Rumors have been circulating that the Boston Red Sox could be open to moving on from outfielder Masataka Yoshida. After he’s been hitting well in the World Baseball Classic, there’s reason to believe the Red Sox might strike when the proverbial iron is hot and make a trade to offload Yoshida. Would the New York Mets be interested in a trade for Yoshida?
In a recent MLB mock trade, the Mets are floated as a possible destination by FanSided.com’s Chris Landers, along with the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners. Yoshida comes with a five-year, $90 million contract, which makes him a little more difficult to trade, but the Mets are one of the few teams that could put together a strong enough package.
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Perfect Mets Trade Package for Masataka Yoshida
GettyMark Vientos at 3B
The Mets still don’t have a full answer for one of their outfield spots, and the DH hitter isn’t the more clear either.
In this trade idea, the New York Mets could offload 17-home run infielder Mark Vientos in a player-swap deal for Masataka Yoshida. Disclaimer, though, this would only work if Boston kept some of his $18 million salary.
In 1091 career at-bats, Vientos has 54 home runs, 157 RBI, and a 104 OPS+. Vientos might actually hold more value than Masataka Yoshida at this moment, but the Mets have an extreme logjam in the infield, and even Brett Baty could be the next man up on New York’s infield.
Even though his career has not been as promising as it was expected to be, Yoshida has been a productive hitter as well, and it’s another situation, like Vientos’s, where there is an extreme logjam in the Red Sox outfield.
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Could the Mets Make a Trade Before MLB Opening Day?
Trades across MLB at this time of year are rare, but not totally uncommon. Teams across the league are gearing up to start the haul of a regular season, and front offices might be more worried about their current rosters rather than thinking about trades that may or may not benefit the team’s future, but it’s fun to speculate which players could be at the forefront of trade rumors when the season opens up.
If the Mets don’t find playing time for Mark Vientos in the first couple of months, expect his name to circulate as a top trade target at some point. It’s not a knock on Vientos that he might be linked to a trade, but the situation in New York might not work out if Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien, who are basically everyday infielders (along with Francisco Lindor), are highly productive offensive players.
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Mets Trade Pitch Offloads 17-Home Run Infielder for Red Sox’ $90 Million Outfielder