Last offseason, the New York Mets made a trade with their cross-town rivals, acquiring left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez, in exchange for right-handed reliever Miguel Castro. The trade ended up failing to benefit either side in 2022.
With the Mets looking to fill their needs, as a chaotic offseason continues, there's a team that plays in the same city that just might have exactly what they're looking for.
Mets and Yankees should help each other out by completing a 4-player trade
It has already been a very eventful offseason for both New York squads. The Yankees just wrapped up a stressful time of waiting for an answer from Aaron Judge by signing the reigning American League MVP to a 9-year $360 million deal.
On the other side of town, the Mets have been one of the most active teams in the free agent market. Signings of Justin Verlander, Brandon Nimmo Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, and David Robertson have many believing that the Amazins will be right back in the conversation of World Series contenders in 2023. While I don't disagree, there are still some small tweaks the team can make. The same applies for the Bronx Bombers.
Despite winning 101 games in the regular season, two issues the Mets had last season was health of the starting rotation and a bullpen good enough to help out Edwin Diaz and Adam Ottavino. Both have already made positive changes this winter, but if we learned anything from a season ago, it's that you can never have enough. Yankees' lefty reliever Wandy Peralta finished 2022 with a 2.72 ERA while striking out 47 hitters in 56.1 innings pitched. He, along with Yanks' 24 year old starting pitcher Luis Gil, could provide the Mets the depth that they are looking for.
As excited as we all are for the dynamic duo of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, we must keep in mind that neither is getting any younger. In 2021, Gil started six games for the Yanks and had a 3.07 ERA. It could be really beneficial for the Mets to have someone like Gil available to fill a spot in the rotation if needed and a bullpen that consists of Diaz, Robertson, and Peralta at the back end could be lethal.
As for the Yankees, in 2022, Josh Donaldson had one of the worst years of his career. The former MVP hit just .222 while only hitting 15 home runs. Safe to say, the Yankees could use a young corner infielder with a bunch of potential. They also just lost starting pitcher Jameson Taillon to free agency, as the 31 year old just recently signed a 4-year $68 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. This means the Yankees also need some depth at starting pitching behind Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, and Luis Severino. Enter Mark Vientos and Carlos Carrasco.
Now yes I am aware that the Yankees are interested in signing free agent Carlos Rodon. That, though, shouldn't have any effect on this trade. Even if Rodon goes to the Bronx, that would set up Frankie Montas to be the 5th starter. For those who forgot, Montas, during his time with the Yankees, pitched a 6.35 ERA, which is way worse than Carrasco's 3.97 earned run average last year with the Mets.
In a time when this rivalry seems to be hitting a new level, with both sitting at the top of the payroll rankings, the two members of the Subway Series could find a way to make each other even better.