The offseason is upon us and the Mets have many holes to fill. One of these holes is finding a center fielder. To fill this hole, the Mets looked into different options, including Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Starling Marte. Rumors swirled surrounding the Mets trading for Marte, but the Flushing ball club decided to take a different route.
Instead, the Mets ended up acquiring center fielder Jake Marisnick from the Astros on December 5, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. As part of that deal, the Mets sent left-handed pitcher Blake Taylor and 19-year-old outfielder Kenedy Corona to the Houston.
After acquiring Marisnick, the general consensus was that the Mets were out on trading for Marte. However, on Monday Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Mets went for a deal with Marisnick because they feared that they would be unable to acquire Marte. Rosenthal went on to suggest that the 31-year-old Marte could still be an option for the Metropolitans.
On Tuesday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network, reported that the Mets haven’t ruled out the idea of acquiring Marte as well. Potential trade chips could include J.D. Davis or Dominic Smith, and prospects.
Marisnick, 28, is known for his defense in center with five defensive runs saved and eight outs above average there in 733 innings last season. On the offensive end, he slashed 233/.289/.411 in 2019. Marisnick is a defensive minded center fielder which fits the needs of what the Mets were looking for, but Marte brings more offense to the table.
Besides his solid defense (2 outs above average) Marte slashed .295/.342/.503 with 23 home runs and 25 stolen bases in 2019.
