Mets and Brewers should match up well at trade deadline

If the New York Mets want to make a playoff push, they need to improve their offense at the MLB Trade Deadline and the Milwaukee Brewers are the perfect team to help get them there.

The New York Mets think they are a playoff contender and like any potential playoff team, they have the dynamic pitching staff to win games in October. However, they have one major flaw that may prove to derail those plans and keep them out of the postseason.

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The Mets’s offense is one of the worst in baseball.

Entering the second half, the New York Mets rank 30th in the league with a team batting average of .233. Additionally, they place 26th in On-base Percentage (.298), 28th in runs scored (310), and 19th in home runs (75). Plainly put, the Mets are wasting the efforts of their pitching staff, a unit that ranks 3rd in ERA (.323), 10th in strike-outs (702), and 5th in batting average against (.239).

With the Mets still just two games behind the Washington Nationals for first place in the National League East and just one game behind in the N.L. Wild Card race, he front office may not necessarily feel the need to panic. However, with the trade deadline just two weeks away and David Wright not likely to walk through the door and save the offense, Sandy Alderson and crew need to make a move or two now to address their holes in the line-up..

That’s where the Milwaukee Brewers come in.

The Brewers have seemingly been in last place since Opening Day and have been waving the white flag nearly as long. While a last place team doesn’t typically sound like a good place to start looking for quality pieces, the Brewers can satisfy a could of specific areas of need for the Mets.

Perhaps a trade along these lines would satisfy both teams:

In Segura and Gomez, the Mets get some solid offense and defensive upgrades. Segura is hitting .273/.304/.346 with 3 home runs, 24 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. While incumbent Wilber Flores possesses more power, Segura gets on base better, has speed to spare, and has much more range at short.

On the other side of the coin is Gomez. The Brewers center fielder is in a bit of a down year after two consecutive All-Star appearances. Still, he is hitting .273/.322/.450 with eight home runs and 41 RBI in just 62 games. Defensively, he’s also a Gold Glove winner, which would allow Juan Lagares to slide to left field where his weakened arm (elbow) won’t be as much of an issue.

Both Gomez and Segura are controllable beyond this season, the former through the 2016 season and the latter through 2018. Both are under reasonable contracts, with Segura still not yet arbitration eligible.

Of course, to land decent help the Mets will have to give up quality in return. Niese is being shopped already and could fetch a decent return on his own. However, the Mets could secure two controllable and exceptional pieces by also including Brandon Nimmo and Zack Wheeler.

Nimmo currently ranks as the team’s 2nd best prospect and is hitting .289/.353/.389 since making the move to Double-A Binghampton. He’s been considered the Mets centerfielder of the future, but with the presence of Lagares and, in this scenario Gomez, center field will be taken care of. Additionally, the team also has highly touted prospect Michael Conforto coming through the ranks as one of the top corner outfield prospects in the game.

In Wheeler, the Mets would certainly be giving up a top pitching prospect and one that went 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA, a 3.55 FIP, and a 9.1 K/9 ratio during his first full season last year. That said, Wheeler is also sidelined after having Tommy John surgery this spring and won’t be available until early 2016. Likewise, he’s been passed on the depth chart by Steven Matz, giving the Mets some depth to pull from.

In Niese, the Brewers get a pitcher to slip into their rotation in 2015, or include in other trades, while Nimmo and Wheeler give them near-Major League ready talent to build around.

It’s a win-win scenario that gives the Mets exactly what it needs without necessarily crippling the team long-term. However, it also involves taking on a bit of money, some of which is offset by including Niese in the deal. If Fred Wilpon and Sandy Alderson want to field a playoff team, this is the way to do and do it without breaking the bank.

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