The New York Mets lost three-fifths of their starting rotation via free agency: Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and Jose Quintana all hit the market, while the team still has David Peterson and of course Kodai Senga. It’s evident that the team will spend significant resources on their starting pitching staff ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Could the Mets make a trade to add pitching support?
Logic indicates that these resources, or a big portion of them, might be allocated to free agency. There, they can find Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake Snell, Yusei Kikuchi, Jack Flaherty, and other top-tier pitchers.
However, the Mets also have the pieces to make things happen in the trade market. One of their potential targets might be Miami Marlins’ Jesus Luzardo, as the Sporting News writes.
They propose a one-on-one swap between the two division rivals involving Luzardo, who still has two seasons of team control remaining, and Mets third baseman Brett Baty, who has four years of cheap control remaining on his service time clock.
The Mets would be dealing a former top prospect
Baty has been unable to establish himself as an MLB contributor, but he was the team’s top prospect not too long ago. He has a .215/.282/.325 line with a .607 OPS in 602 plate appearances in the majors, but has been much better in the minor leagues.
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By now, Baty has been leapfrogged in the third base depth chart by Mark Vientos, who also took a while to develop but now looks like a young star. It’s unclear if the Marlins would accept a one-for-one trade for Luzardo, who posted a 5.00 ERA in 2024 but was excellent in 2023 with a 3.58 ERA and 208 punchouts.
There are injury concerns surrounding Luzardo, but if the cost is relatively low, the Mets could certainly entertain the possibility of trading for him. The reward could be huge.
