The latest post-deadline news out of Queens..
- The Mets also discussed Justin Upton before dealing for Yoenis Cespedes, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Mets preferred Cespedes in part because of his defense and the Padres also pulled back near the end.
- A Jay Bruce deal was on the table for a week before the Reds backed out and decided they wanted more from the Mets, according to Marc Carig of Newsday (Twitter links). While talks were serious and the teams exchanged medical info, the deal never got all that close to happening.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson said that he discussed adding another bullpen arm with teams, but he’s happy with the Tyler Clippard addition, Adam Rubin of ESPN.com tweets. The GM also noted that there are waiver trades in August, which could be an indication of what’s to come.
- Zack Wheeler called Alderson early this afternoon and expressed his desire to stay and the GM said that made an impact on him, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets.
- Alderson says the Mets are going for it, but wouldn’t term it as playoffs-or-bust, Matt Ehalt of The Record tweets.
Love hearing that Wheeler called to express an interest in staying with the Mets. Just a few years ago, I doubt that happens, players were more than willing to leave the Mets and never look back. The future is bright, at least for now.
Sandy Alderson gets WAY too much flak from fans. The guy has done very well with a demanding fan base and one of the worst owners in professional sports.
The only move that the man has made that was dumb, both at the time and in retrospect, was overpaying for Cuddyer and giving up our draft pick. But two months of Beltran turned into Zack Wheeler, and selling high on an aging pitcher got them D’Arnaud and Syndergaard (how insanely good does this deal look now?!). His one big contract was to Curtis Granderson, and he’s been the team’s best position player this season. The guy has made other smart moves and helped turn our farm system into one of the league’s best. I give him a lot of credit.
Sandy is a proven baseball guy that built championship teams.
Some credit has to be given to the owner for letting him work at the timetable to get it done right, not fast. Mets should continue to get better for the next few years.
Amen. The nature of sports fandom nowadays is to overreact in either direction. Sandy’s done a pretty good job turning the team around on a tight budget. There’s also the Byrd deal for Herrera and Black which has yet to really bear fruit (though it should next season). In the negative column, there’s also the Pagan for Torres deal. Win some, lose some, but overall, Sandy has been good for the club.
Absolutely. Alderson’s turned the worst team money could buy into a capable, competitive, fun-to-watch, deep team and organization.
Cespedes is a hard-nosed clutch player that will beat you with the bat, on the bases, and on D (with an exceptional arm). Just comes to play everyday. Upton is the exact opposite. Mets dodged a real bullet there.
Or made the right choice. It’s a matter of perspective. Personally, Céspedes, although a rental, seems like a better fit for this team than Gómez.
Well, Preller can hope Upton rebuilds more value in August and try to trade him them.
He can try and trade cashner Ross and Kimbrel in the off season.
Preller is the big loser this deadline. He thought he could recoup his mistakes by overcharging other GM’s for his players as he overpaid to get them. But he has a rep as a rock star, not a sharp baseball guy. So the only way people will deal with him now is if he gives them a deal as well. He’ll have to learn to get in line. The owner would be smart to cut bait this off-season and bring in a proven, respected FO type that can square away the mess. Because if he doesn’t, the messes will only get worse.
In August maybe.
No way Upton will clear waivers for an August trade.. San Diego has to accept that they are only going to get a comp pick for him.. Losing a potential TOR arm in Fried and Peterson who should have been the starting shortstop for the Padres this year for a comp pick has got to hurt.. Hart took Preller to the woodshed twice and got him even harder in the Kimbrel deal.. Hart singlehandedly handcuffed the Padres for a couple of years with those contracts.. I thought the Myers trade was going to be a good one though.. I never thought Turner would put in all that work in the offseason that would make him the beast he is now.. Just going off what he was last year Myers for Turner/Ross looked solid.. I do agree with Vandals though.. They need to cut Preller loose and let him go back to scouting.. Gm’s around baseball are never going to take him seriously after that Kimbrel trade.. Next year hopefully Myers will come back strong and Ross/Cashner will still hold a lot of value.. A new GM can unload at the deadline.
Had they kept Maybin, Peterson, Turner, and Ross, they’d look so much better than they do now. It’s wild.