3 White Sox players the Mets should already start scouting for a trade

The New York Mets need pitching and offense. On the offensive side, the Mets have internal options that can help the team immediately. From the pitching side, however, the options within the organization are drying up fast.

The Mets' team pitching is one of the worst in the league in ERA and ranks in the top five in home runs allowed. Injuries and a lack of rotation and bullpen options make it necessary to look to the trade market where the Chicago White Sox, projected to be out of the competition, may have some targets for the Mets.

1) Trading for Lucas Giolito makes a lot of sense for the Mets

Lucas Giolito is in his final year of arbitration and contract before becoming a free agent this winter. The 28-year-old pitcher was a highly respected pitching prospect with the Washington Nationals before being traded to the Chicago White Sox in the Adam Eaton trade.

Giolito has been a reliable pitcher in his major league career. His arsenal has a good fastball of 93 mph and a slider to which the opposition batted below .160. A key aspect of Giolito's current success is his ability to induce weak contact by limiting the damage from opponents.

This 2023 the young White Sox pitcher is putting up good numbers in a team that is out of competition due to poor performance and multiple injuries. This placed Giolito, in the last year of his contract, in the trade market.

Being a rental, Lucas Giolito becomes a low-cost pitcher but he will be in wide demand. The Mets need reliable arms in an injury-risk rotation. Giolito would be a key piece in a rotation that would be lethal in the fight to reach the postseason and the world series.

3) Reynaldo Lopez could be an arm that would help out in the Mets bullpen at relatively little cost

Reynaldo Lopez has been filling the closer role for the Chicago White Sox in the absence of Liam Hendriks. Lopez hasn't been effective this year in high-leverage situations.

Lopez was another pitcher included in the Adam Eaton trade along with Lucas Giolito. In his career with the White Sox, he has been very effective but, going into the final year of his contract, Lopez has not worked to consolidate his value.

Reynaldo's main problem has been his lack of control and allowed hard-hit contact. These two aspects have significantly hurt his performance and his ERA.

However, Lopez ranked in the top 10% of the league in K% which speaks well of his ability to dominate hitters. This is because their slider has been elite this year with an ability to generate swing and misses above 50%.

Reynaldo Lopez has a lot of potential in his arsenal. With a bullpen featuring options like David Robertson, Adam Ottavino and Drew Smith, an arm like Lopez's could lighten the load on the rest of the bullpen while further consolidating the Mets' relief staff.

In the last year of his contract and with his current performance, Lopez's cost would be relatively low, being a very upside target for the Mets. We cannot forget that in 2022, Reynaldo Lopez put up good numbers with an ERA of 2.72 and a wOBA of .245, ranked in the top 7% of the league.