Price for J.D. Martinez is high, not out of reach

Get ready for a day of New York Mets rumors, trade talk, speculation, and everything else that was supposed to end on July 31 but carries over to August 2 this year. We hope you used a sick day to follow it all.

On Sunday night, we got some new Mets rumors from Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated. According to what he has heard, the asking price from the Boston Red Sox for J.D. Martinez is pretty high at the moment.

It’s high but is it too out of reach for the Mets? Absolutely not.

Mets rumors: A low-ball offer to the Red Sox that meets the asking price

Here’s a low-ball offer the Mets can make that would meet the asking price.

The Mets gain J.D. Martinez in the deal while giving up Ronny Mauricio—arguably their most expendable top five prospect—plus Dominic Smith and a lower-level prospect the Red Sox are taking a chance on. It doesn’t sound so bad. Smith is even more expendable than Mauricio. At least Mauricio is more pliable and could learn to play a different position at this point of his career.

From these Mets rumors Ragazzo shared, we don’t see New York acquire Christian Vazquez. It would be interesting to see what the Red Sox are hoping to land for him. The catcher market is always a strange one at the deadline. The Mets, Houston Astros, and Tampa Bay Rays are probably the three teams in most need of an addition. There’s also Willson Contreras sitting out there to fill this need.

There aren’t too many other ways for the Mets to meet these reported demands of the Red Sox without sacrificing a whole lot. From the MLB roster, only J.D. Davis would make sense. If they’re acquiring Martinez, he is no longer needed.

What might cause some Mets fans to wave their hands to stop this kind of trade is the fact that Martinez is merely a rental. So are many of the other realistic trade candidates appearing in Mets rumors over the last few weeks.

Some sort of package involving Ronny Mauricio or Mark Vientos and Dominic Smith or J.D. Davis is actually quite appealing. Mauricio is already blocked at shortstop with Vientos having competition at third base with fellow prospect Brett Baty and unlikely to usurp first base from Pete Alonso. He could simply be next in line to be the team’s new DH.

With Smith and Davis, it’s a whole lot of “been there, done that.” We know what they are. If the Mets continue with their current trade deadline trend, we shouldn’t be surprised if they deal either or both away before the trade deadline passes.