1 Mets prospect who should headline a trade with the Reds for bullpen help

The Cincinnati Reds have decided they won’t go to battle this year and will instead sit this one out or at least sell off a few pieces to shuffle the cards. Getting swept over the weekend has turned them from NL Wild Card contenders to sellers to some extent. Players on expiring contracts are now up for grabs and this team has a couple of candidates on the roster the New York Mets should have interest in.

From swingman Nick Martinez to Buck Farmer to Lucas Sims and currently sidelined lefty Brent Suter, there isn’t a shortage of opportunities for the Mets to improve their own roster.

In discussions with Blog Red Machine’s Drew Koch, one thing that continually seems to be of great need for the Reds is a right-handed hitting outfielder. The Mets have a guy like that in their farm system. What does Alex Ramirez do for the Reds?

Struggling Mets prospect Alex Ramirez makes sense in a swap for a Reds reliever

Ramirez started off this season so well and has since fallen back down closer to what he did in 2023. He’s hitting .232/.315/.336 in 354 plate appearances. It’s only slightly better than the .221/.310/.317 from last year in High-A.

Not long ago, Ramirez was a high-ranking Mets prospect and not just because the farm system stunk. His breakout 2022 campaign included a .281/.346/.436 slash line with 11 home runs and 21 stolen bases. He had some awesome tools and looked like the future center fielder in Flushing.

Another sub-.700 OPS season possibly on the way, Ramirez no longer seems like someone the Mets can have any faith in moving forward. The addition of Jett Williams and Luisangel Acuna to the farm system with one of them possibly as a center fielder (or even Drew Gilbert) makes Ramirez almost irrelevant. He has athleticism but that only takes a player so far.

Already on the 40-man roster out of necessity to keep him free from the Rule 5 Draft, Ramirez had the first of his minor league options exhausted this year. By the looks of it, the Mets would have to eat another at the start of 2025 if he was to remain with the ball club.

Ramirez isn’t a huge prospect any longer for the Mets which fits well at the trade deadline when it comes to a trade involving a rental pitcher. Conveniently, the Reds have a couple and the Mets have a player who should be of some interest to them.

Farmer and Sims are both on expiring contracts with Martinez and Suter having player and team options respectively. Martinez costs quite a bit more and has been far better out of the bullpen which is why he’d be a fit for the Mets. The others are a bit more self-explanatory.

Ramirez’s trade value isn’t getting any better. Two months of a reliever having a decent year might be the best they can do with him. The alternative is to wait until the offseason and package him in a deal. Even then, what kind of value will he possess?