The Mets, at one point this summer, were contemplating trading their top starters, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. That’s because the Mets, despite a strong start to 2018, find themselves 13.5 games back of the NL East-leading Braves, and 12.5 back of a wild card spot.
The Mets don’t want to trade Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard anymore
Friday’s Say Hey, Baseball sees the Mets are doing an about-face on a rebuild attempt.
Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
New York has changed direction on that, though, and have instead decided to keep deGrom -- currently with a 1.84 ERA and over 11 strikeouts per nine -- and Syndergaard -- still productive when he’s managed to be on the mound -- and instead offer up two of their other starters, according to Andy Martino. Steven Matz an Zack Wheeler are the two arms the Mets are now considering dealing.
Wheeler and Matz have both missed significant time with injuries, but Matz, at least, has thrived most of the time he’s been healthy. He’s sporting a 111 ERA+, is 27, and won’t be a free agent until 2022. Wheeler has no such upside there: while he was an intriguing pitching prospect once upon a time, he’s spent much of his Mets career recovering from Tommy John surgery, and has been a well below-average starter over his last two seasons and 184 innings.
There might be something to dealing Matz and getting a quality return that’ll help the Mets in the future, especially when you consider how much service time seems to mean to teams in trades these days. Wheeler, though, only has 2019 left, and last was even around average in 2014.
There are no deals close, according to Martino, but the idea is that when teams come calling for deGrom or Syndergaard, the Mets will counter by offering up Matz and Wheeler. There are going to be a lot of disappointed executives on the other end of the phone line, but teams in contention that are also lacking in high-end prospects might actually be excited about the available pitchers being someone they can afford to acquire.
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