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The Mets have been one of the more aggressive teams in the hunt for Jonathan Lucroy, an offensive powerhouse and All-Star at a position without much elite talent in the major leagues. With a young rotation mostly formed in New York, having a veteran backstop still in his prime would go a long way for the Mets, and that is perhaps why they have upped their offer to the Brewers.
Sources: #Mets made three-player offer to #Brewers for Lucroy, headed by d’Arnaud. Second piece believed to be Nimmo or comparable player.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2016
Given willingness to move 3rd piece, curious to see if Mets asked for more than Lucroy (maybe a reliever) with this latest offer.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) July 30, 2016
The Mets have put their own catcher, Travis d’Arnaud, into the deal, as well as (potentially) outfield prospect Brendan Nimmo, who slashed .336/.409/.517 in 286 AB at AAA Las Vegas this season.
In response, the Brewers have started Martin Maldonado in lieu of Lucroy at catcher tonight - on 90’s night at Miller Park no less - which, 48 hours prior to the trade deadline, seems likely to be an indication of their plans. The trick will be convincing Milwaukee that d’Arnaud (currently hitting .238/.291/.323) is worth being the centerpiece of a trade that subtracts a huge trade asset from their roster. To their credit, the Brewers have also stated that the Carlos Gomez trade that fell through between the two teams last season has had no bearing on these talks.
No matter what the Mets do, they are going to have to get runners in from scoring position in order to compete for a Wild Card spot. Lucroy, in theory, could help there as well.