Mets: Josh Donaldson isn’t only Twins star worth trading for

The New York Mets have some interest in Josh Donaldson, but he’s not the only Minnesota Twin who should be on their radar.

With a 3.5-game lead in the NL East entering Monday, the New York Mets are a sure-fire buyer with the trade deadline coming at the end of this month. So it’s no surprise, with their third base situation thinned by injuries, that they have interest in Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson. Andy Martino of SNY has most recently contradicted MLB Network’s Jon Heyman’s report suggesting they’ve backed off in their interest.

Up until leaving Saturday’s game with a right hamstring issue, Donaldson has had a fairly healthy season since being injured on Opening Day. Over 65 games this season (entering Monday) he has an .838 OPS with 13 home runs, 13 doubles and 34 RBI. At the end of June, he had a well-timed three-game home run streak.

With Donaldson’s age, and his next leg injury looming around every corner, the Mets seem to be surveying other options to fill their void the third base. But they should not stop at Donaldson when looking at the Twins roster for trade targets.

The Mets should be targeting another Twin

The Mets have overcome a long list of injuries to stay atop their division. Ace Jacob deGrom has dealt with multiple injuries, so much so that he is not expected to pitch in the All-Star Game. Carlos Carrasco (hamstring) and Noah Syndergaard (Tommy John surgery) have not pitched this season, though both are getting closer to doing so. Joey Lucchesi (Tommy John surgery) is out for the season and David Peterson (side) is likely out until at least late-August

Marcus Stroman fortunately avoided an IL stint after suffering a hip injury a few starts ago, and he’s been very good this season. But the Mets’ rotation is thin after deGrom and him, with Carrasco and Syndergaard eventually coming to help but surely set to have their workloads monitored closely once they are able to pitch.

As the Twins face the reality of being a deadline seller, Jose Berrios has been a bright spot in an otherwise horrible pitching staff. He is also looking more and more tradable, with one more year of arbitration-eligibility left and seemingly no real traction with the Twins on a contract extension. A contending team could acquire him this month and get two potential playoff runs with him in their rotation.

Twins Daily laid out an offer the Mets could make for Berrios.

A 1-2-3 atop the starting rotation of deGrom, Stroman and Berrios would look very good for the Mets. If Carrasco and/or Syndergaard can offer something notable when they return, suddenly they’d have an enviably deep rotation for the stretch run and into the playoffs.

As they surely mine the starting pitching market too, Berrios should be the Mets’ No. 1 target on that front until further notice.