According to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports, the New York Mets would talk to the New York Yankees about pending free agent first baseman Lucas Duda. In the piece, Heyman ranked Duda as the 28th most valuable player that could be traded.
Duda is hitting .251/.363/.552 with 16 doubles, 13 home runs and 29 RBI in 55 games for the Mets in 2017. With the Mets 9.5 games out of a playoff spot it would make sense for them to deal Duda among other pending free agents.
Lucas would be a perfect fit for the Yankees given the complete lack of production they’ve seen from their first basemen. Combined, Yankees first basemen are hitting only .201/.294/.376 while striking out 32% of the time.
On Thursday the Yankees had to transfer first base prospect Greg Bird to the 60-day disabled list with the rest of his season in jeopardy due to a lingering ankle injury.
The Yankees are currently playing a combination of Austin Romine (.600 OPS), Chris Carter (.669 OPS) and Rob Refsynder (.396 OPS) at first. Despite the limited production from first base the Yankees are still right in the playoff hunt only a game back of the first place Boston Red Sox.
I’ve been saying for a few weeks that Duda to the Yankees is an absolute perfect fit with their need at the position and one of the better farm systems in baseball.
I see no reason at all that the Mets and GM Sandy Alderson wouldn’t pull the trigger on a deal with the Yankees if they have the best offer.
One player I would’ve loved the Mets to target in any discussions with the Yankees is outfield prospect Dustin Fowler who unfortunately tore up his knee in his Major League debut last night.
Third base prospect Miguel Andujar is another intriguing name to think about. The 22-year old drove in four runs during his major league debut and is hitting .314/.348/.496 between Double-A and Triple-A this season.
The Yankees also have a ton of interesting arms that include lefty Justus Sheffield, righty Chance Adams, and 103 MPH throwing Domingo Acevedo.
