The New York Mets have already had a productive offseason, but there’s still time for president of baseball operations David Stearns to pull off his biggest move yet.
The Mets have been linked to Tarik Skubal for pretty much the entire tenure of Skubal’s name being thrown around in trade buzz.
On Wednesday, Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer outlined a proposal involving recent acquisitions and top prospects that would send Skubal to the Mets.
The proposed trade would see the Detroit Tigers land RHP Clay Holmes, OF Carson Benge (MLB No. 16), and RHP Jonah Tong (MLB No. 48) in exchange for Skubal.
“In a span of about a week earlier this month, the Mets went from being one of the big losers of the offseason to one of the obvious winners,” Rymer wrote. “All the same, a trade for Skubal would be meant to answer the question of whether the Mets are truly ready to take down the Dodgers. He’d be a substantial upgrade even over newcomer ace Freddy Peralta, with Nolan McLean becoming the best No. 3 starter in the NL East.”
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“Following his successful conversion from relief to the rotation in 2025, Holmes would be a solid immediate plug-in for the Tigers,” Rymer continued. He also called Benge and Tong MLB-ready, with Tong resembling Tim Lincecum and Benge posting a .857 OPS in the minors.
Rymer also acknowledged that the Mets might ultimately hesitate to do this deal: “They have taken some big swings this winter, yes, but swapping both Benge and Tong for Skubal would veer too far toward mortgaging the future for the sake of the present. And besides, only a year stands between them and simply signing Skubal for hundreds of millions of dollars as a free agent.”
Featured image via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
