Last weekend, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported that the Mets are unlikely to trade Addison Reed to the Washington Nationals
As the Washington Nationals continue to look for upgrades to their bullpen, some of the more intriguing options are in their division. We have already looked at a couple of names like Phillies left-hander Pat Neshek and Marlins right-hander David Phelps. Today, we want to look at one of the closers that will be available, Addison Reed from the New York Mets.
The major question is whether or not the Mets actually want to make a deal with the Nats to help them get the one piece that could lead to a championship. Last weekend, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote that those two teams probably will not be dealing with each other:
"“Reed can become a free agent after this season, so the Mets may try to get a prospect for him. They probably wouldn’t deal him to the Nationals, but there’s plenty of interest.”"
Now, the Washington Nationals and New York Mets have worked out trades with each other before. Two years ago, the Nats dealt Jerry Blevins to New York before the deadline for Matt den Dekker. Before that trades, the two teams hadn’t made deals with each other since 2009.
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Reed has been the closer for the Mets this year and has done a good job. He is 14-for-16 in save chances, a 2.59 ERA, and has 42 strikeouts in 40.1 innings. Plus, he is getting better as the season has progressed. In June, he was 6-for-6 in saves and he has given up just one home run in the last two months.
If you look at Reed’s situation compared to the other closers on the market, he is a free agent at the end of the year and the qualifying offer situation has changed from last offseason. Before last night’s game, I talked with J.T. Teran from Rising Apple about whether or not he thinks the two teams should trade with each other:
"“As tough as that would be I genuinely think it would be best on the best return package. My gut would say the Mets wouldn’t want to help the Nats in any way but if the offer is good enough, I don’t think Alderson would care.”"
With the lack of dominant relief pitching on the trade market this year, Reed is going to be in high demand by any contending team. The Nats shouldn’t give up some of their top prospects for a rental, but Reed would provide consistency at the back end of the bullpen.
If the Nats decide Koda Glover is their closer (when he comes back), then Reed could always slide into the setup role. Last year, the 28-year-old right-hander was one of the best setup men in baseball as he had a 1.97 ERA over 80 appearances and gave up only four home runs.
This season, the Nats are 8-3 against the Mets and with New York out of it, it’s highly unikely they want to help the Nats out. But, if the Nats are the more desperate team and have exhausted all of their other closer options, then no one should be surprised if the two sides work out a deal before July 31.
Next: Setback for Shawn Kelley
For now, don’t expect these two teams to help each other out.