WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Mets are within the nation’s capital for 3 video games with the Washington Nationals.
As of Monday morning, Juan Soto continues to be right here too.
From a sheer comfort standpoint, there’d be no higher time for Billy Eppler to pounce. Dealing for Soto would give the Mets that yet another bat they’ve been craving, and relatively than having to throw all the things right into a suitcase and sprinting to the subsequent flight (as Tyler Naquin did over the weekend to satisfy the Mets in Miami), Soto may simply stroll down a hallway from the Nationals’ clubhouse to the guests’ one.
If solely life had been that simple.
The Mets haven’t been critically linked to Soto in any current talks, and the consensus is that if they’re going to land the Gen Z Ted Williams, they’d must half methods with 20-year-old phenom Francisco Alvarez, in addition to perhaps top-five group prospects Brett Baty or Mark Vientos.
With the Nationals residing in the identical division because the Mets, plus the truth that Washington doesn’t completely must commerce Soto on the deadline, chances are high slim. There is a rising perception that, until the Nationals are given a Godfather provide, they’ll maintain on to Soto and re-assess the state of affairs within the offseason. Besides how horrendous the optics of buying and selling Soto throughout the NL East — then making the remaining Nats followers watch him play together with his new group in Nationals Park can be — there’s additionally the matter of the group seemingly being bought at season’s finish.
The Nationals’ homeowners perceive that the franchise’s worth is far larger with Soto round. The group is basically up on the market, and it advantages each the present regime and potential ones to have one of many sport’s brightest stars in place at any time when the membership adjustments arms. So, if Soto stays and the Mets can’t hit a 600-foot dwelling run in a Shohei Ohtani commerce, their gaze strikes to the subsequent tier of obtainable gamers.
Getting a Willson Contreras-David Robertson package deal from the Cubs really makes an excessive amount of sense for the Mets. They want a catcher (Contreras’ 132 wRC+ is tied for first amongst NL backstops) and a good reliever to shuttle the ball from the sterling beginning rotation to Edwin Diaz’s firebrand arm. Robertson is 37 years outdated now, however he has a 2.23 ERA this season, will get lefties out, and most significantly, has pitched in 33 postseason video games.
The downside with a commerce that makes an excessive amount of sense is, nicely, it makes an excessive amount of sense. The Cubs aren’t going anyplace in 2022, however they’ll undoubtedly bolster their group for the longer term. Knowing they’ve some issues that the Mets covet, it clearly behooves them to get the absolute best deal, which suggests gunning for premium prospects from the Mets’ farm. Whether Eppler’s entrance workplace is comfy with that in all probability comes all the way down to the dilemma of attempting to win all of it in a number of months vs. ensuring the group is about up for sustainable success within the again half of the last decade.
Contreras and Robertson undoubtedly transfer the needle for 2022, however each will hit free company this winter, and any gamers the Mets commerce for them may torment the franchise nicely past simply this 12 months. Banners cling perpetually, positive, however so can lingering dread if one of many kiddos concerned within the commerce turns into a perennial All-Star. Moving a top-five prospect for leases is unhealthy enterprise, and doubtless hampers the Mets in a Contreras-Robertson commerce until Chicago lowers their asking value.
Should the Mets truly make a commerce with the Nationals whereas they’re in D.C., buying a man like Josh Bell or Kyle Finnegan is extra real looking than Soto. Bell runs the chance of being a bit redundant now that the Mets have added Daniel Vogelbach, one other first baseman/DH. But Bell is a considerably higher general hitter than Vogelbach, and his .861 OPS towards lefties means he wouldn’t be relegated to platoon responsibility. Playing Bell at DH day-after-day and Vogelbach solely as wanted would putt the Mets in significantly better form, however that is in fact all hypothetical, and so they’d must pay the NL East tax in any swap with Washington.
Finnegan, a 30-year-old righty who’s the very best reliever within the Nats’ bullpen, is the precise kind of participant that Washington has no purpose to maintain. No place group goes zero to 100 from one season to the subsequent fairly like reduction pitchers, and whereas Finnegan is pitching nicely now, that doesn’t imply he’ll proceed pitching nicely as he ages. If the Mets can simply wring three extra good months out of his arm, buying and selling some minor league filler is value it.
The predominant precedence for the Mets over the subsequent three days within the DMV is sweeping the Nationals, an simply doable job. That’d give them 9 victories in a row, extra wins within the financial institution as they attempt to safe a top-two seed within the National League and a first-round bye within the new playoff format, and extra steam heading right into a five-game spat with the Braves.
If they’ve Soto for that Atlanta sequence, nice, but it surely stands about as a lot of an opportunity because the group saying that Mr. and Mrs. Met have filed for a divorce. There are a number of avenues that also make the group higher and don’t mortgage the longer term as a lot, which can be disappointing to some, however is what Eppler ought to finally find yourself doing.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com