Who says "no" to this proposed Mets-Yankees trade involving Starling Marte?

New York Mets trade rumors are landing everywhere, even in the not-so-distant borough of The Bronx. The Athletic (subscription required) proposed a potential deal between the Mets and New York Yankees in the wake of uncertainty about Aaron Judge’s health.

The Mets would send Marte to the Yankees in exchange for Estevan Florial. It’s a unique deal to consider. Marte isn’t having a particularly good year and has another two and a half years left on his deal. Florial, meanwhile, seems to have no future at all with the Yankees yet he went into Sunday with 19 home runs and a 1.004 OPS.

Marte is a 2022 All-Star struggling to find his footing on the 2023 Mets. Florial is a fading prospect actually performing well on the farm this year. Who would win the trade?

Mets rumors: The Yankees win this trade proposal

It’s pretty easy to declare the winner here. The Yankees get better now, even with Marte continuing down the path he’s currently on. The Yankees could use a speedy outfielder who isn’t all-or-nothing. It’s not a perfect replacement for Judge yet a strong enough addition to help keep the offense going. 

The Yankees give up a prospect they have no real use for who happens to own a .185/.302/.278 slash line in 63 career plate appearances in the major leagues. Florial is a change-of-scenery candidate yet not such an ideal fit for the Mets.

The trade would open up right field and allow Florial to immediately become a starter somewhere in the outfield. This isn’t so terrible but what it does is immediately set the team into a bit of a retool mode. Unless they’ve conceded that Marte was the wrong addition for them, trading him seems like an immediate setback for the direction of this franchise.

Where these Mets rumors do make sense

If the Mets undergo a much more major sell-off, parting with Marte is a bit more acceptable. It’s tough to imagine they do try to lose as many games as possible unless Billy Eppler has some sort of a pinky promise with Steve Cohen that his job is safe. We saw how Brodie Van Wagenen behaved during his two years with the Mets. Even when they had little chance of making the 2020 postseason, he bought at the trade deadline. Thankfully, he didn’t sell the farm.

This is an easy yes for the Yankees who wouldn’t even need to drive to the airport to pick up Marte. For the Mets, it’s a grit-your-teeth kind of a trade. Florial is having a great year in Triple-A. Unless they’re willing to also accept the 2024 season may be about building, it’s better to proceed with some caution.