Just Mets

Each week throughout the offseason, JustMets.net’s Michael Baron and Rich MacLeod will answer #BaronTrades sent in by fans. These are free agency/trade proposals that can range from practical to savvy to extreme to say the least.

John Benedict: Mets sign Ben Zobrist, Justin Upton.

So far this offseason–and earlier during the 2015 season as well–the Mets have been linked to Zobrist often, and for good reason. While he is getting up their in age at 34 years old, Zobrist brings a solid approach at the plate, productive bat and versatility to play almost any position.

With the team likely letting Daniel Murphy walk in free agency, there’s a hole to fill at second base, and it’s not unrealistic to think that Zobrist could fill that.

It is unrealistic, however, to think that the Mets would sign Justin Upton in free agency. Even coming off of a bit of a down year by his standards, Upton still has plenty of value and will certainly command a contract well over $100M on the open market and, at this point, I’m not sure the Mets are looking to spend that kind of money on a player of his ilk.

It’s also worth noting that if the Mets were to sign Upton, they would be forfeiting their first round draft pick for the second consecutive season–something I highly doubt they’re interested in doing.

Another thing worth mentioning: Upton can’t play center field, so unless you move Granderson to center field, you’ve got nowhere to put him.

Disco Ball: Mets send Brandon Nimmo, Ahmed Rosario to the Reds for Zack Cozart, Billy Hamilton.

The Reds are on the brink of a full-on rebuild right now as players like Aroldis Chapman, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips all appear to be on the trading block, so it’s possible that they’re open to moving anyone at this point.

That being said, I really don’t think these are the kind of players the Mets would be interested in, nor do I think they should go after them.

Cozart, 30, is coming off a season where he played just 53 games and hasn’t had a productive season since 2013.

Overall, Cozart’s numbers are not impressive as he’s hit .245/.284/.375 with a .659 OPS in his five-year career. He doesn’t hit for power, he doesn’t get on base, he doesn’t steal bases and he strikes out a lot.

For Hamilton, it’s a lot of the same. While he is a dynamic force on the base paths–he’s stolen 126 bases in just over two seasons–he too struggles to make contact and get on base.

In his young career, Hamilton has hit just .242/.287/.330 with 64 total walks and a .617 OPS.

Scott: Mets acquire Starlin Castro, Cubs acquire Brett Gardner, Yankees acquire Jon Niese.

This all makes sense, except for just one minor detail…

Why the heck would the Yankees want Jon Niese?

Corné Hogeveen: Mets send Rafael Montero, Gavin Cecchini to the Red Sox for Jackie Bradley Jr.

Bradley Jr. has come up a lot in trade rumors so far this offseason, and he’s an interesting piece, but this just isn’t getting it done.

Montero is completely unproven past Triple-A, has yet to see any success at the major league level and hasn’t appeared on a baseball field since April 28th of this past season.

Cecchini is not all that far away from being major league ready to play shortstop or second base, but with Boston having Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia manning those spots for the unforeseen future, I’m not sure they’d have much interest.

The Red Sox still seem to be high on Bradley Jr., despite his .213/.290/.249 career slash line, so it would take a much better package than this to get them to move him.

Curt: Mets trade Lucas Duda, re-sign Daniel Murphy to play first, have Dilson Herrera play second.

This isn’t a good idea.

The Mets aren’t exactly a team with a lot of power, and with Yoenis Cespedes likely going elsewhere in free agency, that’s going to dip even more.

At this point, this team cannot afford to trade away Duda’s power if they’re not going to adequately replace it, and while Murphy showed off prolific power by hitting seven home runs in this year’s postseason, he’s never hit more than 14 home runs in a single season. He’s not that kind of guy.

I like Dilson Herrera-as do the Mets–but he’s still just 22 years old and has yet to show that he’s able to play second base every day at the major league level.

Dan Levenstein: Mets acquire Jurickson Profar, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, Adam Jones, Drew Storen, George Springer, Jonathan Singleton, Brett Gardner. Rangers acquire Zack Wheeler. Red Sox acquire Matt Harvey, Ahmed Rosario, Wilmer Flores. Indians acquire Matt Harvey, Lucas Duda. Orioles acquire Matt Harvey, Brandon Nimmo, Juan Lagares. Nationals acquire Kevin Plawecki. Astros acquire Matt Harvey. Yankees acquire Jon Niese, Brandon Nimmo, Matt Bowman.

Wow…

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