Just Mets

With the Mets having secured Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson and Tyler Clippard ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the Mets are continuing their search for an outfielder to add to their equation.

People in the Mets organization have liked Brewers OF Gerardo Parra for a number of seasons. With his pending free agency, the Brewers have made him available, and the both the Mets and Brewers were in discussions as late as last week about a trade for the former Gold Glover, reports Marc Carig of Newsday.

But a deal could not be agreed to before the Mets had to make the difficult decision to call up Michael Conforto, as they needed to put Michael Cuddyer on the disabled list.

But their interest apparently hasn’t gone away.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports says the Mets remain interested in acquiring Parra this week.

But Parra has a competitive market right now, according to Heyman. The Mets, Orioles, Angels, and a, “mystery team” are in on Parra at the present time.

It’s not clear what the price tag might ultimately be for a player of Parra’s ilk, but presumably less than that for someone like Justin Upton or Carlos Gomez, although if demand continues to rise, clubs might find themselves in a position to be overpaying for the pending free agent. 

It seems the Mets are more than willing to part with former first-round selection Brandon Nimmo in the right deal, and Carig has previously reported the Mets could also be willing to move Gavin Cecchini and Michael Fulmer to help solidify their starving offense.

Parra is an outstanding fit for the Mets right now. While the advanced metrics suggest Parra has struggled defensively, he is a two-time Gold Glove Award winning outfielder who would unquestionably upgrade their outfield defense along with providing an immediate boost to their offense. His splits have been solid this year, so the club would not have to consider a platoon with Parra.

Parra can be a free agent at the end of the season, and if he’s traded, the Mets will be unable to make him a qualifying offer. Of course, he should be considered a longer-term option for the Mets given his age and skill set, so trading for and pursuing a new contract with Parra should be in consideration going forward.

Speaking of Gomez, Heyman says he could be retained by the Brewers. The Mets have been linked to Gomez at times over the last month, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt tweeted earlier on Monday that they could be looking to make a big move to acquire Gomez.

Gomez, 29, is hitting .266/.334/.431 with 19 doubles, eight home runs, 42 RBI and 41 runs scored with a .765 OPS with the Brewers this season and is under contract for 2016.