3 Former Braves Players the New York Mets Should Trade to Help Atlanta Catch Up

No team should specifically target former players from a particular team to improve. The New York Mets only pursued a slew of former Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees players last offseason because of their availability. Manager Carlos Mendoza’s familiarity with players like Harrison Bader and Luis Severino and David Stearns’ experience in trades with Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor all made sense for a Mets club with plenty of open roster spots on a 40-man roster.

At this year’s trade deadline, we could see the Mets coincidentally go after a few more former Brewers or Yankees. They could even flirt with trades to bring in former Atlanta Braves.

The Braves don’t have the top wild card spot yet. Catching them would be a dream come true for the Mets, if only for a change of pace. Hosting a lesser opponent doesn’t hurt either. While not the ultimate goal, a trade for one of these former Braves players could help New York move into the top wild card spot, where they currently sit four games behind.

Both a former Braves player and a former Mets player, Kevin Pillar is a valuable commodity for many teams. Even the Braves could use him on their roster. In what is expected to be his final MLB season, the Los Angeles Angels outfielder will have at least a few days where his name is mentioned often and fans of the contenders all seem to think he will save them.

With the Mets, Pillar is a right-handed assassin of left-handed pitchers. This year with the Angels, he is hitting .290/.340/.476 with six home runs in 156 plate appearances. The .160/.290/.360 he hit as a member of the Chicago White Sox earlier this year can be cited as a reason for that. Far more spectacular is the .368/.411/.618 batting line he has against lefties in 73 opportunities.

The Mets’ outfield needs are a bit complicated because two of the starters starting in Starling Marte’s place have reversed averages. Jeff McNeil is hitting .250/.290/.352 against lefties while Tyrone Taylor is just .188/.222/.290. They’re almost on the verge of literally swapping places when you look at righties. Taylor is hitting .250/.300/.450 against them with McNeil at .208/.274/.329. If you had to bet, McNeil would probably be the one leaning more toward understanding righties.