3 players who could be traded after Carlos Correa signs and where they could go

Once Carlos Correa is signed, the New York Mets are expected to explore the trade market. They will be looking to accomplish two things. One is to clear roster spots. The other is to find upgrades.

Finalizing a deal with Correa has been the priority for the ball club for—checks last year’s calendar—about two weeks now. You already know the story and we should get things finalized this week. After, could the Mets look to trade one of these guys from the big league roster?

1) The Mets could still trade Carlos Carrasco

We shouldn’t rule out the possibility of the Mets moving on from Carlos Carrasco. There are a couple of scenarios for them to look at. He should have a large number of suitors with teams that missed in the free agent market looking for some solutions. Not much is left to pick from. Some team should be willing to offer a decent piece in return for him.

The Baltimore Orioles look like a club that could use him the most. However, it’s the Minnesota Twins who feel like a more attractive destination. A Carrasco for Max Kepler trade is the simplest to make. The Twins add a veteran arm. The Mets bring in an outfielder to give them a little more depth and maybe even push Mark Canha into a different role.

The trade is certainly not ideal because Carrasco does feel like the fifth-best option the Mets have. Would they go with Tylor Megill or David Peterson in the rotation instead or look to make a separate trade to improve the pitching staff?

I’m not a fan of trading Carrasco, but it does seem like a move they could make. A better trade would be to pair Carrasco with someone else for a better player than Kepler. The difficulty here is finding a team with a bat to spare and a need to win in 2023.