The Mets are not bluffing. Not posturing. They want Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy. They recognize their offense needs a boost and see the righty’s bat helping while giving them a superb defensive presence as well.
What they don’t know yet is:
1. Are the Brewers amenable to having Travis d’Arnaud as the key player as part of the return package or do they want players with little or no service time currently?
2. Do the Brewers hold any grudge against the Mets for backing out of a deal that was verbally committed to a year ago Friday that would have brought Carlos Gomez to New York before the Mets killed the trade by failing Gomez on their physical review?
The Mets have yet to sense any issues in discussions with Milwaukee about Lucroy, who was an All-Star for the second time this year. David Stearns is Milwaukee’s first-year general manager who was not with the club last year.
The Mets baseball operations department continues to believe the club will hit better with runners in scoring position, which has been the main plague to the offense this year. The .204 mark going into Friday would be the third worst in history. But the front office feels they just can’t operate on that belief and have to try to upgrade the offense if possible.
It is why the Mets have even engaged the Reds about Jay Bruce. They know he is an imperfect fit — a lefty-hitting corner outfielder when they already have Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson and when they are now more committed to playing Yoenis Cespedes in the corner, as well.
However, the Mets figure they need to add the offense and just figure it out as they proceed. The Mets felt they were on the brink of acquiring Bruce from the Reds last year for mainly Zack Wheeler, but then the Reds pulled out on the morning of the deadline. That moved the Mets to go get Cespedes.
As of Friday, the Mets felt the asking price was far too great on Bruce and nothing was considered close.
The Indians are viewed as the main competition for Lucroy. But the catcher does have an eight-team no-trade clause and Cleveland is on it. The Indians have the worst catching numbers in the sport and starter Yan Gomes may miss the rest of the season with a separated shoulder. However, Gomes is under contract (including options) until 2021. Lucroy is due to be a free agent after 2017.
That is why the Mets would use d’Arnaud in a deal. They would prefer not to have him as a backup to Lucroy and, instead, would see a chance to try Kevin Plawecki in that role again in 2017.
D’Arnaud cannot be a free agent until after the 2020 season. He is injury prone and having a below-par season (.633 OPS). Does he have enough of a reputation as a good hitter to seduce Milwaukee to take him and prospects not named Amed Rosario in exchange for Lucroy?
The Red Sox are seen as a wild card in the Lucroy derby. But they already have the majors’ best offense — by far. The Mets need this player more. There are Mets officials who think Lucroy (.848 OPS) could hit third and — like Cespedes last year — provide an energy boost at this time of year to a roster that is flagging a bit.
The Mets also are still trying to land a reliever and talked to Milwaukee about getting Lucroy and a reliever such as Jeremy Jeffress or Will Smith. But they are under the impression the Brewers want to market Lucroy separately from the relievers.