Good morning Mets fans, and welcome back to another edition of the hot stove rumor roundup! It was a slow Sunday, and another day without a noteworthy big-league transaction. But fear not, for there are still reports to dig into.

Astros Gunning for Paxton 

Add the Astros to the mix of competitive teams looking to swipe lefty James Paxton from the Seattle Mariners’ hands. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that Houston will enter an “active” market that features the New York Yankees as its most prominent competitor.

As Charlie Morton and Dallas Keuchel roam free while Lance McCullers undergoes Tommy John surgery that will cost him the 2019 season, the Astros suddenly find themselves mildly pressed to fill a few holes. Granted, a farm system brimming with such young studs as Forrest Whitley and J.B. Bukauskas and a bullpen featuring both Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock present some cozy in-house assets, but netting Paxton, who has a 2.90 FIP and 4.67 K/BB ratio dating back to 2016, would bring its share of benefits.

What’s more, bringing Paxton along would remove a formidable foe from the equation. Paxton boasts a 2.89 career ERA and .605 opponent OPS in over 70 innings of work against the Astros.

 Brantley, Ramos on Braves’ Radar 

Mark Bowman recently fielded a handful of inbox questions for MLB.com, where he noted that the Atlanta Braves have been keeping tabs on catcher Wilson Ramos and left fielder Michael Brantley.

For Ramos, this is simply another team to add to the list. While he has only played in 175 games since the 2017 season, he’s still compiled 105 RBI in that time to go with a crisp .290/.334/.473 line between the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies. With a caught-stealing percentage of 34% going back to 2014 and a locked-in backup complement in Tyler Flowers, it’s not hard to understand why Atlanta would take a flier on Ramos – a clear improvement over departing catcher Kurt Suzuki.

As far as Brantley’s place with the Braves is concerned, the 31-year old turned a lot of heads in 2018, appearing in 143 games (more than his combined 101 between 2016 and 2017). In a second consecutive all-star campaign, Brantley hit .309/.364/.468 with 17 homers and 76 runs driven in as Cleveland’s two-hitter.

Last year’s outstanding display from rookie Ronald Acuña could push Brantley to right field as a younger, more athletic alternative to free agent Nick Markakis. There’s no question that, when healthy, Brantley can produce.

Orioles Expected to Lay Low 

This should not come as a surprise to anyone, but is still relevant to the Mets’ own endeavors this offseason in that Baltimore’s one area of attention does in fact overlap. As MASN Sports‘ Roch Kubatko notes, “lower-tier” infielders will be a priority for the Orioles’ front office. So while names like Marwin Gonzalez and Jed Lowrie certainly won’t be a concern, a handful of cheap players may not be as easy for the Mets to grab should they part ways with Wilmer Flores.

Some infielders not explicitly mentioned by Kubatko but nonetheless relevant to the conversation are Daniel Descalso, Luis Valbuena, Sean Rodriguez, and Logan Forsythe, who combined for a 0.4 WAR in 2018 but still hold a certain amount of experience worth rolling the dice on, albeit on very short leashes. If Baltimore grabs one, the window for the Mets to sign one and drag them into the starting lineup over younger players takes a hit.