According to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, Mets insiders believe the Cubs will not trade shortstop Addison Russell until the offseason if at all.
“The Cubs are more likely to be in the business of maintaining their big-league roster while adding a starting pitcher or, perhaps, dealing Starlin Castro instead.”
First of all, the Cubs trading Russell would be akin to the Mets trading Noah Syndergaard, so this is not exactly surprising or even some new revelation. This has been pretty much established for well over a year now.
As for Castro, no thanks. Of course the Cubs would rather move him, he’s owed over $40 million through 2019 and is having an awful season in the field and at the plate.
Castro, 25, has a (minus) -0.3 fWAR and .611 OPS this season, and when you compare that to Wilmer Flores at .06 WAR and .695 OPS, you have to ask yourself, where’s the upgrade?
Now that Flores has been shifted over to his more natural second base position, and utility infielder Ruben Tejada is handling shortstop duties, of course I’d like to see the Mets make a reasonable upgrade at short. However, Castro is not that guy. And neither is Alexei Ramirez as long as we’re at it.
The way I see it, the Mets would be far better off looking for that offensive upgrade in the outfield, and the player I’d love to see them deal for is the Brewers’ Gerardo Parra as I discussed yesterday.
Parra, 28, is reportedly available and is currently batting .309 with a .832 OPS, 127 OPS+ and 1.3 WAR in 84 games for Milwaukee. He provides some speed, some power, professional at-bats, and can play all three outfield positions. He’s a very heady player.
Additionally, Parra would give the Mets the true leadoff hitter they’ve lacked for the last four years. Parra has been a catalyst for the Brewers since he took over leadoff duties, batting .377 in 16 games in that spot with three home runs, a .416 on-base percentage and a 1.053 OPS. This gap to gap linedrive hitter would prosper at Citi Field.
There’s your upgrade.
