The roster overhaul for the New York Mets has already started, and the changes so far could just be the beginning.
Three players that were expected (or hopeful) to return next year found new homes already this offseason. With the winter meetings complete, more work is expected to be done. MLB insider Robert Murray believes Jeff McNeil could be the next one to be traded.
“New York Mets: Full reset underway. Trading Brandon Nimmo was the first sign of this,” Murray wrote for FanSided. “Then they lost Edwin Diaz to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pete Alonso to the Baltimore Orioles. The longest tenured player on the team is now Jeff McNeil, and he might be traded. The Mets will be active in the market, and some folks around the game expect them to be aggressive the remainder of the offseason. They kinda have to be, no?”
McNeil could slot into multiple different spots in the Mets lineup as of late Thursday afternoon. There is a gap in left field, center field and first base. However, McNeil has a grand total of 40 career appearances at first base and center field combined, meaning left field would be the most viable option.
The veteran utility man started to have his name thrown around in trade rumors as soon as Marcus Semien was acquired for Nimmo on November 24. Now, after the team reportedly lost Diaz on Tuesday and Alonso on Wednesday, the odds for McNeil to go seem to have increased as David Stearns looks to make major changes.
ESPN insiders Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel on Dec. 2 gave McNeil an 80% of being traded, so the odds of him being traded this winter are extremely high.
Expect to see his name pop up more as the offseason progresses.
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