By Steven Inman

At 47-45 the Mets are in the mix for a playoff spot despite falling on hard times over the last two weeks or so. The Mets front office has announced repeatedly that the team will be buyers at the trade deadline. These next two weeks will determine to what extent they will buy. The more wins they get by the 31st the more improved group of players they will look to acquire. The Mets are looking at multiple relievers and right handed bats that they can control for multiple years. At the trade deadline this year there are only a few quality bats and even fewer that are under contract next season. The two big bats that have been floated around are the Marlins Hanley Ramirez and the Diamondbacks Justin Upton. It would be unlikely that the Marlins would trade an unmotivated Hanley within the division and the guy the Mets should be focused on here is Upton.

The Mets entire outfield could be completely different next season so adding a star right fielder in Upton could be a game changer. Upton was the number one overall pick in the 2005 draft and burst into the show in 2007. Upton, just 24 years old has seemingly fallen out of favor by manager Kirk Gibson and more importantly GM Kevin Towers. Upton was a centerfielder in the minor leagues but moved to right when he came up at 19 because the D-Backs have Chris Young in Centerfield. Justin Upton hit .289 and hit 31 homeruns last season in Arizona so why would the Diamondbacks just give up on a kid like this?

Justin Upton has been benched numerous times in the last few weeks and is no doubt having his worst statistical season of his young career hitting .273 with just 7 homers and 38 rbi’s in 312 at bats. Justin Upton is still a bargain on his 6 year 50 million dollar deal he signed a few years back. His value is at an all time low so there must be something about Upton that the other 29 clubs in the bigs don’t know about. Upton and manager Kirk Gibson have feuded many times this season and most insiders would be shocked if Upton wasn’t traded either by the trade deadline or over the winter at the latest. Arizona has been arguably the most disappointing team in the National League this season and Justin Upton has been a major reason why. The Diamond backs have other outfielders in their minor league system who they are willing to play every day in right field should they trade Upton. There has been lots of interest in Justin Upton with the Pirates leading the way but the Mets had a scout at an Arizona game a few days ago. There are many reasons why the Mets should be interested in Justin Upton.

Obviously having a steady right handed bat to complement David Wright for the next few years would really help complete the Mets offensive attack. David Wright knows Justin and his brother BJ, as well as major leaguers Michael Cuddyer, Ryan Zimmerman and Mark Reynolds, considering they all played AAU ball together in Virginia. Imagine how good that little league team was? If the Mets brought in Justin Upton it would definitely increase David Wright chances of signing a contract extension this offseason. Upton also was named baseball fielding bible’s best right fielder last year. Bringing in Upton will allow the Mets to move Duda to left where he will have less ground to cover and will not have to make as many throws on guys trying to run 1st to 3rd on him. This move makes the Mets better offensively and defensively so what would the Mets have to give up to acquire a budding star like Upton?

The only untouchable in an Upton deal should be Zack Wheeler who looks like the next star pitcher in New York. However the Mets could center a deal around Matt Harvey, Jenry Mejia and Wilmer Flores plus other minor leaguers. The Diamondbacks want a deal to center around a young 3rd baseman they can build around. Flores who played in the futures game in Kansas City for the Mets a few weeks ago has been playing mostly 3rd at Double AA Binghamton and would probably be the piece the Diamondbacks would want if they think he can handle third everyday in the big leagues. A deal around those 3 pieces would be a large price to pay but it would be worth it to get a star in Upton who just needs a change in scenery and is under contract until the 2016 season. Upton would have hit 30 of his 31 homers last year in Citi Field, with one going off the wall. This clearly shows that Upton has the power to hit in a pitcher’s park like Citi despite playing his home games in hitter friendly chase field. If Arizona would take this deal it could be the missing piece that would get the Mets into the playoffs this year and in the future.

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