The New York Mets have gotten calls from multiple teams who are interested in acquiring Jeff McNeil according to Tim Healey of Newsday. Healey noted that the while the Mets have listened to these teams’ what-if scenarios, they have resisted from having any serious trade talks regarding McNeil.
As constructed right now, the Mets have McNeil, Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano, Amed Rosario, Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis and Jed Lowrie as options for their infield. While McNeil, Alonso, Cano and Rosario are likely to get a bulk of the playing time in the infield, Smith, Davis and Lowrie are all capable of holding down an infield position if healthy.
The Mets’ glut of infielders caused them to move Davis and Smith to the outfield for a large portion of their playing time in the field last season.
Despite the fact that Davis previously played most of his games at third base, he played 79 games in the outfield out of his 110 games played in the field last season. Despite the fact that Smith played most of his minor league games and all of his 2017 MLB games at first base, he played 46 games in the outfield out of his last 110 games in the field over the last two seasons. That included 33 games in the outfield out of 69 games total in the field last season.
It is unlikely that the Mets include McNeil in a trade after what he did with the team last season and the fact that he is not arbitration eligible until 2022. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen is not shy about listening to offers for any of his players, but he is much more likely to trade Lowrie and Smith before he does McNeil.
