3 under the radar Mets trade candidates who could get moved today
Will these depth pieces get traded by the Mets today?
![Jun 25, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Dominic Leone (50)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2552,h_1435,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/3/01h6r5h6rtceecxasvj1.jpg)
New York Mets rumors today will be headlined by Justin Verlander. A few other obvious trade pieces, such as Tommy Pham and Carlos Carrasco, will make appearances as well.
We’re only 12 (less by the time you read this) hours away from the trade deadline being over with. Billy Eppler’s phone will be ringing constantly. The Mets are open for business and willing to get a little creative with their moves.
Much further down the depth chart than Verlander are these three under the radar trade chips the Mets could move on from before 6pm EST strikes. What makes them so appealing?
1) NY Mets rumors: Dominic Leone is a cheap MLB reliever teams should consider
Teams who miss out on adding bigger names to their bullpen can look at Dominic Leone as an innings eater to get them through some blowouts and occasionally string together some scoreless innings. Now 1-3 with a 4.40 ERA in 30.2 innings for the Mets, he’s a pending free agent who makes sense to trade away for anything. The market will be large yet not so powerful. He is what he is and that’s a very average pitcher on his best day.
Leone spent the first few weeks of the season in Triple-A for the Texas Rangers pitching to a 1.59 ERA in 8 appearances. Clearly a guy whose best days are behind him, the Mets took a chance and the results have been very “meh.”
In the final hours before the trade deadline, Leone is someone to pay attention to. He’ll come cheap. He’ll have upside. His 2.71 ERA from 2021-2022 with the San Francisco Giants should be convincing enough to swing a deal for this under the radar Mets trade piece.
2) NY Mets rumors: Tim Locastro is a weapon another team should want
Even cheaper to acquire than Dominic Leone is Tim Locastro. Remember him? Locastro had an awesome spring and won his way onto the Opening Day roster. An injury early on landed him on the IL. Locastro ended up in a rehab assignment until he conveniently was moved to the 60-day IL where he has been ever since.
The intention to sign Locastro was obvious for the Mets, but putting this out of options speedy outfielder on the Opening Day roster shoehorned them. Because they’ve been able to stash him on the IL for months now, Locastro is an under the radar trade piece other teams could look at as their Terrence Gore.
A pinch runner exclusive player is never the most appealing trade piece and yet we know the deal with Locastro. The MLB rule changes which have increased the number of stolen bases adds further to why we should expect the Mets to get some phone calls about Locastro.
One thing of note for Locastro is that he isn’t a pending free agent. However, because the Mets did add him to the MLB roster earlier this year, he faces being on the 26-man roster or being designated for assignment. It doesn’t make any sense for the Mets to keep him around as he’s essentially locked into a big league roster spot.
There’s no “haul” we’d expect back for Locastro. Any sort of return would be a victory because the only other outcome is the Mets lose him for nothing.
3) NY Mets rumors: Luke Voit is power depth contenders will look at
Luke Voit is on a minor league deal with the Mets which bodes well for his trade candidacy. There’s no real need to have him with the season in the tank. The young players need those extra at-bats cleared out by the departure of Mark Canha and others to follow. Voit might have become a popular player for Syracuse with his cut-off sleeves. Looking at the bigger picture, it’s far more important for the MLB Mets to swap him for anything at all.
Voit is slashing .256/.409/.624 in his first 159 trips to the plate for Syracuse. He has 13 home runs and 33 RBI. Those encouraging results hardly make up for the poor showing in his 22-game showing with the Milwaukee Brewers when he was homerless while slashing .221/.284/.265.
Any team looking for a wild card power bat to stash on the farm could do themselves a favor by adding Voit. The same way Locastro can be a valuable commodity off the bench for his speed, Voit has the potential to give big at-bats in September when rosters expand and into October if he can prove he belongs. Because teams don’t need to carry as many pitchers in the postseason, the consideration of adding the extra bat off the bench in Voit is something several GMs should have on their minds today.
He serves no real purpose for the Mets right now. If anyone pays them anything for Voit, it’s a trade to make.
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