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.
2) The Mets need a high-impact arm in the bullpen and Liam Hendriks will be available soon
Liam Hendriks has established himself as one of the best closers in the league in recent years. Hendriks has not seen action this 2023 after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the body's lymphatic system.
Hendriks was able to overcome the most difficult stage of this disease and reported that he is free of cancer. Quickly, he joined en route for his rehab assignments and will soon be debuting with the big team.
Before his illness, Hendriks was already part of the trade rumors since last season. This is due to the value he has in the market, but also to the type of contract he carries with it. The White Sox closer is under contract for this season with a club option for 2024.
This club option is quite complicated in the case of the White Sox since it has a value and buyout of 15 million, which is high considering that it is not known how the recent effects of cancer would be affecting their performance. Additionally, Hendriks has a limited no-trade list of five teams.
Regardless of this, Hendriks would make a significant impact in the Mets' bullpen along with David Robertson. On the financial side, Steve Cohen has shown he has no reservations if it comes to competing for the championship but the cost in terms of prospects remains to be seen, which at the moment looks not as high as last year.
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.