First off, I have been a Puk fan since his draft days as I wanted the Mets to have a shot to get him, knowing it was highly unlikely. The A’s drafted the tall lefty as the 6th overall pick in the 2016 MLB draft.

In 2019, he made his Major League debut as a 25 year old. He finished his brief call up with a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 innings, coming out of the bullpen. Over his minor league career Puk has pitched to a 3.98 ERA in 183 innings, pitching mostly as a starter. He struck out 12.9 per nine over his minor league career with a 1.21 WHIP.

Puk profiles a high 90’s fastball with a solid slider. He uses those pitches the most while working on a Change-up. In over 202 pitches, he threw just 19 change-ups in his minor league run. Still, Puk profiles major stuff from the left side and with some refining, he can be a force.

Main issue with Puk is his arm problems. In 2018, he had TJS and in 2020 he didn’t pitch due part to a shoulder injury in which had required surgery. According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Puk is expected to be ready for Spring Training.

The reason I write this article is noticing his value on Baseball Trade Values. His value was way lower than I expected according to BaseballTradeValues. Obviously it doesn’t show his real value, however it might indicate he is worth giving up some own assets? Puk is a starting pitcher we desperately need in the upper level. As mentioned before we only have deGrom and Peterson under contract for next year and Puk is a cheap option money wise to add. The Mets need a starter for more than one year, but signing three starters of the market is very expensive. Hence a trade?

Above are two proposals which indicate Puk his projected value by BaseballTradeValues. I don’t see the Athletics being interested in Davis, because they have a pretty solid 3rd baseman (slight sarcasm because Chapman is great). If they get J.D. it’s likely he will take the spot from another Davis (Khris with a K). The reason I added it is because it shows the value Puk has as Davis is a known player for most Mets fans.

The second one I do see happening. With the A’s losing their short stop in Semien, they could have some interest in a cheap shortstop to replace him in Rosario. With Rosario they also add a strong prospect in Mark Vientos, who can replace Chapman if he gets to expensive for them? This is the way the A’s make trades, getting prospects and cheap under controlled players in return.

Would you make this trade?

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