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New York Mets Rumors: Progress Being Made With Oakland Athletics?

By Kenneth Teape

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New York Mets Rumors: Are the Mets and Oakland Athletics a good match to make a deal prior to the MLB Trade Deadline Friday? Indications are they may be, as they are progressing on trade talks.

With the MLB Trade deadline quickly approaching, rumors are beginning to really pick up. For the New York Mets, the next couple of days will be integral if they are to continue their push for a playoff spot. They already completed one trade with the Atlanta Braves over the weekend that bolstered their bench and has already paid dividends. Is another one on the horizon?

It looks like the Mets are in advanced talks with the Oakland Athletics to complete a deal. According to the FOX Sports duo Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi, the Mets are making progress on a deal that they would acquire right-handed relief pitcher Tyler Clippard in.

As the tweet states, there are still other teams involved but it seems that the Mets are the frontrunners at this time. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, as the Athletics have been in talks to begin moving players for weeks as their season didn’t go as planned. Also, last night, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle said that Clippard could be traded as early as today. A couple of the other teams rumored to be interested in Clippard are two of his former teams, the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals. The Mets should do everything in their power to acquire Clippard if for anything it just means the Nationals aren’t improving.

Clippard has nice stats on the surface this season, pitching to a 2.79 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 17 saves. But, taking a deeper look show that Clippard hasn’t been as effective as his stats may suggest. His strikeout, walk and groundball rate are all going in the wrong direction. But, even with the drop in those stats, Clippard would still be a big help for the Mets if they are to acquire him, as they need another late inning option.

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If they make the postseason, Jenrry Mejia is ineligible because of his suspension, so the Mets have to make sure they have other options in case they make it that far. It also never hurts to have another player with pitching in pressure situations, especially in the postseason where the Mets are short on experience. Clippard has almost as many innings pitched in the postseason on his own than the rest of the bullpen combined. He would be a strong addition for the Mets as teams are trying to replicate the Kansas City Royals’ blueprint for building a pitching staff; shortening games because of a dominant bullpen.

Clippard is not the only Athletics player that the Mets have had talks about. It has long been rumored that the Mets are interested in adding super utility man Ben Zobrist from the Athletics as well. While Zobrist is not a part of the trade talks involving Clippard according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, the Mets and Athletics have at least discussed pieces to be exchanged if Zobrist is to be acquired, as they have expressed a willingness to part with Rafael Montero in such a deal.

Acquiring Zobrist would be another solid move by Sandy Alderson and the Mets. They have already bolstered their bench acquiring Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe, but could really use another bat. Zobrist would bring them that, and also versatility that is perfect for National League baseball. He has experience playing everywhere on the field except catcher, and would really help the Mets shore up things in the corner outfield and middle infield, where he has the most playing experience.

Like Clippard, Zobrist would also bring playoff experience to a team lacking it. He knows what it takes to be an underdog to make the postseason playing with the Tampa Bay Rays for a majority of his career, who are the epitome of underdogs.

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While it does not look like the Mets will be making a blockbuster to bring in a big named player such as Justin Upton, they can still improve their team immensely making smaller moves. The move for Johnson and Uribe already helped over the weekend, and if they can acquire Clippard and Zobrist, they will surely do the same.

Next: 5 players the Mets could trade

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