Just Mets

Last night, Giancarlo Stanton was hit by a pitch in the ninth inning of the Marlins 7-1 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night in Miami.

This morning, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reported Stanton broke the hamate bone in his hand, will have surgery and be out until August.

So, if the Marlins had any hope of putting together a run, that became more unlikely with the game’s premier power hitter became unavailable for the next 4-6 weeks.

As such, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports opined Stanton’s injury could turn the Marlins into sellers before the July 31 trade deadline, and they could look to trade some of their veterans under short-term deals.

Players on the Marlins roster falling into that criteria include Mat Latos, the injured Michael Morse, Martin Prado, and Dan Haren.

Given their history for fire sales, they do have other assets who are under team control for the foreseeable future who the Marlins could consider moving, such as Dee Gordon, Henderson Alvarez, and Mike Dunn.

Not all of these players fit the criteria of the Mets needs, although Miami does have some pieces which could help plug short and longer term holes for the Mets in Gordon, Dunn and Prado.

Here’s a look at each of those three players…

MARTIN PRADO

Prado has bounced around in the last three years, going from the Braves in 2013 to the Diamondbacks in 2014, then to the Yankees in a mid-season trade last year before being traded in a package that included Nathan Eovaldi to the Marlins. He’s a little older than Frazier, doesn’t have as much power as Frazier and doesn’t have a lot of speed, either. But, he’s a versatile player and a capable 10-15 home run bat with an ability to play second, third and the outfield.

He’s been a quality player off the bench in his career, he knows how to handle pinch-hit duties, can hit in the leadoff spot and be a catalyst and productive at the same time, and he always seems to come up with big hits, as his numbers with runners in scoring position would indicate throughout his career.

The problem with Prado is two-fold. One, he is a Marlin and in the National League East, and it would be difficult for the Mets to trade anything which could come back and haunt them up to 19 times a year for Prado. The other problem is Prado will earn $22 million between 2015 and 2016, after which he will become a free agent (although the Yankees are paying $3 million of that). If the Mets were to ask Miami to pick up a portion of what’s owed, that will likely increase the cost in trade, which could unbalance a deal very quickly for a guy like Prado.

DEE GORDON

Gordon has been one of the great surprises in baseball in what is appearing like an absolute steal for the Marlins in their off-season trade with the Dodgers.

He is leading the league in hitting and has the most hits in baseball as well. He has triples speed which has the ability to manufacture runs all by itself, although he has a tendency to run himself into outs more often than it’s preferred. He has produced a 122 OPS+ and 3.2 WAR through the first 2 1/2 months of the season, which in the Mets case is significant because Marlins Park plays similarly to Citi Field.

In other words, the Mets know what they would be getting in Gordon, who would unquestionably bring three things to the club they simply do not have and desperately need: a bat, top-of-the-order speed, and stellar defense on the middle infield. He could slot right in at second base, making it a no-brainer to leave Daniel Murphy at third which would present a far superior defensive alignment to anything they have in-house.

Gordon just reached arbitration this winter, and he’s making $2.5 million in 2015, all of which is being paid by Los Angeles this season. He would be a superb bargain at that price, especially since he could be a tremendous get with literally no financial commitment required from New York.

Assuming Miami would consider dealing Gordon – which remains unclear – the cost in trade will be unquestionably high, as he’s under team control until 2019 and again, comes with no dollar tag in 2015. On the other hand, Gordon would be both a short and long-term player for the Mets, which could and probably should at least interest them.

But while he is not a power bat, Gordon could unquestionably transform the lineup in the leadoff spot ahead of who is already here, and help restore a ton of credibility to the Mets offense.

MIKE DUNN

Dunn has been a very weird relief pitcher for the Marlins in his career.

This year, he’s been productive against left-handed hitters, holding them down to a .196 batting average against through June 26. He’s held them to a .218 average over the course of his career, so he could go a long way towards filling that void in the Mets bullpen, considering the Mets don’t have any left-handed relievers who can get left-handed hitters out.

The problem with Dunn is he’s incredibly erratic. There are times he’s amazing, there are times he isn’t close to the strike zone and is walking people around the bases. He has shown reasonably good control to this point in the 2015 season, having walked eight batters in 25 total innings. But his career numbers (140 walks in 279 2/3 innings) suggest his walk rate will get worse over the course of the season, which defeats the purpose entirely.

Dunn is owed about $1.4 million this year, and $3.45 million as part of a two-year deal he signed with Miami this past winter. Considering his volatility, the risk might outweigh the reward for not only the Mets, but for any team who may be interested.

The biggest problem with any of these possibilities is this is an in-division trade scenario.

History suggests that’s not so much of an issue for the Marlins. But it remains to be seen if Sandy Alderson would be willing to not only pay the in-division premium to do a deal with Miami, but whether or not he’d be willing to pay an even bigger price of possibly having to play against the players he would have to move up to 19 times a year.

Sandy Alderson said on Friday the club will not be making multiple moves, but he is prepared to overpay for the right player.

“Are we prepared to overpay? Me personally, I’m prepared to overpay. But there has to be something to overpay for,” Alderson emphatically explained on Friday.

Of the three, Gordon is by far the most attractive player the Marlins have, and could fall into the category of player Alderson spoke of on Friday. He gives the Mets a package of speed and defense they simply do not have right now. He’s under control for an extended period of time and would instantly would become the club’s lead off hitter, which would allow Terry Collins to move Curtis Granderson into the middle of the order. That move alone would deepen and extend the first half of the lineup in a way they haven’t been able to at any point this season all while making their offense more industry competitive for today’s game.

But it’s all of these same reasons which should give the Marlins tremendous leverage in any negotiation for their star lead off hitter, as well as absolutely no need to move him at this time.