Unexpected prospect drawing trade interest from the Mets

Most of the recent New York Mets rumors have had to do with what the team will look to acquire or where Dominic Smith will end up. Mike Puma of the NY Post broke the trend and gave us a surprise to add to our ongoing list of Mets rumors.

The name Thomas Szapucki has been one Mets fans have registered in their minds for years. However, in his brief big league appearances, he never did all that much. Other clubs are taking notice of the 26-year-old pitcher who has a left arm that can strike batters out.

Sometimes, those describers are all someone needs to have a big league job.

Mets rumors: Thomas Szapucki has become a chip to trade

We should take this as a positive to see Szapucki’s name headline any Mets rumors. The club should definitely move on from him. He has only two big league appearances but both were rough. The team may have wisely avoided shifting him into a relief role. Now, they could have a trade chip at their disposal.

It’s hard to even call Szapucki a prospect at this point because of his age and how much his stock has fallen. That’s not to say his career is over. Interest in the lefty hurler could give him an opportunity to work out some kinks on a team with a little more patience for losing. Unfortunately for Szapucki, the Mets aren’t it right now.

A team like the Washington Nationals would definitely have availability to give Szapucki big league innings in a starting or relief role. With the Mets already targeting Josh Bell, it feels like a no-brainer to swap Szapucki and someone else for him.

Even some of the lesser trade candidates the Mets could seek would be worth surrendering Szapucki to land. The organization had no plans of letting Tylor Megill or David Peterson start games this season in anything more than a replacement role. Szapucki was already far down the list of starting pitcher options for them to consider. Turning him into a trade chip right now couldn’t be a better result for the Mets.