New York Mets news: Five questions; Bryant, Arenado and the balance of power in the NL East and more!

New York Yankees, Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies
Sep 24, 2019; San Francisco, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) reacts after striking out against the San Francisco Giants in the third inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets signed Matt Adams, which could have an impact on Dominic Smith’s future with the club. The team is, however, not actively shopping its homegrown slugger.

MLB.com has some burning questions for the Mets, and SNY talks about how a big trade could change the landscape in the division.

Here are the New York Mets’ news and links of the day:

MLB.com: Will Leitch, in his latest piece for the league’s official website, wrote five questions that every National League East club will need to answer on the field.

When touching base with the New York Mets, the writer wonders things like what does Robinson Canó has left or whether the top three starters can stay healthy. He also openly questions whether there is enough depth in the field, if Edwin Diaz has a rebound season in him or if the young stars have what it takes to bring back the good times.

SNY: This week, it was made public that the Cubs will have an additional season of team control over Kris Bryant. As the team looks to trim payroll, their All-Star third baseman just gained a lot more trade value with the development, and Chicago could pursue a trade.

The NL East has four contending teams that could use Bryant or Nolan Arenado, the Rockies’ star performer at the hot corner. The Atlanta Braves lost Josh Donaldson, the Washington Nationals lost Anthony Rendon, and the Philadelphia Phillies have Scott Kingery at the top of the depth chart.

The Mets have Jeff McNeil, but SNY speculates that they could pursue one of the stars and then move McNeil to second. That would present an uncomfortable situation with Robinson Cano, but is an idea worth considering. Could the Mets have the assets to pull off a big trade?

MLB.com: Manny Randhawa reviewed each team’s best defensive performer. He used Statcast metric Outs Above Average (OAA) to make his assessments, and there were a few surprises.

As it turns out, the New York Mets’ best performer hasn’t even played with the organization yet. It is Jake Marisnick, who came to the big Apple this offseason from the Houston Astros.

The writeup about Marisnick says that “he hasn’t played an out for the Mets yet, but he instantly becomes a strong right-handed-hitting defensive complement in center field to Brandon Nimmo. Marisnick recorded +8 outs above average last season, coming off a +13-OAA season in 2018.”