3 Rockies trade candidates Billy Eppler should keep an eye on this year

The Colorado Rockies won 68 games last season and did virtually nothing to improve on that. The health of Kris Bryant should help, but the Rockies will likely finish in last place in the NL West in 2023. As a last place team, they should be a club the New York Mets look at as a potential trade partner at the 2023 trade deadline.

The Rockies might finish with a poor record, but they still have some decent players. Three of them in particular would fit very nicely on this Mets roster.

1) NY Mets Rockies trade target: Randal Grichuk

The Mets have two players who can get the DH at-bats against left-handed pitching. First, there's Darin Ruf. We have no idea if Ruf will even make the roster after his horrific 2022 showing with the Mets. If he does, he will have a very short leash. If Ruf doesn't perform, there's no way he lasts the entire season.

Tommy Pham was brought in as a potential DH option and can also be the fourth outfielder for the Mets. He had solid numbers against left-handed pitching, but wasn't quite as good as Randal Grichuk was. If the Mets really want a guy to put them over the top against southpaws, this is it.

Grichuk slashed .308/.333/.593 with 11 home runs and 37 RBI against southpaws in just 172 at-bats this past season. Sure, you can say Coors Field all you want, but he has an .802 OPS against southpaws in his career. He's a guy you can comfortably plug into all three outfield spots and he's just a better player at this point than Pham.

If Ruf is off the team and Pham is struggling, this is a spot that will need an upgrade. Grichuk can provide that.