outfield.

The Mets could make a Conforto reunion work. However, they would need to make and probably lose a trade before Opening Day in order for it to work.

The Mets have time to make a trade but would probably need to ask for less in order to make it happen

If you believe in the offseason rumors, the Mets shopped J.D. Davis, Jeff McNeil, and Dominic Smith this offseason. To what extent we’ll never know. The team didn’t seem to get large enough nibbles to make any deal work in their favor. Opening Day is now approaching and all three remain with the ball club.

Outside of a sudden change of opinion, the only way the Mets can fit Conforto on their 26-man roster is for the team to turn back to one of those trades. And by this point, many of those previous offers may be off the table.

Davis is the most believable player to get traded and he always was. The weakest defender, he would be the guy to trade in order to bring Conforto back. Unfortunately, even with 15 new teams needing a DH, the market demand is rather weak.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the Mets shouldn’t trade Davis for less than they previously wanted. If they feel Conforto can give them a better chance at winning, they may want to re-assess those old offers for Davis.

Less likely yet possible, the team could always demote Davis to the minor leagues. He has options left. I don't think this happens. He'd be a very expensive Triple-A player.

Time is running out. Conforto could sign at any moment. And those Mets fan dreams of seeing him back with the team will be buried for good.