3 righties the Mets should shop for a lefty reliever upgrade

Another option for the Mets is to trade Drew Smith for a lefty in a similar spot

I don’t think a guy like Trevor May or Seth Lugo is on the trade block. Even though they are also free agents after this season, you have to hold onto those proven veterans. They are going to be huge for the Mets in getting the ball to Edwin Diaz.

Drew Smith, on the other hand, is a guy we’re still waiting to stay healthy for a full season. He is one of the younger relievers on the staff and a promising one, too. About to enter his first year of arbitration eligibility, he’s a low-cost pitcher embarking on his age 28 season.

Smith should yield a far better return than Castro. Before you fret, remember, we’re looking for a lefty reliever of similar value. Someone else with at least two years of control would be ideal. One of the teams looking to dump salary would be a good match. Unfortunately, many of them aren’t very good in the first place. They don’t have a lefty to even deal.

Boston Red Sox reliever recently caught my eye as a name to consider. Not much older than Smith, he a pair of 40+ inning seasons with ERAs of 3.04 and 3.40. He has also averaged 11.3 strikeouts per nine in his first 102.1 innings of work. The Red Sox are a rare team that may actually have a lefty to spare in a trade. Smith for Taylor only makes sense if Boston is looking for a young righty with upside and also willing to part with a southpaw we can use those same adjectives with.

Trevor Williams’ ability to work as a starter could intrigue other teams to make a deal with the Mets

Spring training is the time of the year when pitchers get hurt like they’re a kid in the 1990s at Discovery Zone. Remember those? The scar on your knee does.

Inevitably, some major pitchers will get hurt. If they do, they’ll begin to reach for some alternative options. Could Trevor Williams be one of those pitchers?

I’m not too keen on trading Williams but thought he was worth mentioning. Expected to be the long man out of the bullpen this season, his ability to start games gives him a leg up on Castro and Smith. Would a team trade a lowly left-handed reliever to the Mets in exchange for a guy who could become their fifth starter? I think they would, but only if they had an alternative on their roster already.

That’s the biggest problem the Mets will run into when looking for a trade for a lefty. Most teams don’t have too many to spare. The quality is also not very good.

If there’s any silver lining to watch, spring training can also be a time when players unexpectedly rise up the ranks. Perhaps a team can find themselves in a pickle with more lefty reliever candidates than they realize. If so, maybe there’s a righty for a lefty deal for the Mets to make.