D-Backs Should Call the Mets For a Rental Supreme Trade

Entering the 2026 season, it would have been hard to imagine the New York Mets having a fire sale by the time the August 3rd trade deadline came around. As the deadline looms mere days away, the Mets are open for business for anyone not named Christian Scott, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, and Juan Soto.

For the Arizona Diamondbacks, they approach this year’s deadline as the second Wild Card, holding a 58-52 record. Arizona has taken a step back over the previous two seasons following their 2023 World Series appearance. This time last year, they were sellers. This season they are primed to add to their roster to push themselves to their first playoff berth since their incredible World Series run.

Arizona and New York become perfect trade partners because of the D-Backs’ needs and the players the Mets are willing to auction off. Just Baseball has come up with this potential trade between the two clubs:

Arizona Receives: RHP Clay Holmes, LHP Brooks Raley, and OF Tyrone Taylor

New York Receives: 2B JD Dix, RHP Patrick Forbes, OF Druw Jones

Why This Works For Arizona

To start, the D-Backs rotation is in dire need of help. Outside of Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka, the rest of the rotation has struggled mightily this season. Zac Gallen has been a shell of himself, sporting a 6.34 ERA in 19 starts.

Arizona expected Gallen to be a key piece at the front of their rotation, and he’s been anything but that. The club brought back Merrill Kelly, and his ERA sits at 4.86. 28-year-old Ryne Nelson has started 15 games and has posted a 4.97 ERA.

Clay Holmes

Aside from the fact that their regulars in the rotation have not produced, the club has also used nine different players to start games this season, and none of it seems to be working. Enter Clay Holmes.

Clay Holmes has missed a good chunk of the season due to injury and has started just nine games this season. Since the Mets transitioned Holmes to a starting pitcher, he’s been a very reliable top-of-the-rotation arm. Last season, Holmes pitched to the tune of a 3.53 ERA totaling a 1.9 fWAR.

In 2026, Holmes has looked very good when healthy. He currently has a 2.39 ERA to go along with a 3.22 FIP. Holmes is one of the best groundball pitchers in the game and would be a valuable asset to add to a struggling rotation.

Brooks Raley

Next, Arizona would also be adding a strong left-handed option to the back-end of their bullpen. The Diamondbacks bullpen has been middle-of-the-pack this season. Arizona’s pen has a 4.11 ERA on the campaign and lacks reliable left-handed relief options.

The Arizona bullpen has some very strong pieces. Taylor Clarke, Kevin Ginkel, Jonathan Loaisiga, Brandyn Garcia and Juan Morillo have all been very good for the club. Of that core, only Garcia is a lefty. This is where Brooks Raley is the perfect fit.

The 38-year-old southpaw has been super reliable when healthy for the New York Mets. In his four seasons with the club, he has a 2.33 ERA and just a 3.08 FIP. Arizona is in need of another high-leverage left-handed bullpen arm and Raley fits the bill perfectly.

For the D-Backs, including Raley in a larger deal for Holmes and Taylor can slightly lower the price for them to be able to add a player that would transcend their bullpen.

Tyrone Taylor

The final piece of this deal is outfielder Tyrone Taylor. Aside from Corbin Carroll, the Diamondbacks have utilized multiple outfielders this season that have not gotten the job done. Taylor is having the best season of his career and would be a perfect addition to their outfield.

The Diamondbacks have experimented with several outfielders this season. Lourdes Gurriel, Ryan Waldschmidt, Tim Tawa, Jorge Barrosa, Tommy Troy, Alek Thomas, Max Kepler, and Jordan Lawlar have all seen time in the outfield. None of those players have produced enough to make Arizona content with their outfield.

Tyrone Taylor is slashing .239/.289/.486 this season in New York while providing solid defense. Taylor has a 112 OPS+ and a 113 wRC+ and would be a player the Diamondbacks can count on to solve their outfield dilemma.

This package would bring three rentals to Arizona, but they would make considerable improvements to their rotation, bullpen, and their outfield. Holmes has a player option that will likely be declined, but Taylor and Raley are true rentals. If the Diamondbacks want to stay competitive in a crowded National League, this deal with the Mets solves a lot of problems in Arizona.

Why This Works for New York

As mentioned previously, the Mets have confirmed they are open for business. With just four players named as untouchables, these three rentals are certainly likely to be moved by August 3rd.

JD Dix

The first piece the Mets get back in this deal is Diamondbacks No. 4 prospect JD Dix. Dix is a switch-hitting second baseman that was selected 35th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft. The Arizona prospect currently resides in High-A Hillsboro.

Dix is likely at least two seasons away from reaching the bigs. The 20-year-old has struggled in his 34 games since moving up to Hillsboro. Dix is slashing .218/.300/.271 since the promotion.

Dix was drafted out of Whitefish Bay High School, the same school that Craig Counsell came from, and made his professional debut last season. Dix had an .810 OPS across Rookie Ball and Single-A in 2025. In 2026, he’s hitting .238 with a .734 OPS across Single- and High-A.

There’s no doubt that Dix has a long way to go in his development, but he would be a really good addition to the Mets farm system.

Patrick Forbes

One of the more intriguing assets in this prospective deal is right-handed pitcher Patrick Forbes. The 2025 29th overall pick has only pitched 14.2 innings professionally, but his strikeout stuff makes him a highly valuable arm.

Through his college career, he had a 4.51 ERA with 13.0 strikeouts per nine. In his draft year, he had 14.8 K/9. A 6-foot-3 right-hander with a strong fastball and a good slider that’s able to generate the strikeout numbers that Forbes has is very highly touted in big league front offices.

In his small sample size of 15.2 innings across Rookie Ball and High-A, Forbes has a 2.30 ERA while fanning 22 hitters and allowing just a .163 average against and a 0.68 WHIP.

As a draft pick out of college with some good development on his pitches, Forbes projects as a potential MLB player in early 2028 assuming all goes well with the rest of his development.

Druw Jones

The last prospect the Mets acquire in this large deal is the most well-known: former second overall pick Druw Jones. The outfielder and former top prospect has not put it all together since entering the Diamondbacks organization, but New York would be happy to acquire a player who once looked like a future star.

2026 is Jones’ fourth season playing minor league baseball. For his career, he’s slashing .262/.369/.368 across four levels. Jones is currently in Double-A Amarillo and is having a solid season, but it might be time for a change of scenery.

Jones was once a top 20 prospect in baseball. His current value is nowhere near that. In this deal, the Mets would acquire Jones hoping that their developmental staff can unlock what his potential was expected to be. The possibility of them fixing him makes this trade much more enticing for New York.