The NY Mets may be looking at trade involving Starlin Castro as the MLB trading deadline this summer after the Chicago Cubs acquired Addison Russell in a deal with the Athletics and names like Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom or Daniel Murphy could be moving if the trade talk ever sets serious from the two sides.
The trade idea was proposed by John Harper in the New York Daily News, as he sees shortstop as a position the Mets have long wanted to improve over Ruben Tejada and this could be a way to do that. According to Harper, the Mets would be a "perfect match" and they have the pieces to move to acquire the young star, as they have arms like Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom as well as a solid piece like Murphy, who was named an all-star. The Mets may not want to mortgage the farm for Castro, but he is still very young and could get even better years down the line.
The team likely would have to give up one or two of the players mentioned with Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, but with Matt Harvey coming back and Jonathon Niese in the rotation, they could afford to lose an arm or two. The Mets have been stuck in the middle ort the bottom of the NL East for years and they need to figure out a way to improve. The team will not spend money in free agency, which means Sandy Alderson has to get creative and he could snag himself one of the top young hitters in baseball if he is willing to give up some prospects.
The Athletics have gone all-in with their trade for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel and now the Cubs and Oakland each feel like they got the better of the deal. Oakland was looking to add more pitching and the Cubs got one of the top prospects in all of baseball, which is what the organization was trying to pull off this year. Jeff Samardzija comes in with another year of team control and now the Athletics have the power in the AL West and now are the top team to make the World Series.
The Mets have not been totally satisfied with Wheeler and spinning him for Castro could be a huge move that pays off. The team basically got Wheeler for nothing, as Carlos Beltran was going to leave anyway and now they can turn that prospect into a solid major league starter in Castro. The Cubs may be willing to make the move now that they have Russell in the fold.
The move also gives the Cubs a great prospect in Russell and while they were planning on building around Castro and their other young players like Anthony Rizzo, the team now can trade him and still have a great prospect at SS. The Mets may not want to pull off this move since they are investing so much in their young arms, but they need a new position player star as David Wright gets older and they also could use a jolt in their offense.
