4 likely MLB trade candidates the Mets should target, 3 they should avoid

The Mets could acquire a well-known pitcher for David Stearns

The biggest area of ​​need for the Mets is undoubtedly the starting pitching rotation. After the changes of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, the team only has security with the figure of Kodai Senga as its ace and Jose Quintana.

In this regard, it is known that the Milwaukee Brewers have been open to listening to offers for their pitchers, especially former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes. Burnes has been one of the best pitchers in all of MLB for several years; he showed a regression in 2023 caused mainly by an increase in his walks and greater contact allowed, which decreased his strikeout percentage.

Despite this, Burnes' stuff remains elite. His level and performance place him at the top in almost all categories as a pitcher, highlighting his level of inducing reduced power contact with a solid arsenal of pitches.

The Mets can take advantage of several situations that arise in the case of this pitcher. The fact of presenting a regression in its production level in 2023, being in the last year of the contract, and that the organization has David Stearns leading the negotiations, the team could get Burnes for a cost not as high as many of us would think.

Burnes would enter directly into the rotation as the Mets' ace, lightening Senga's responsibility and becoming a one-two man among the best in baseball. Burnes would be the face of a rotation that, with the signing of another good pitcher in free agency, could be the most fearsome in all of MLB.