There’s been a lot made in recent weeks, and even the last year, about how great of trade partners the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs are. As a die hard Mets fan, a closet Cubs fan and just a baseball fan in general, I’ll weigh in with what I think of this whole situation.
It makes perfect sense, it really does. The Cubs have a plethora, rather an embarrassment of riches when it comes to middle infielders, while they could [theoretically] use an additional arm in their rotation.
The Mets on the other hand, have an embarrassment of riches of arms, but could [theoretically] use a middle infielder.
Supply meets demand from both perspectives, no question about it.
And while I would gladly take a middle-infielder from the Cubs for a young arm, Mets brass has been hesitant to part with some of the big young names taking the league by storm right now. In my humble opinion, this is only a good thing.
While the Mets are unwilling, or so far, have yet to find a team to meet their demands, for guys like Zack Wheeler (left), Noah Syndergaard, or Jacob deGrom, I find no reason to move those guys at all. They all have dynamic stuff. When you put them after Matt Harvey, that is a championship rotation.
I commend the Mets for being hesitant to move their top young arms. Ever heard the [old] adage, “you can never have too much pitching”? The 2015 Mets are the epitome of why that is true.
Their bullpen more specifically has been hit hard by the injury bug. Relievers Bobby Parnell, Vic Black, Jerry Blevins, Josh Edgin and Jenry Mejia along with combo pitcher Rafael Montero have all hit the disabled list before May was even around.
This team has dipped to the Double-A ranks to prematurely pull up Hansel Robles, Jack Leathersich and Sean Gilmartin.
Not that any of those arms I mentioned on the DL and those allegedly on the trade block could replace the other, but it shows, why pitching depth is so vitally important to a staff, as the Mets have mightily struggled out of the ‘pen in May after a fast start to the season.
As for the idea they need a shortstop. I agree to a degree.
In his career, Wilmer Flores is just now, in June or 2015, reaching what is the equivalent of a full season’s worth of at bats. His 259 last year were his career high. While his major league average is not all that great, the kid has offensive pop and is a tough out.
While I’d agree with most Mets fans, that Flores is not our future at shortstop, for what this team is, I don’t think he’s quite the problem, offensively.
What a lot of people fail to see, and Mets fans can often be blinded by this too, is they have a very offensive minded, yet defensively solid shortstop that is not far, and by not far I mean, he’s ready but the organization is for now, sticking with Flores.
My love for college players is going to show itself again here.
I saw Matt Reynolds (left) in the NCAA tournament with Arkansas a few years ago and thought, that guy is going to be a very good big league hitter. A third basemen at the time with the Razorbacks, Reynolds was a few weeks later taken by the Mets in the second round of the 2012 draft.
After making Triple-A in his second full minor league season, Reynolds has done nothing but excelled at the plate. He’s not a big power guy, though he has some pop, Reynolds is just solid. A career .307 Triple-A hitter (in 519 plate appearances), Reynolds is as tough an out as maybe any hitter in the Mets system.
When I say tough out, I mean he doesn’t strike out a ton.
I know don’t know for a fact, but I get the feeling the Mets aren’t going to go out and break the bank over an Addison Russell or Javier Baez or even Starlin Castro before giving Reynolds a shot.
Listening to people around the Mets, it’s apparent they like him, and are willing to be patient with Flores despite his defensive struggles.
My ultimate thought is, Flores becomes a super utility guy that will play all over the field. Right now, they have Wright hurt, if this scenario played out next year, I could see Flores being a fill in there 4 out of 6 games a week or something and spotting guys on off-days.
I’ll save other predictions for this team for later in this post. Now before this Cubs/Mets ideal trade stuff resurfaced a few weeks ago, the talk was all about Troy Tulowitzki.
Don’t misunderstand me when I say, Troy Tulowitzki is one of the games elite, most dynamic players, but, he comes with a big, huge cloud over his head that cannot be ignored.
His injury issues.
At 30 years old, there’s a lot to like about Tulo, but there’s a lot not to like.
Such as his inability to stay healthy. I’ve written about this, I’ve written about this, and I’ve written about this some more. The most games he’s played in, was in 2007 when he played in 155 at the age of 22.
He has played in 150 or more games only twice in his career, and since 2012, he’s only managed 100 games or more once.
If you are any logical team owner or GM, would you give up a more than promising 22-year fireball right hander plus some more for that?
Sorry, I don’t care how good the numbers are and how dynamic he is when he’s on the field, I wouldn’t do that 101 times out of 100.
Not to mention his price tag.
Tulo is under contract for five more years at $20-million per year until he’s 34. I just cannot commit that kind of talent to a guy with that injury history with that price tag for my elite prospects.
In fact up until the Mets committed short term to a pair of outfielders over the age of 35, Tulo wasn’t even the first guy on that Rockies team I wanted. For years I’ve been screaming for them to go get Carlos Gonzalez, but he too comes with his share of issues, the same of which are Tulo’s.
But there’s a team that’s on the other side of the country I think the Mets matchup with wonderfully for a trade, and it makes even more sense for them as it does the Mets.
The Dodgers.
The Dodgers?
The Dodgers.
The Dodgers pitching staff is in dire need of improvement.
After Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, their rotation is horrendous.
While Brett Anderson has been very good for LA to this point, like Tulo and CarGo, you’re banking on a guy with a long history of injury problems to give you something you cannot live without, and that’s 28-35 starts.
I, along with likely countless others are just counting down the starts until Anderson tweaks an ankle getting out of his car or pulls the muscle that connects his hip to his leg or something outrageously crazy that’s kept him out in the past.
Additionally, Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias are hardly the images of stability you want at the back end of your rotation if you’re going for a pennant, let alone the World Series the Dodgers so desperately are seeking, need, must have etc, given the investments in this team at this point.
So all that said, it’s obvious, the Dodgers need pitching help. On top of that, they need inexpensive, yet stable pitching help.
The Mets have three guys, right now, that could slide in after Brett Anderson, and be better than what they have anywhere in their organization, and the deal gives the Dodgers an out for a guy they never should have signed in the first place.
Two, if not, all three of Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese and Dillon Gee (right) would be great for the Dodgers.
The Mets seem to already be leaning towards moving Colon at some point this year. His contract is unbelievably team friendly, his performance continues to be unbelievable given his ripe young age of 42, and he’s as experienced and steady as perhaps any pitcher in baseball.
Niese and Gee are two middle of the rotation pitchers that could provide the Dodgers a huge lift and consistency they are going to need.
As a fifth year pro, I’m not the biggest Jon Niese fan. He gets down on himself very easily. He can sometimes be a liability health wise, and his mental toughness is just lacking.
The thing about Niese is, you’re going to get him to perform. He may have a bad start here and there, but his good starts outweigh the bad ones, and his numbers in the big leagues are surprisingly good.
A career 3.90 ERA, Niese has finished the last three of four years with a sub-3.5 ERA and the other year he finished with a 3.71 ERA.
While his wins haven’t been there, it’s hard to criticize that given he plays for the Mets and has been a part of some of their worst teams in decades.
What I don’t like about Niese, I love about Gee. Gee is tough. He doesn’t let little things get to him. And while he has a tendency to find himself on the disabled list, you never question why he’s there.
While his numbers don’t jump out at you quite like Niese’s, Gee is just a solid pitcher. Sometimes it’s hard to sell a guy like that, but the Dodgers seem to be shifting to bringing guys like that aboard, ie Jimmy Rollins, Howie Kendrick, and Brandon McCarthy.
You might be thinking, dude, Seth, that’s not going to get you anywhere close to Corey Seager. Guys, there might just be a guy I like more than Seager with the Dodgers, and that’s my boy, Alex Guerrero.
The Dodgers clearly don’t like Guerrero.
Guerrero doesn’t even have 100 at bats, and if it wasn’t for Joc Pederson or Adrian Gonzalez, he’d lead the team in home runs with nine. So essentially, he’s their third best power threat and he’s not even a regular in the lineup.
I would argue he’s much better than Justin Turner at third, the way Jimmy Rollins is playing, he should get a bid at short, and Scott Van Slyke isn’t exactly lighting the sky up in left field, yet Guerrero remains relegated to a role position at $7-million a year.
Need I point out, Guerrero in Triple-A last year was beyond spectacular.
At Triple-A Albuquerque, Guerrero mashed a line of .329/.364/.613 with 15 homers and 49 RBIs in a limited 65 game slate thanks to an ear injury. No thanks to the always dependable to do something stupid Miguel Olivo.
Bottom line is, Guerrero, signed out of Cuba as a middle infielder but has played all over including third and left field this year, can flat out mash, something only a few guys in the Mets current lineup can do.
With lines like that, you might wonder why would the Dodgers sell him for cheap.
An excellent question, yet one not many fans realize.
There is a clause in Guerrero’s contract that if he is traded, the following season he is eligible for free agency, no matter the amount of time left on his contract.
That has a lot of teams scared away from him, because he could be a rental for a season. That also means few teams are willing to move big time prospects, despite Guerrero’s clear evidence of big league talent.
Not only do I think the Mets would be able to resign Guerrero after this year, I think the Dodgers would find Colon, Niese and/or Gee perhaps the best offer they get for a guy that clearly, this group of owners and coaches (specifically Donnie Baseball) does not like.
To me, a Dodgers, Mets trade makes much more sense than anything else at this point.
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