Category: Trades

Mets Still Trying To Trade Ike Davis

ike davisAccording to a report in the NY Post, the Mets are still trying unsuccessfully to trade Ike Davis. The Orioles, Brewers, and Pirates have all had some level of interest in Davis this offseason. But Sandy Alderson hasn’t been able to close a deal.

Apparently, Alderson is seeking a top pitching prospect in return for Davis. The names that have come up are 20- year old Eduardo Rodriguez from the Orioles and Tyler Thornburg from the Brewers.

It’s hard to imagine the Mets getting a big return for Davis after the last two seasons. Sure, Davis had 32 home runs in 2012 but he did all of the damage in the second half. He couldn’t hit at all in the first half of that season. I think the Mets are rightfully ready to move on from Davis and Alderson shouldn’t have unrealistic expectations about his value on the trade market.

photo credit: slgckgc via photopin cc

 

Mets Trade R.A. Dickey to Blue Jays

Travis d'Arnaud At Bat
Travis d’Arnaud At Bat (Photo credit: tjperr)

R.A. Dickey agreed to a 2-year/$25 million contract extension with the Toronto Blue Jays today that completed the trade with the Mets for the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner. The Jays will also get catchers Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas. In return, the Mets get top catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, minor league pitcher Noah Snydergaard, catcher John Buck, and minor league outfielder Wuilmer Becerra.

The trade seems like a good deal for the Mets with d’Arnaud being listed as a top 20 prospect in all of baseball. It further cements the Mets rebuilding effort and willingness to concede the 2013 season to be a fifth straight losing season. The only thing holding the Mets back from a complete overhaul is Johan Santana and his massive contract. The Mets tried to talk Santana trades at the winter meetings but no teams had any interest.

Time will tell if this trade works out for the Mets. We won’t know for sure for a few seasons. If d’Arnaud turns out to be suspect instead of a prospect, Sandy Alderson will have made one of the worst moves in Mets history. But if d’Arnaud turns into the next Buster Posey the Mets will have done rather well for a 38 year old knuckleballer.

R.A. Dickey Trade to Blue Jays Appears Imminent

_MG_4618Multiple media sources are reporting that 2012 Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey is on the verge of being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Reportedly, the Mets will receive top prospects including catcher Travis d’Arnaud and outfielder Anthony Gose.

The Blue Jays have already improved with some major acquisitions this offseason. They made a blockbuster trade with the Marlins acquiring Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonifacio, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle. They also signed free agent Melky Cabrera. Acquiring Dickey puts them in the top tier of American League teams heading into the 2013 season.

The Mets will acquire some sorely needed catching and outfield help. Both d’Arnaud and Gose are considered high potential prospects which is what the Mets have been after since the season ended. And with contract extension talks stalled with Dickey, the Mets are clearly ready to head in another direction.

Mets Trade Angel Pagan to Giants

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: RY 24: RY ...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Mets traded Angel Pagan to the Giants for outfielder Andres Torres and reliever Ramon Ramirez. Pagan is a tremendous athlete that frustrated Mets fans with bonehead plays in the field and on the bases. He appeared to be making great strides to realize his potential in 2010 but took a step back in 2011. Hopefully, he’ll realize that potential with the Giants because he seems like one of the good guys in the game.

Ramon Ramirez is the important piece of the trade for the Mets. He’s been working the middle innings in the majors since 2006 to some success. His career ERA is 3.16. That’s pretty good for a career middle reliever. Surprisingly, the Mets are Ramirez’ fifth team in seven seasons. That goes to show how little a priority that middle relievers are.

Andres Torres is a throw-in in this deal. He’s a light-hitting switch hitter with some speed that plays solid defense in the outfield. He’ll be 34 years old next season and hasn’t made it to free agency yet. He made $2.2 million last season so he’ll be in line for a little bit of a salary increase. I would guess the Mets see him as a fourth outfielder and plan to make another move to replace Pagan in center field.

Report: Mets Will Field Offers for David Wright

David Wright
Image via Wikipedia

ESPN’s Buster Olney writes today that he expects the Mets to listen to offers for David Wright in the offseason. It’s the perfect time contractually to trade Wright because he only has one year left on his contract plus a team option for 2013 that is eliminated if he’s traded. Next season he’ll make $15 million and the 2013 option is for $16 million with a $1 million buyout.

Olney expects the Rockies and Angels to be in on the bidding for Wright. I’m sure there would plenty of other teams that would contact Sandy Alderson if they knew that Wright was available. His contract is very much aligned with his on-field value and with only one year left, there’s almost no down side for a team to acquire him. If the first year doesn’t work out let him to free agency for, presumably, Type A compensation.

The problem for the Mets is that if they trade Wright, they need to re-sign Jose Reyes or the team will be in danger of completely cratering for seasons to come. If the Mets trade Wright and don’t re-sign Reyes, it will clearly be a salary dump move to help alleviate the Madoff situation. And that won’t sit well with fans like me.

Timing could be an issue as well. Free agency starts five days after the World Series ends and Reyes will be one of the most valuable players in free agency. He may sign a new contract quickly, which wouldn’t give Alderson much time to work out a trade for Wright.  That could be the most difficult aspect of this.

Thanks to MLBTradeRumors for the tip.

Video: Mets Prospect Zack Wheeler

The Mets trade of Carlos Beltran and cash to the Giants for prospect Zack Wheeler should be completed and announced by both teams today. There’s quite a bit of video of Zack Wheeler available including some boring interviews. Here’s some quality video of a single-A start that Wheeler made for San Jose on May 11, 2011.

Wheeler was the sixth overall pick in the draft in 2009 by the Giants. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s assigned to St. Lucie or Binghamton when he joins the Mets. Here are his minor league stats:

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff W L ERA G GS GF IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP
2010 20 Augusta SALL A SFG 3 3 3.99 21 13 2 58.2 47 27 26 0 38 70 1.449
2011 21 San Jose CALL A+ SFG 7 5 3.99 16 16 0 88.0 74 44 39 7 47 98 1.375
2 Seasons 10 8 3.99 37 29 2 146.2 121 71 65 7 85 168 1.405
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/28/2011.

 

And here’s some video of his start in May:

Carlos Beltran and His 32 Game On Base Streak are Gone!

DENVER, CO - MAY 12: Carlos Beltran #15 of th...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

For all the complaints I have made about Carlos Beltran in the past… how selfish I think he was, how he never stood up to be a leader in the clubhouse or on the field, how he didn’t show up to a Veteran’s Hospital visit, how he ended the 2006 NL Championship with his bat on his shoulder and even his preference to play for the Yankees for a discount before he settled on the Mets… his bat and glove will be missed.

Let me make that clear… His bat and glove will be missed. The player will not be.

He has had a productive career here but he was (and still is) clearly playing for his next contract and a chance to win now. Who can blame him? He currently has a 32 game on base streak that dates back to June 16th. It’s the second longest active streak in the majors. He’s leading the NL in doubles with 30 and he’s seventh in the NL with 66 RBI’s. He’s http://laparkan.com/buy-sildenafil/ also tied for 2nd with 47 extra base hits.

Basically, Beltran was having a monster season and showing everyone he was finally healthy, proved he could still play the field and was still dangerous on the base-paths. This was a 4 month audition for his next team. Nothing more so I had no emotional attachments to Beltran this year. I’m not glad he’s gone, don’t really care he’s gone either.

I am glad he went to the Giants though. I can now root for the Giants. Beltran’s going to have a monster 2 months and he still has the capability of carrying that team all the way to the World Series. I would love to see Beltran help the Giants beat the Phillies and the Yankees at some point. The trade is bittersweet but had to be done. We did get a great pitching prospect in return and the future looks a little brighter for it.

So I will say Goodbye Carlos Beltran. I’ll enjoy watching you hit homers out into the San Francisco Bay.
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