Mets Seem Poised to Make Another Costly Mistake With Josh Hader Trade and That's So Mets

The only thing more "Mets" than sitting on your cash-filled hands when superstars are floating around the market, available for only money, is using your precious prospect capital to trade for the most volatile thing in the baseball landscape.

Just last offseason, the Mets felt the need to make a splash under new GM Brodie Van Wagenen, dealing Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn for Robinson Cano's large salary and Edwin Diaz, the best reliever in the game in 2018... except, possibly, for Milwaukee's Josh Hader. Diaz then proceeded to do what relievers do and backslid, despite excellent peripherals. Everything that went his way in '19 didn't in '18, and that's the way it goes.

Now, presented with a chance to course-correct this offseason and only spend on essentials, it seems the Mets are ready to once again get into the bidding on the most "expensive" relief commodity available: Hader, whose unhittable fastball got a little more hittable in 2019.

Yes, it will cost them a ton. No, this is not a "buy low" opportunity.

And no, they should not be in on it.

The team proved in 2019's electric second half that they're not far from contention, and that a few shrewd moves at the margins to insulate their elite rotation and provide a bench and bullpen depth could lead to maximizing the present and future. Dealing JD Davis or All-Star and near-batting champ Jeff McNeil for Josh Hader would do neither. Nor would emptying the farm yet again, shipping out Brett Baty and Andres Gimenez.

Another year, another chance to correct an incredibly correctable error for the Mets. Let's see if they instead bite down on another expensive chandelier.