6 more Athletics players we could see playing in Queens in 2022

The New York Mets have already added two players from the 2021 Oakland Athletics. Free agent outfielders Mark Canha and Starling Marte both signed with the team on the same exact day to help revamp the lineup.

Both teams are certainly not done yet with their respective changes. The Mets have a few more additions to make while the Athletics will focus their attention on subtractions. They are one of this winter’s biggest sellers. Meanwhile, the Mets are one of the biggest buyers.

Through trades and free agency, the Mets could possibly add at least one more player from Oakland before Opening Day. They won’t have them all but even two could help turn the Mets into a vastly different club.

Matt Chapman remains someone the Mets should consider for third base

Matt Chapman has been on the radar of Mets fans for what feels like a long time. His mix of power and Gold Glove defense combine well.

Naturally, when someone has the abilities Chapman does, there are going to be other suitors. In New York alone, the Yankees have been speculated about as a potential landing spot in a trade for Chapman. Any other team out there with a need at third base could join the discussion as well.

The Mets aren’t in any dire need for Chapman at the moment. However, with Jeff McNeil’s trade status beginning to buzz, it makes it a little more likely. We had penciled in McNeil as the starting second baseman and newcomer Eduardo Escobar at third base. If McNeil is traded, the Mets could always move Escobar to second base and add Chapman. Maybe it all happens in a single deal.

I don’t think Chapman will end up with the Mets because of the high demand for his services. What’s more, the Mets already have two highly-touted third base prospects. Unless they can swindle the A’s, Chapman will remain a dream.

Free agent reliever Andrew Chafin is a must for the Mets

If there’s one player from the Athletics I would most want to see the Mets add, and think they have a great shot to do it, it’s free agent reliever Andrew Chafin. Maybe I’m partial to the facial hair. I feel like instead of a bullpen cart he would ride out to the mound on one of those tall old-timey bikes.

Chafin is coming off of a 1.83 ERA season with the Chicago Cubs and Athletics. Approaching his age 32 season, he’s the kind of lefty reliever you can sign to a multi-year contract and not worry too much about age catching up with him.

Most of his career was spent with the Arizona Diamondbacks quietly putting together solid years for them from 2014-2019. It really wasn’t until last year when he began to get noticed a little more around the league when his time in Chicago showed us all how awesome he can truly be.

The Mets have a need for a lefty reliever or two. Having already lost Aaron Loup to the Los Angeles Angels, the search for their next bullpen southpaw is underway.

Chafin is a free agent so there’s no calling up the front office in Oakland to try and get a deal done. He’s available to the highest bidder with the best opportunity. Seeing as the Mets are going full force into next season, I can’t see what else a team can offer Chafin that they cannot.

Budding star pitcher Frankie Montas is on the rise

Turning our attention to the Mets starting rotation for a few moments, nobody was better for the Athletics last year than Frankie Montas. In his age 28 season, Montas finished sixth in the Cy Young vote. He was 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA and league-leading 32 games started.

Traded three times already in his career, Montas has been thought of for years as a potential top-of-the-rotation arm. He pitched well in 2018 and 2019 during limited action and finally put together his first 100+ inning season in 2021.

Montas might be a little tricky to land. One of the more affordable and controllable pitchers the Athletics have, I suspect hauling him in would be a bit more expensive than some other names on this list. The Athletics are only trading away players to save money. Right now, Montas isn’t that big of a burden on their payroll.

This doesn’t mean it’s impossible and we should completely write off the Mets as a landing destination for him. It could make far more sense for the Mets to buy a bigger price to get a guy they can have for a few more seasons rather than a one-year rental. Montas may not have too extensive of a resume to show us exactly what lies ahead. This won’t stop teams from inquiring about what it would take to put him in their locker room.

Chris Bassitt bloomed late in Oakland and could now be on the move

If you weren’t familiar with Chris Bassitt until last season or you’re even seeing his name for the first time, don’t sweat it. He wasn’t the young prized starting pitcher others on this list were at one point for the Athletics. He was a 16th round draft pick by the Chicago White Sox that the Athletics added in a trade several years ago.

Against the odds, Bassitt has turned into a pretty stellar starting pitcher. Lifetime, including a few games with the White Sox, he is 31-25 with a 3.47 ERA. The last two seasons have been especially productive. In the shortened 2020 season, Bassitt managed to go 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA in 11 starts. This past year, in 27 starts, Bassitt was 12-4 with a 3.15 ERA. He would go on to finish tenth in the Cy Young vote after an eighth-place finish the season prior.

Like Manaea, Bassitt needs to be on the move this winter. He’s a free agent after 2022 which has him in the rental category for a team like the Mets that could pursue.

Bassitt is the same age as the other two Athletics players the Mets already added (Canha and Marte) which could give them 99 years of life experience if he becomes the next 33-year-old the team decides to add to the 2022 roster. Even though his last two seasons have been really good, Bassitt is a little older and not going to cost a fortune. Although I don’t think the Mets would do it, a blockbuster move with both Manaea and Bassitt in it could completely change a team’s starting rotation.

Finally, the Mets should take a look at the other lefty reliever in free agency, Jake Diekman

There is no shortage of possible Athletics players for the Mets to consider. A few other arms are possibilities but I’m going to stop with this final piece, free agent lefty Jake Diekman.

Diekman has been around for a decade now, first cutting his teeth with the Philadelphia Phillies. He has bounced around with several teams since, having both good and bad seasons along the way. Diekman was amazing for the Athletics in 21.1 innings back in 2020, going 2-0 with a 0.42 ERA. Last year, in 60.2 innings, he was 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA.

Diekman is approaching his age 35 season so a one-year deal with him could make sense for the Mets. In fact, I wouldn’t be opposed to signing Chafin to a two or three-year contract and adding Diekman as the secondary lefty for a single season. It would make for a great gluttony of former Athletics on the roster.

With Diekman, the concern should be whether or not the twilight of his career has turned to dusk. One thing to like about him is how incredibly consistent he has been throughout his career at striking batters out. An average of 11.5 per nine innings dating back to 2012, he has actually performed better versus righties (.212/.323/.344 slash line) than against lefties (.232/.342/.310 slash line). The same was true last season with a .200/.289/.421 slash line versus righties and .229/.379/.337 versus lefties. Thanks to the three-batter-minimum law, we won’t have to ever look at him as a lefty specialist anyway.

The Athletics have a lot of guys to trade and several more in free agency to get new contracts from different teams. The Mets already have two. Which one is next?