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The Mets would be willing to trade left-handed pitcher Jon Niese if they could acquire a player with similar team control remaining, reports Jayson Stark of ESPN.
Niese, who, as recently as this summer, was rumored as being a trade target for the Dodgers, is under team control potentially as far as 2018. His contract runs through 2016 with team options in 2017 and 2018. He is set to make $9 million next year. His options are for $10 million and $11 million in 2017 and 2018, respectively, with minimal buyouts.
Niese has been a solid, if relatively unheralded contributor to the Mets' rotation this season, with a 3.36 ERA and 4.08 FIP in 18 starts. A Met for his entire career, Niese was taken in the seventh round of the 2005 amateur draft. The Mets would likely be willing to part with him in return for a position player to help boost the team's current dismal offensive output.