Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the Mets have had discussions with the Rangers about Jed Lowrie and Dominic Smith. However, Rosenthal notes that talks have failed to progress to this point.
After the Mets’ rumored signing of Rick Porcello this morning, they’re within two million dollars of the luxury tax threshold for the 2020 campaign and have seemingly made a priority to trade one of their high-priced veterans this winter.
Since the Mets have been actively looking to clear payroll space, Jed Lowrie’s name has been in the rumor mill a lot over the last few days. Lowrie signed a two-year, 20 million dollar contract with New York last offseason, but only had seven at-bats the entire season after suffering multiple injuries.
Dominic Smith’s name has also frequently popped up in trade talks this winter. The 24-year-old enjoyed a solid campaign in 2019, smacking .282/.355/.525 in 177 at-bats, despite being relegated to a mostly pinch-hitting role. Since the Mets have Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis occupying Smith’s current position, he’s expendable.
One of the strategies that the Mets have reportedly considered this winter is attaching a young, cost-controlled player, like Smith or J.D. Davis, with a sunken-cost, such as Lowrie or Jeurys Familia, in order to shed salary in order to tend to other needs in their roster.
In exchange for Smith and/or Lowrie, the Mets could receive one of the Ranger’s top relief pitchers: Jose Leclerc. MetsMerizedOnline‘s own Michael Mayer just tweeted out that the Mets have been inquiring about Leclerc. They’ve been connected to him since last offseason.
Leclerc had a dominant 2018 campaign, but wasn’t able to enjoy the same success the ensuing season. Even though he had strong peripherals, his ERA climbed almost three runs due to a HR/FB rate that jumped over eight percentage points.
He signed a four-year contract extension last March that’s worth 14.75 million dollars with two options for the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. Smith would represent an upgrade for a Rangers team that’s hoping to contend and is currently poised to start Danny Santana at first base.
