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New York Mets Need To Take Advantage Of Texas Rangers Unfortunate Injury News

By Kenneth Teape

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The New York Mets have an embarrassment of riches in the pitching department. They have solid contributors already at the MLB level, headlined by ace Matt Harvey. They have top prospects on the cusp making the show such as Noah Syndergaard, Rafael Montero and Steven Matz. While having depth is important for a baseball franchise, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. The Mets have needs in other areas, and moving some of their pitching would make sense. But after not making a move all winter, where would the Mets find a taker now just weeks prior to the regular season?

One place could be Texas, where the Texas Rangers received some horrible news, as star pitcher Yu Darvish has partially torn ligaments in his right elbow that could require Tommy John surgery. Potentially without their ace for the duration of the season, the Rangers would be in desperate need for some pitching help. In could step the Mets, who have plenty of pitchers to offer up to the Rangers if they ever want to find an out of house replacement.

Right now, according to The Dallas Morning News, the Rangers will look in-house to fill the void, evaluating their own players before looking into adding one from the outside via trade or free agency. Some names to keep an eye on for the Rangers are Ross Detwiler, Anthony Ranaudo, Nick Martinez and Nick Tepesch. The Rangers are obviously confident in all of those players, otherwise they wouldn’t be in spring training with the team. But could the Mets offer an upgrade over those options?

Right now the Mets are dangling Dillon Gee, just like they had been doing throughout the winter. Right now the Rangers do not seem interested in acquiring Gee, but things could change as the season gets closer and evaluations of players are done more thoroughly. The Mets will more than likely keep Gee dangling on the trade block, but could they maybe offer the Rangers other options?

Another player to keep an eye on would be Bartolo Colon. He is another player the Mets would seemingly be open to trading, and in the final year of his contract the 41 year old wouldn’t ruin the Rangers cap situation as much as acquiring Cliff Lee or Cole Hamels, two other players that are owed a lot of money and would cost the Rangers dearly in the form of players and prospects.

One player not being mentioned as a potential trade piece by the Mets, but could probably had for the right price, is Montero. With the depth that the Mets have, someone will eventually have to be moved and he would seem to be the odd man out. Syndergaard is the highest rated prospect the Mets have and would only be moved in a blockbuster trade. Matz is left-handed and should be held onto in the case the Mets actually go through with and trade Jon Niese eventually, currently the only left-handed starting pitcher the Mets have in their rotation.

What could the Mets ask the Rangers for in return for any of their pitchers? The obvious answer is a shortstop, as the Mets look a little shaky going into the season with Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada as the shortstop options currently. But instead of going for an upgrade this season, why not go for one that could help in the future?

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The Rangers have a former middle infielder top prospect in Jurickson Profar. Profar is set to miss his second consecutive season because of continued shoulder woes, but is someone the Mets could potentially target. It was not long ago the 22-year old was considered a top prospect, but the injuries have clouded that now. With bottom of the barrel trade value currently, he is someone the Mets could target as a player to receive in return if they do in fact engage the Rangers in trade talks once again.

It would be a risk for the Mets to have the centerpiece of a trade be a player set to miss his second straight season, but it is a risk worth taking. No one seems to be sold on Flores as a starting shortstop in the major leagues, so getting a player that was deemed a can’t miss prospect as little as a season ago would be a worthwhile gamble. It would not cost the Mets too much of value, as they eventually need to trade some pitching to balance out the roster, and might as well do it before the season gets going so the exchanged players can acclimate themselves with their new surroundings.

Next: What will the Mets' record be in 2015?

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