Pittsburgh Pirates: Mets Still Pursuing Josh Harrison

Rumors have cooled on Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison of late.  However, apparently the New York Mets are still interested in the versatile infielder.

After the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen, many expected Josh Harrison to be on the move.  Actually, earlier in the off-season, some insiders felt he was the most likely of the three to be traded.  Reports were that he was one of the most popular names brought up at the Winter Meetings.  Then, after the other two trades happened, Harrison hinted that he would like to be traded if the Pittsburgh Pirates were not serious about contending this season.  With it looking like the Bucs are gearing up more for 2019 than 2018, it seemed, even more, likely that Harrison would be on his way out.

Well, over the last two weeks there have not been many rumors regarding the Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman.   The slow free agent market is still developing, and there are still plenty of infielders on the market who are comparable to Harrison.  Still, one team has kept their interest.  According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Pirates and Mets are keeping in contact about Harrison.  Here is what Puma tweeted:

"“Mets are continuing dialogue with Pirates about Josh Harrison, but still believe a free agent addition is more likely. And that may not happen until the bigger names are off the board.”"

Of course, this is not much to go on, other than that Mets are continuing to make sure nothing has changed in terms of Harrison.  Whether that is a change in asking price or if the Bucs are potentially close to trading him to another team.  The latter does not seem likely at this point.  The former, however, may need to change if the Bucs want to make a deal with the Mets.  Apparently, Neal Huntington asked for outfielder Brandon Nimmo, a former first-round pick, and a former top prospect.  Nimmo put up a respectable début last season, batting .260/.379/.418 in 69 games.  He would fill an immediate need in the outfield for the Pirates with Cutch being traded.  However, the Mets have apparently balked at that asking price.

Next: Carlos Gonzalez a fit for the Bucs?

As of now, it is hard to say if a deal will get done with the Mets.  MLBTR suggests names like Eduardo Nunez and Neil Walker as potential fits with the Mets.  Also, they did re-sign Jose Reyes and have Asdrubal Cabrera who could fill the third base and second base spots.  Still, it is interesting to see that the Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates are still in contact.  Of course, this could mean a deal still could come to fruition or not.  As we have seen this offseason with the Bucs, a trade can come together really quickly.