J.D. Martinez, Christian Vazquez vs. Willson Contreras, David Robertson
The New York Mets have begun their trade deadline by acquiring Daniel Vogelbach and Tyler Naquin to help fill in holes on the roster.
Vogelbach is the primary DH against righties and has already shown why, as he's reached base in eight of his first 14 plate appearances. Naquin is a much better fourth outfielder than Travis Jankowski, providing some offense in addition to good speed.
With those improvements, the Mets are already looking much better but have more holes to address. Vogelbach is great against righties, but the Mets need another bat who can DH against lefties. The Mets need another couple of relievers, especially after the Drew Smith injury. The Mets also could use an upgrade at catcher, as James McCann and Tomas Nido have not hit at all and Francisco Alvarez is not ready yet.
Willson Contreras and David Robertson trade package is way more appealing for the Mets than a J.D. Martinez and Christian Vazquez package
Both of these packages address the holes I think are on this roster. Martinez has been an elite DH for years, and Christian Vazquez is a great defensive catcher who's also having a really good offensive year for Boston.
What I don't love about this trade is the risk that comes with acquiring Martinez. J.D. has been dealing with a bad back for a couple of months now and that has led to a big slump at the plate. He has an .818 OPS which is solid, but he only has nine home runs which is not normal for someone like J.D. Martinez.
J.D. has slashed just .221/.293/.366 with four home runs since June 1st, not what the Mets would want if they acquired him. However, he is slashing .362/.457/.594 against lefties this season which would be an astronomical upgrade over J.D. Davis, but I don't think Martinez would only hit against lefties.
Acquiring Martinez also limits the Mets flexibility. He's a guy who is not usable in the field so the Mets won't have the option of using someone like Pete Alonso at DH unless they bench Martinez.
The Cubs package is a lot more appealing to me. They don't get their full-time DH, but Contreras can catch against righties and DH against lefties. He has also raked against southpaws and can save the Mets from basically giving up an out every day in that spot of the order.
David Robertson is my number one reliever target, so a Contreras Robertson package makes a ton of sense.
That package will likely cost a lot more in terms of prospect value, but for a team that's 25 games over .500 and fighting to win a World Series with an older team that's a risk I'd be willing to take. The Mets have prospects without a clear path to playing time who the Cubs would be interested in to get the deal done.
Martinez's slump combined with the injury and lack of versatility makes him hard to prioritize over Contreras and Robertson. Contreras is a more proven bat than Vazquez and Robertson would fill a massive hole in the Mets bullpen. To me, it's a no-brainer.