Mets Willing To Pay Down Salary To Facilitate Starling Marte Trade

The Mets are open to paying down part of contract to facilitate a trade, . Theres nothing to suggest a deal is imminent or guaranteed to happen at all, but the Mets could consider the veteran outfielder expandable. After finalizing the signing, New York has an excellent outfield. Soto and will play the corners. had a nice first Kyle Hendricks Jersey season in Queens and projects as the starter in center field. The Mets acquired defensive stalwart from the Rays last month. Hes a quality fourth outfielder who could cut into Taylors playing time up the middle. The Mets dont nece sarily need to trade Marte. Theyre willing to pay to stockpile depth under Steve Cohens ownership. Yet hes probably fifth on their outfield depth chart and doesnt have a great path to playing time. Hes no longer an option in center field at age 36. The Mets probably wouldnt move Nimmo back to center field to force Marte into the lineup. An outfield of Marte, Nimmo, and Soto would be limited defensively. The two-time All-Star would e sentially be limited to a rotational corner role. He could pick up some at-bats at designated hitter, though the Mets are likely to add a first baseman and may want to leave DH playing time for some combination of , and (if hes not traded) . Marte doesnt have the kind of power teams generally want from their primary DH regardle s. To find a taker, the Mets would need to eat a decent chunk of money. Marte is under contract for $19.5MM in the final season of a four-year free agent pact. If he were a free agent, hed probably make a little le s than half that. Hes coming off a league average .269/.327/.388 showing with seven homers through 370 plate appearances. Marte stole 16 bases in 17 attempts, though his defensive grades in right field have plummeted. His once elite speed is e sentially average at this point. A bone bruise in his right knee cost him around seven weeks between June and August. Marte is probably stretched as a regular, but there are teams that could give him more opportunity than the Mets can offer. Speculatively speaking, the Red Sox may be a fit as they search for a righty-hitting outfielder. The Guardians, Padres, Astros, Royals, Reds and Martes old team in Pittsburgh are other teams that could be in the market for corner outfield help. Michael Arias Jersey