3 realistic NY Mets trade options who move up the wish list with Christian Scott out

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The Christian Scott injury news wasn’t what the New York Mets needed. Just as Kodai Senga is getting set to return, the curveball comes and makes adding a starting pitcher at the trade deadline a greater need. It’s not something they need to bend over backward to get. Senga can immediately replace Scott on the roster.

The problem for the Mets is their depth hasn’t looked so solid this year. In the minors, there’s Tylor Megill and Joey Lucchesi as candidates to step up for starts. Many of the pitching prospects who’ve yet to debut have struggled in Triple-A and aren’t necessarily solutions.

Scott was always going to get shut down at some point this year. This accelerates the loss, maybe even beyond 2024. Regardless of how long he’ll be out, the Mets need to search high and low for some starting pitching options. A six-man rotation remains likely. These three trade options have suddenly shot up the wish list.

3) Michael Lorenzen

Michael Lorenzen is having a pretty good year for the Texas Rangers who look more like sellers than buyers this summer. An impressive pitching staff with several players on expiring contracts, Lorenzen is someone they can part ways with prior to the trade deadline.

Lorenzen is 5-5 with a 3.53 ERA in 17 starts. An experienced reliever as well, he has actually become a much better starter than he was when he last pitched in relief for a full season back in 2021.

He makes sense for the Mets as a viable Scott replacement because he won’t add much to the payroll and can fall in the back of the line of the rotation. Unlike some of the bigger names possibly available over the next week, he’s a smaller difference-maker albeit important piece many contenders should want to add.

If you’re one to scoreboard watch, hope the Rangers lose a lot in the coming days. In addition to Lorenzen, they have Andrew Heaney who’d be a nice addition for the Mets rotation plus a whole bunch of relievers including David Robertson.

2) Trevor Williams

Former Mets pitcher Trevor Williams has been sidelined since the end of May. Prior to the injury, he was having one of the best years of any starting pitcher. At 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA in 11 starts, he was embarking on what should’ve been a career year.

Still working his way back from a right flexor muscle strain, he won’t have an immediate impact on the Mets. Where have we heard this before? If you remember when he first joined the Mets in 2021, Williams was sent to the minors. When recalled, he worked as a starter and reliever. He had a 3.06 ERA in 32.1 innings. The next season when he logged 9 starts and 21 relief appearances, Williams impressed with a 3.21 ERA in 89.2 innings.

As long as he’s all clear and healthy, Williams is almost perfect for what the Mets could use. Success as a reliever in the past could have them tossing him into the bullpen at times if the need for a sixth starter is unnecessary. He probably wouldn’t like this ahead of another trip into free agency. He’d still get plenty of chances to start.

Of course, with Williams not yet set to return from the IL before the trade deadline, the Mets would be acquiring an injured player. This should lower the asking price by the Washington Nationals at least a little bit. It’s important to have some sort of a timetable of knowledge as to when they could get him back to make this trade. The last thing the Mets will want to do is invest any time, effort, or a roster spot into a player who ends up never suiting up for them.

1) Erick Fedde

Erick Fedde is a rare one. Having a superb season with an extra year of control and at a reasonable rate of $7.5 million next year, he’s someone the Mets were linked to in the offseason and continues to be an option at this year’s trade deadline. His exact cost is a little complicated because both to the benefit of the Chicago White Sox and teams like the Mets looking for options beyond this year.

While much of the attention on the White Sox has fallen on breakout star Garrett Crochet, Fedde shouldn’t get overlooked. Now 7-3 with a 2.98 ERA in 20 starts, the Mets would be buying a guy who’d actually be a candidate to move closer to the front of the rotation than the back.

The benefits of trading for a starting pitcher were present even before the Mets lost Scott. In particular, adding someone on an attractive contract for next year would give them the head start not many teams have. This is a team that’ll need to rebuild a large portion of their rotation in 2025. Considering they may now not have Scott available and many of their other young arms haven’t done well in Syracuse, making an offer to the White Sox for Fedde has become more important.

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