Naquin trade is a minor move
NEW YORK — While they still have a few more days until the Tuesday trade deadline, thus far the Mets have made moves to give themselves little micro-advantages rather than springing for any of the best available options.
Last week there was the acquisition of Daniel Vogelbach, a guy whose extreme splits mean he will only be seen against righthanded pitching. The move they made late Thursday night is similarly aimed at eliminating weaknesses rather than creating a strength.
The Mets traded two minorleaguers to Cincinnati for outfielder Tyler Naquin and lefthanded reliever Phillip Diehl.
The deal is really about Naquin, though, who hit .246/.305/.444 in 56 games for the Reds this year. More importantly, as the Mets look to create platoon edges wherever they can, the left-handed Naquin is hitting .264/.333/.472 off righties.
What this move mainly does is protect Eduardo Escobar from having to hit those scary right-handers. Escobar has been dreadful against that group, who flip him around to his less-potent left-handed batting stance.
Naquin will prevent Jeff Mcneil from having to play the outfield as often, instead holding down second base against righties while Luis Guillorme handles third base. In 259 plate appearances against righties this year, Escobar has only managed a .200 batting average and .590 OPS, which is a problem considering most of the pitchers in the league use their right hand.
Now the Mets can swap out Escobar — who, against righties, is 28% worse than the average hitter by WRC+ — for Naquin, who is 17% better than league average in that situation.
With their sights set on something much greater than regular-season wins, the Mets now also have the luxury of providing their outfielders with some more regular rest. Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Mcneil and Mark Canha are all in the top 25 of plate appearances by National League outfielders.
The weather certainly isn’t going to get any cooler in August, and one or two days a month in the shady dugout rather than the sweltering outfield grass isn’t the worst idea in the world.
As for the specifics, Naquin was playing on a one-year deal with Cincinnati and will hit unrestricted free agency at the end of the year, hence his availability. This is his seventh year in the league after being selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2012 draft, one ahead of Lucas Giolito and two before Corey Seager.
Naquin spent the first five years of his career in Cleveland and finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2016, the same year he played in five of the team’s seven World Series games. For his career, he’s played almost the same amount of games in center field (1,633 innings) as right (1,611), which was his primary post for the Reds.
Diehl, meanwhile, put up great strikeout numbers for the Reds’ Triple-a team but has bricked each of his limited big-league chances. In 23 innings for the Louisville Bats this season, the 28-year-old Diehl posted a 30.6% strikeout rate.