What a trade with the Tigers involving Eduardo Escobar could include

Some unexpected New York Mets rumors to keep an eye out for brings us to the Detroit Tigers. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic took a look at the Tigers and sees how Eduardo Escobar could be a match for them in a trade.

Once the Carlos Correa saga is completed, it’s believed the Mets could make a trade or two. Escobar has been speculated about as a potential trade option since the team came to an agreement with Correa. Do they keep him for depth or move him for something else?

The Tigers are a curious landing spot for Escobar. They do have the need at third base, however, he is an aging veteran and they did very little this offseason to improve themselves.

From a Mets perspective, trading him to the Tigers has many immediately believing it could be for an arm. They had one of the league’s better bullpens last year. Some of the guys who didn’t reach free agency would be welcomed into the Mets rumors discussion. What kind of trade could we expect the two clubs to make?

Mets rumors: What could a trade with the Tigers involving Eduardo Escobar include?

In a one-for-one deal, the Tigers might not give up much more than someone like Tyler Alexander. The lefty pitcher has worked as a starter and reliever in each of his four seasons. Last season he made 17 starts and another 10 relief appearances for Detroit. There’s not all that much exciting about him. The Mets seem to have enough other options within the organization already. I’m not so sure the Mets become a better team with this kind of trade.

Aiming a bit higher, the Tigers have two relieves fans will prefer to see headline any ongoing Mets rumors about a potential trade with Detroit. Lefty Gregory Soto and righty Alex Lange are the pair. Each has several years of control left. The Tigers have no real urgency to trade either. They’d also need more than Escobar in return. Let’s find a prospect.

How big of a prospect would the Mets have to surrender for one of these two arms? Immediately, thoughts of whether Mark Vientos or Ronny Mauricio are worth it should enter our minds.

Then comes the second thought. Why would the Tigers give up either controllable young reliever right now while also acquiring Escobar? If they deal them away for prospects, it makes a bit more sense. The addition of Escobar is to actually try and compete.

The Tigers have a few other relievers to look at. They do through right-handed, but that’s not a serious issue. Jason Foley, Will Vest, and Garrett Hill are names to look at. None had especially awesome years in 2022. The Mets would target one of them purely for a controllable arm to use now and for a few more years to come.

Is it worth trading Escobar to land one of those players? Free agency offers enough upgrades to plug into the bullpen. It’s hard to subtract Escobar from the mix when you aren’t getting something useful back. Outside of a plan to reduce payroll, it’s hard to find a match in Detroit without the Mets going for Soto or Lange and including a pretty good prospect.