Chicago Cubs: 2 off-the-wall and 1 likely Willson Contreras trade destinations

Chicago Cubs: 3 Trade Destinations for Willson Contreras – #3: New York Mets

Landing at #3, we start off with the New York Mets. With the catching depth chart listing only James McCann, who is under contract through 2024 and Tomas Nido, you can see reason to think the Mets wouldn’t be aggressive in the catcher department.

On the other hand, if McCann continues to underperform (he carries just a .660 OPS right now after putting up a career-high .896 in 2020), reinforcements are still several years away in top prospect Francisco Alvarez. Alvarez, who figures to be a top-tier catcher one day with above average power and a plus arm, is still currently at the High-A level. Shifting our focus to Nido, the team’s current backup catcher, it’s pretty clear what the numbers show (.230/.272/.338). He’s a backup catcher for a reason and isn’t a guy you build around behind the dish.

So, really, it comes to McCann. He enters the weekend batting just .236/.300/.360 – a far cry from the numbers he had put up the last couple years on the South Side (.276/.334/.474 since the start of 2019). There’s no doubt McCann has potential to be the guy, but so far in New York, he’s failed to live up to expectations. The former All-Star still has three years left on his deal, but the Mets might get thrown a lifeline in the form of the designated hitter, which could come to the NL as early as next season via the new collective bargaining agreement.

Such a move would give the Mets – as well as the other 14 National League clubs – a much-coveted extra spot in the batting order and would allow managers to rest players while keeping a hot bat in the lineup. Should New York look to further improve its depth at catcher, Contreras could be a solid fit for a club – and ownership – that’s shown its not afraid to make big moves. Remember – the Mets tried to not only acquire Baez back in July, but wanted Bryant, as well. Ultimately, the question mark regarding Jacob deGrom’s health stopped them in their tracks.