Earlier this week, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported the Mets and Detroit Tigers were in preliminary talks for an Ian Kinsler trade.

The keystone is the most likely infield position I believe New York will upgrade, after assistant general manager John Ricco revealed the team’s current intent on having Asdrubal Cabrera man third base.

Kinsler is an interesting target and one I believe can benefit the Mets this upcoming season, despite having a down year at the dish in 2017.

Bounce Back Candidate:

This past year, Kinsler managed to hit just .236/.313/.412 with a 91 wRC+ and .313 wOBA, but still clubbed 22 long balls and drove in 52 runs in 613 plate appearances.

However, his advanced metrics show that there is still reason to believe he can get back on track next year. Kinsler set a career high hard hit rate at 37 percent in 2017, while his line drive rate (20.6), strikeout rate (14.0) and base-on-balls rate (9.0) are still in line with his overall career marks. Additionally, his average suffered from a career low .244 BABIP.

The 35-year-old has also proved to be durable throughout his career, appearing in at least 130 games from 2011 through this past season.

Among second basemen the last four seasons, Kinsler ranks fourth in games played (599), fourth in hits (676), 14th in average (.275), fifth in home runs (76) and third in RBI (294).

Defense:

Despite not having his best year at the plate, Kinsler still had a traditionally solid year in the field.

In 1137.1 innings this past season, Kinsler was good for 6 defensive runs saved and had a 6.1 UZR. He’s also adept at turning a double play, which can help the pitching staff in addition to steadying Amed Rosario at shortstop, who sometimes suffers on routine plays.

With Rosario and Kinsler holding down the middle infield and former Gold Glove winner Juan Lagares in center, it could really help tighten up the defense and benefit the pitching staff, which this team is ultimately going to rely on to bring them back to the promised land.

Short-Term Pact:

Kinsler had an option on his contract that vested when he reached the 600 plate appearance plateau in 2017. The Tigers, who have stripped down their team in recent months, trading J.D. Martinez, Justin Verlander and Justin Upton as well as dismissing manager Brad Ausmus, are presumably looking to make their team more youthful and want to build from the ground up.

On a one-year deal, I think it’s absolutely worth the Mets taking a flyer on him. He has $11 million left on his contract and if the Mets absorb most, if not all of it, I doubt they have to gut their farm system even further to acquire his services.

At the end of the day, it’s just for one year, so it’s low-risk, high reward situation.

Veteran Presence:

The big knock on Kinsler is his fiery, hard-headed personality in the locker room. However, I disagree with the notion that this is a bad thing.

He has been around the game for 12 seasons and with the Mets having one of the youngest teams in baseball, he could help provide some leadership.

Additionally, he is the type of player that will make sure the younger players will beat balls out and give them a hard time if they do otherwise. This is a new look team and I think this would provide a much needed kick in the rear end.

The leadership and discipline he would provide is something I think the Mets could really benefit from.

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Overall, I expect the Mets to be tied to Kinsler in a larger capacity in the immediate future. The free agent second base class is rather weak, so I believe the Mets will ultimately take to the trade market to solve the problem at the keystone.