Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blue Jays Acquire R.A. Dickey

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 17, 2012 at 5:30pm CDT

The Mets have sold high on R.A. Dickey after the 38-year-old knuckleballer's Cy Young season, trading him to the Blue Jays as part of a seven-player deal. Toronto will receive Dickey, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas in exchange for John Buck and prospects Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard and Wuilmer Becerra. As part of the deal, Toronto has also agreed to a three-year extension with Dickey. 

D'Arnaud, 24 in February, was rated as Baseball America's No. 17 prospect heading into 2012 and the Blue Jays' top prospect according to MLB.com. The catcher moved up to Triple-A this past season and posted a .333/.380/.595 batting line with 16 home runs in 67 games. While some have speculated that his knee could be trouble, the Mets have reportedly reviewed his medicals and deemed them to be fine.

Syndergaard, Toronto's third-best prospect as ranked by MLB.com, was a supplemental first round selection and the 38th overall pick in the 2010 draft. The 20-year-old spent last season at Class A Lansing posting a 2.60 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 pitching line in 103 2/3 innings covering 27 games including 19 starts. Syndergaard's fastball can easily reach into the upper-90s with a power breaking ball and changeup that can develop into above-average or plus pitches.

Becerra, a native of Venezuela, played the first 11 games of his professional career this past season before turning 18 on October 1st. The right-handed hitter stands 6'4" and played left and right field during his Rookie League debut. Becerra signed for $1.3MM in July of 2011, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. He has athleticism and speed to go along with raw power, and could project as a power/speed corner outfielder, Badler wrote in March.

Nickeas, a Vancouver, British Columbia native, appeared in 47 games for the Mets in 2012. The right-handed hitting 29-year-old posted a .174/.242/.229 batting line in 122 plate appearances with New York. He has MLB experience in parts of three seasons, but is not yet arbitration eligible.

The 26-year-old Thole is a career .261/.331/.333 hitter in 1026 plate appearances for the Mets. The former 13th-round selection has served as New York's primary catcher in each of the past two seasons and is arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $1.2MM salary for Thole.

The Mets signed Dickey as a free agent three winters ago and he immediately became a fixture in the team's rotation. From 2010-11 he averaged 192 innings with a 3.08 ERA, 5.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. Then, in 2012, Dickey's performance improved substantially. He led the National League with 233 2/3 innings pitched, 230 strikeouts and five complete games, posting a 2.73 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. He made his first All-Star appearance, collected MVP votes and won the NL Cy Young Award. It led to some differences of opinion on Dickey's value and some unique contract negotiations.

The Mets discussed an extension with the knuckleballer, but the sides didn't reach an agreement. The club exercised Dickey's 2013 option in October, which means he'll earn $5MM in 2013, and didn't appear to offer more than $20MM for the 2014-15 seasons. 

Many other teams had interest in trading for Dickey. Every AL East team checked in on him, and the Royals, Rangers, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Nationals and Angels were also interested at various points during the offseason. Ultimately, however, the Blue Jays offered the best package and will add Dickey to a rotation that also includes Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports was the first to report that the trade had been agreed upon. Joel Sherman and Mike Puma of the New York Post first reported that the framework consisted of Dickey, Thole and another player for D'Arnaud, Syndergaard, Buck and a prospect (all Twitter links). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports added that Nickeas and Becerra were the other two names involved in the deal.

Zach Links, Edward Creech and Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Share 72 Retweet 259 Send via email0

New York Mets Toronto Blue Jays Transactions R.A. Dickey

Athletics To Sign Hiroyuki Nakajima
Main
Pirates Pushing To Move Joel Hanrahan
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    White Sox Sign Kyle Tyler To Minor League Deal

    Nationals Sign Luis Garcia

    Poll: The Yankees’ Biggest Need At The Deadline

    Yankees Place Mark Leiter Jr. On IL With Fibular Head Stress Fracture

    Rhys Hoskins Expects To Be Out Roughly Six Weeks

    Yankees Moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. Back To Second Base

    White Sox Reinstate Luis Robert Jr.

    Gary Sánchez Likely To Miss 8-10 Weeks

    Mets Designate Zach Pop For Assignment

    Red Sox Select Isaiah Campbell

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version