The New York Mets have been as active as anyone could've possibly expected them to be this offseason. Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, Jose Quintana, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson, CARLOS CORREA. The Mets have improved a team that won 101 games with zero regard for how much money they spend. Mets rumors are hot and heavy right now.
Even after signing Correa to a twelve-year deal, the Mets are looking to do more. The bullpen is an area they want to address and if the Liam Hendriks Mets rumors are accurate, it'll be hard to top that.
Hendriks is one of the best relievers in all of baseball and the White Sox are reportedly looking to deal him. Vincent Parise of Southside Showdown, the White Sox page on FanSided, came up with three insane trades that'd land Hendriks in Queens.
Mets rumors: The perfect trade to acquire Liam Hendriks, if the White Sox agree
In this mock trade, the Mets would be sending Eduardo Escobar and James McCann to the White Sox in exchange for Hendriks. No prospects, no money. That's the trade.
If Billy Eppler somehow pulled this off, you might as well give him Executive of the Year honors right now. A premier closer for an average third baseman and one of, if not the worst starting catcher in baseball on a horrific contract? Sign me up!
Why the White Sox would want to trade Hendriks is simple. Money. Hendriks is owed $29 million dollars over the next two seasons. That's not cheap for a reliever but for nowadays that's very reasonable. The Steve Cohen Mets would have no problem taking that money on.
Escobar actually could be a piece the Sox would want. He's a switch hitter who is primarily a third baseman but has a ton of experience at second base. The White Sox don't really have a second baseman right now, so Escobar joining the fold would be a solid addition.
He's making $9.5 million dollars this season with a $9 million dollar club option for 2024. Definitely not bad.
Where this deal falls apart is the McCann addition. McCann has two years left on his deal for $12 million dollars annually. That's just slightly less than Hendriks, and if you include Escobar they wouldn't even be shedding payroll, they'd be adding.
Even if the Mets ate all of the McCann money the White Sox have Yasmani Grandal to catch for them. I get that McCann was good in the shortened 2020 season as a platoon player, but does he really have any value?
Escobar could be an intriguing piece in a Hendriks trade, I just don't see why they'd want McCann at all. If the Mets threw in a prospect with Escobar maybe we'd get somewhere. If Billy Eppler somehow got these latest Mets rumors to become reality, I don't even know what I'd say.