Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Sandy Alderson took to the airwaves Wednesday afternoon on WFAN’s Carton & Roberts to discuss the Mets’ offseason thus far and their plans moving forward.
During the interview, Alderson said he “expects to be involved” (as noted by Newsday‘s Tim Healey) in the trade market this year, especially for players who only have one year left on their deal before heading to free agency.
This could include guys like Francisco Lindor, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Zack Greinke, and Carlos Correa. Alderson made sure to point out these players with one year left on their deal are attractive because the prospect haul shouldn’t need to be too hefty in return.
Alderson also said the Mets would be willing to take on guys with big contracts, like Nolan Arenado (who technically could be a one-year guy due to an opt-out clause after this year), Yu Darvish, and Zack Wheeler. He described recent reports that the Rockies wanted to talk an Arenado trade with the Mets as, “in the speculative category.”
We’ve known the Mets are in a nice spot to make moves in the trade market, especially when taking on money, given the size of Steve Cohen’s wallet and desire to win now. So it’s nice to see Alderson, Porter and the Mets be open to bringing in players in this capacity.
However, it should be noted that both Alderson and Porter have made it clear they don’t want to sell the prospect pool to help the major league club with a short-term view in mind, as the previous administration did. They’ve both emphasized depth. Any trade involving one of the aforementioned targets would have to take that in mind.
