A new report reveals the other players in the free agent trade markets that the New York Mets had in their sights before eventually completing deals for Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr., and Freddy Peralta.
At the start of January, many NY Mets fans were enraged with the way the team’s offseason played out. While they could live with the front office trading homegrown impact players like Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, the losses of All-Stars Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso drove them crazy.
Furthermore, the additions of Devin Williams, Jorge Polanco, and Marcus Semien did not excite the fanbase or make them believe they were better than the team that had an epic collapse in September. However, the narrative on the NY Mets offseason completely changed when they signed Bichette and made big trades for Robert Jr. and Peralta later in the month.
Now, fans of the club have regained faith in the front office and believe they may have a team that can compete with the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers this summer.
There have been rumors throughout the offseason on the various players the front office may have been targeting before they finalized deals to land the trio of stars. On Friday, The Athletic’s Will Sammon offered a more complete look at the names that sources claim were on New York’s radar this offseason.
Steven Kwan and Ketel Marte were among other players on NY Mets’ offseason wishlist
“As far as premium players go, the Mets held conversations about Cody Bellinger (a free agent who re-signed with the New York Yankees), Willson Contreras (whom the St. Louis Cardinals traded to the Boston Red Sox), and Ketel Marte (whom the Arizona Diamondbacks haven’t traded), but never got close on either player,” Sammon wrote.
However, that’s not it. The NY Mets had quite a few outfielders on their wishlist to replace Nimmo, and/or be an upgrade in center field.
“Other outfielders such as Steven Kwan (Cleveland Guardians), Lars Nootbar (St. Louis Cardinals), Brendan Donovan (St. Louis Cardinals), Ramón Laureano (San Diego Padres) and Harrison Bader (free agent at the time who agreed to a deal with the San Francisco Giants) were all in play for the Mets, league sources said, though the likelihood of acquiring any of them varied,” Sammon notes.
While there were several really good players among the NY Mets’ other targets, the three they got were probably the best options when considering potential and filling specific needs.
