NY Mets Scapegoats: 1 player to release, 1 to trade for pennies, 1 to keep around

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A few weeks ago Zach Rotman took a look at some of the New York Mets scapegoats and decided who should get fired, who should have the heat turned up on his seat, and who deserved more patience. As much as we’d all like to make a change in the front office or with the coaching staff, responsibility falls on the players.

There are plenty of scapegoats on the actual roster. Their season hasn’t gone so well and several are candidates to be released, traded, or stick around to ride this one out.

Exclusively using those players having a bad year and those within the realm of possibly ending the year on a different team, here’s one player the team should release, one they should trade for anything at all, and one worth keeping around.

NY Mets scapegoat to release: Daniel Vogelbach

How much trade value does Daniel Vogelbach even have at this point? He hasn’t meshed well with the Mets. His only chance at consistent big league at-bats would’ve been if he was, at the very least, smashing right-handed pitchers sometimes or even drawing a whole lot of walks.

Neither is true for Vogelbach. He doesn’t hit home runs. He hasn’t been walking. When he reaches base late, the Mets need a pinch runner. When the opposing team brings in a lefty out of the bullpen, they need to burn a pinch hitter.

Hopping in the DeLorean to April, Vogelbach was still a lovable member of the Mets with some question marks. Guys like Tommy Pham and Eduardo Escobar were the ones fans wanted to get rid of. It’s amazing how much things have changed. Pham played his way into the starting lineup. Escobar got better in a reduced role only to get traded to the Los Angeles Angels in late June.

It’s Vogelbach who has drawn the ire of fans the longest without any prolonged period of redemption. It’s time to cut him loose.

NY Mets scapegoat to trade for pennies: Carlos Carrasco

Carlos Carrasco may have a 5.94 ERA in what has been a somewhat overlooked poor season for the veteran righty. Struggles from Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander early on helped Carrasco fly under the radar as someone worth blaming for the team’s ugly beginning to 2023. He has made 11 starts and with a 6.46 FIP it means he might actually be worse than the ERA says.

The market for a pitcher like Carrasco will be limited. The Mets would have to eat a part of his $14 million contract regardless of what they’re asking for in return. It could be worth it, though. Taking a flier on a prospect for only the cost of some money makes sense. Some team, somewhere could see how well Carrasco performed last year and convince themselves he could be an upgrade over their current fifth starter.

Carrasco is hardly the biggest culprit when it comes to the reason for why the Mets are fighting to get back to .500. He was the expected fifth starter for this staff. Even with this in mind, he has been a massive underperformer the team should trade even if all they get back in return are pennies.

The Mets should have some feelers out as soon as possible and take the first halfway decent offer they get.

NY Mets scapegoat to keep around: Starling Marte

Starling Marte is the Mets scapegoat to keep. He has been incredibly frustrating. And while there could be a market for him, like the proposed trade which would send him to the New York Yankees for Estevan Florial, Marte still does some things well enough to not give up just yet.

Marte’s speed is there and we may not see it fully disappear through the end of his contract because of MLB rule changes which should keep his stolen base totals high. If Marte truly is on as much of a decline as it looks, it’s understandable why some may choose to get rid of him ASAP.

Marte does bring something to the table if all he becomes is a singles hitter with speed. The difficulty here is the Mets have a whole lot of players fitting this description with Marte’s distinction being his base-running abilities.

Flashes of his former self are still present and as “in the red” as his year has been, trading Marte for a lesser player and likely eating a part of his salary feels anti-Steve Cohen. Perhaps an eventual move to the ninth spot in the order is where Marte eventually lands as youngsters like Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty prove themselves to be more reliable. For now, Marte is worth keeping around.

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