3 trades the Mets should immediately make to replace Joely Rodriguez

2) NY Mets trade to replace Joely Rodriguez on the roster: A.J. Puk

The Oakland Athletics continue to sell pieces and could be tempted to deal lefty reliever A.J. Puk. At 27 with a few years of control left, he’s an intriguing chip for the Mets to bite into at the trade deadline because of how long they get to keep him. Chafin is a guy they can have for one or two years. Puk can stay around for a whole lot longer.

For this reason, he would probably cost more than the price tag on Chafin even if he is less experienced. He won’t be arbitration eligible until 2024 so he’ll continue to get minimal pay until then.

Luckily, the Mets do have an “in” with the Athletics. Sandy Alderson is about as close to them as he is to the Mets. It was one of the reasons why we can assume Chris Bassitt ended up in Flushing instead of somewhere else or why it was him they targeted in the first place.

Through his first 39.2 innings of work, Puk is 2-1 with a 2.27 ERA. Important from a standpoint of facing lots of lefties, he has held them to a .175/.266/.281 slash line in 65 plate appearances.

Puk shouldn’t, however, be the lone lefty the Mets add. He’s just the guy Billy Eppler should get out right now with the plan of pairing him with Chafin or maybe this other very available southpaw.