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Recently, Sandy Alderson shot down any public speculation they could trade Jon Niese, especially now that the club will be without Steven Matz for the foreseeable future.

Niese has certainly showed his value to Alderson and the rest of the club, especially on Sunday when he shutout the class of the league in the St. Louis Cardinals on a walk and five hits in 7 2/3 innings, and posting a 2.28 ERA in his last eight starts.

But while Mike Puma of the New York Post says the club remains reluctant to trade Niese, the Mets could use Niese as a, “vehicle” to acquire offense before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

Instead, Puma says the Mets would prefer to move some of their top prospects to acquire offense, such as Brandon Nimmo, Gavin Cecchini, or Michael Fulmer.

Cafardo says the Mets are hopeful they can acquire at least one bat, including a shortstop, although Sandy Alderson said last month it was unlikely the club would make more than one move this summer.

The Mets also must consider upgrading their bench, although acquiring one or two primary bats presumably strengthens that area, as players starting today suddenly become part-time players. However, if Michael Cuddyer ultimately lands on the disabled list, their ability to do that becomes limited.

As for Niese, he may be more valuable to the Mets on their roster rather than off of it, especially with other top shelf options such as Cole Hamels and Johnny Cueto very much available in trade.

Besides, if they move Niese, they’re left with Carlos Torres, Logan Verrett, or Dillon Gee as their fifth starter now, with one of them serving as the spot starter when and if Matz returns. So the a Mets need to be careful they’re not creating a major hole by filling another, as any of these options present a tremendous drop off in the quality of their starting pitching.

That’s not to say the Mets shouldn’t consider dealing Niese should the right opportunity presents itself. He’s pitching well at the right time and his value certainly isn’t diminishing with his recent performance.

Of course, this wouldn’t be such a difficult situation if Gee had pitched better or Rafael Montero had stayed healthy this season.

Justin Upton, Jean Segura, Aramis Ramirez, Ben Zobrist, and Gerardo Parra are among the position players the Mets have been linked to and shown interest in this summer.