Last night, following his demotion to Triple A, Chicago White Sox third baseman Josh Fields revealed that he has requested that White Sox GM Kenny Williams attempt to trade him before Friday’s trade deadline.
Due to such short notice and Fields’ strong desire to be traded it would be a pretty good indication that Williams would have to sell low on his once top prospect.
This could give the Mets an opportunity to snag a player who slugged 23 home runs in 2007 for perhaps a lower level prospect. Granted this season he is hitting a disappointing .220, however his 7 home runs would still be one the team’s leaders.
Even though the Mets as a team have scored 33 runs in their past five games, there offense has been dreadful for the better part of the year. This includes being shut out by the Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves in the month of July.
This move would also require Fields to make a position change, most likely to first base. That shouldn’t be too much of an issue though, as he has filled in numerous times for Paul Konerko at first.
Currently, Daniel Murphy is entrenched over on the right side of the infield, however despite his stellar defense he hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with his bat (he is hitting only at a .248 clip with 5 home runs).
I think competition for the position would benefit both players, especially Murphy who seems to thrive on competition. If the deal were to be made, it would ease Mets fans concerns about who would take over first base following Carlos Delgado’s likely departure at the end of the season.
On that token, due to his natural position being third base, Fields could provide some much-needed rest for David Wright, who has played in a whopping 98 games.
Keep in mind that Fields is only 26 years of age, and like current Met Jeff Francoeur could be a reclamation project for hitting coach, Howard Johnson to work with.
If the price were reasonable should the Mets pull the trigger and try to acquire a young hitter, who could help the team not only this year but for years to come?
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I was thinking about this also, but I’m not sure what the price would be. Sox GM Kenny Williams loves to trade, but I’m not sure he’d just give up Fields.
But I’d welcome the trade if the price isn’t too high.
yeah I’ll get him for a bag of chips, pack of baseball cards, and some bubble gum.
I’d love to have Fields, but the guy I really like is Mark Teahen who Keith Hernandez mentioned last night out of the blue. I don’t mind reclamation projects as long as they are young. I guess it comes down to who we are willing to part with. Nick Evans?
Are you serious? Wait until the geeks here about this. Wait until they see he had a .308 OBP when he hit those 23 homers. This will be more dreadful than acquiring Francoeur they will say. It’s an outrage I tell ya, an outrage!
Seriously though, he might be good to take a flyer on. He once stole 28 bases in 2006 in the minors. And has over an .800 OPS in the minors. Skills are there, he just needs some polishing up at the major league level.
id take him, but i dont think Minaya is smart enough to do a trade for Fields. i’d be also looking to get Scott Kazmir. hes been terrible this year, but he was great every year before, hes young, and his stock has fallen alot. maybe we could trade for him, and bring him back to his old self. of course Kazmir used to be in the Mets system.
“If the price were reasonable should the Mets pull the trigger and try to acquire a young hitter, who could help the team not only this year but for years to come?”
Take a look at Ian Stewart.
Fields has played 2 games at 1B. Just 2 games and that was in 2005. I fail to see how bringin a kid in who hasn’t been able to hack it in the big leagues yet, and putting him at 1B where has is foreign to (in the middle of a playoff race) sheds any positive light on the Mets lineup.
Wanna say we should go get him and catch lightning in a bottle with him in our minor league system sure… I’m in. Realistically, he just doesn’t fit though
I’m not interested in Fields. We do need a viable power hitting first baseman to replace Delgado. Murphy is not the answer and he is merely a poor stopgap measure who belongs in the AL playing DH.
Josh Fields? At first place? Yes please!
Another trade to the White Sox lol