5 best trade candidates the Mets can still acquire

2) NY Mets trade target: Josh Bell

I will preface this by saying I don't know how likely it is that Washington trades Josh Bell in division even as a rental. However, with the Astros acquiring Trey Mancini today, the potential suitors for Josh Bell appear to be limited.

If the Nationals do consider trading Bell to the Mets, they should be all over it. Bell is a switch hitter having a career year who can hit behind Pete Alonso in the middle of the order.

The Mets did acquire Daniel Vogelbach to DH against righties, but Josh Bell can fill that role every day. Overall he's slashed .302/.385/.493 with 14 home runs and 57 RBI. Bell has an .889 OPS against righties and an .861 OPS against lefties.

On days the Mets want Vogelbach in the lineup, the Mets can put Bell into a corner outfield spot. While he doesn't play the field well at all, his bat would more than make up for it.

Bell is the best bat still available not named Juan Soto and the switch hitting power hitter would be a perfect fit on the Mets team in search of one more bat.

3) NY Mets trade target: Willson Contreras

The Mets have been linked to Willson Contreras for a couple of weeks now, and I think it's very possible he ends up a Met by the end of the day. The Astros were one of the teams in on him and they acquired Christian Vazquez. There don't seem to be too many teams interested in the rental catcher.

The Mets have dealt with some awful production offensively from their catchers all year, so it's safe to say the all-star with an .818 OPS would be a massive upgrade.

The price does seem to be very high, but hopefully it goes down as the Mets seem to be unwilling to part with any major prospects for a rental.

Contreras if acquired would catch a lot and also DH quite a bit. He has an OPS of 1.004 against left handed pitching so if he caught against righties while James McCann or Tomas Nido caught against lefties with Contreras as the DH I think that'd make a lot of sense.

I personally value the defense McCann and Nido provide a lot, but it's very hard to watch them put up non competitive at bats a lot of the time. It would be nice to not have what feels like an automatic out with the catcher spot.

The defense and camaraderie that McCann and Nido have with the pitching staff will be virtually impossible for Contreras to pick up in such a short time span. Hopefully, his bat makes those bumps in the road worth it.

4) NY Mets trade target: Andrew Chafin

In a perfect world, the Mets acquire two relievers at this year's deadline. One of them is David Robertson, and the other is Andrew Chafin. The southpaw is a guy I felt the Mets should have signed as a free agent, and there's a very good chance he ends up in Queens by the end of the day.

The Mets broke camp with Joely Rodriguez and Chasen Shreve as the team's left handed relievers. Shreve has already been DFA'd and Rodriguez might be next. The Mets counting on David Peterson in the eighth inning with a two-run lead against two left handed Yankee hitters tells me that they don't trust Rodriguez in a big spot. If that's the case, he shouldn't be here and the Mets need to upgrade.

Andrew Chafin is the perfect target in my opinion. He's a guy who can get right handed and left handed hitters out so the three batter rule has no negative impact on him.

Chafin is a guy who's been traded before, as he's been traded in each of the last two trade deadlines. Both times he was traded he performed better than he did with the team he was traded from.

Chafin has a player option for $6.5 million dollars next season, so his value could be the same as a rental as he's in control of his destiny.

For a team starving for a lockdown left-handed reliever, Chafin fits the team perfectly and hopefully will finally be a Met very soon.

5) NY Mets trade target: Brandon Drury

Yes, J.D. Martinez is not listed. He's a guy who would only DH and has a nagging back injury that has led to a prolonged slump. It's hard to get super excited about him, even if it's very possible that they end up with him.

Brandon Drury on the other hand is a guy I hope the Mets acquire. He's a guy who can DH against lefties and can play virtually anywhere in the field other than shortstop and center field.

Drury was a Met briefly last season and performed very well off the bench and against left handed pitching. This season he's had the chance to play every day and arguments can be made that he was snubbed from the all-star game.

If acquired, Drury would likely play a lot of third base and also DH. He'd be the kind of presence Daniel Vogelbach has been against righties, but against lefties. Drury has an OPS of 1.048 against southpaws.

Drury's success I'm sure does have to do with playing half of his games at Great American Ballpark, one of the more hitter-friendly parks in baseball. However, Drury has shown he can hit at Citi Field and that he can produce as a Met. I'm confident he'd do well in a platoon role at the very least.

Drury's added versatility and ability to hit southpaws make him a huge potential addition for a Mets team in need of those things.