The Mets are listening to trade offers on right-hander Carlos Carrasco, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. There’s nothing to indicate that a deal is particularly close or that the Mets are actively shopping him, but the fact that they are open to a deal is noteworthy.
The Mets’ rotation has been in a constant state of flux over the past couple of months. Once the 2022 season ended, Max Scherzer was the only member of the group locked in for 2023. Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker all reached free agency, while the club had an option on Carrasco’s services. Given all of that uncertainty, it wasn’t shocking that the Mets went for Carrasco’s $14MM option instead of the $3MM buyout. They still had plenty of work to do, but they at least went into the offseason with two rotation spots spoken for instead of just one.
Much has changed since that time, with deGrom, Bassitt and Walker signing with the Rangers, Blue Jays and Phillies, respectively. The Mets gave a qualifying offer to deGrom and Bassitt, meaning they will receive draft picks as compensation. To make up for those departures, the club replaced them by giving Justin Verlander $86.66MM (plus a potential player option), giving Kodai Senga $75MM and José Quintana $26MM.
Despite throwing all that money around to add to their rotation, it appears the club is now willing to consider a subtraction. Per Sherman’s report, trading Carrasco wouldn’t be about the money, which makes sense. The wild spending has shot up to record heights, with Roster Resource putting their payroll at $335MM and their competitive balance tax figure at $350MM. It wouldn’t have been likely that the club would have inflated the payroll to such a degree just to start pinching pennies after the fact. The logic is that the rising price of starting pitching this winter now makes Carrasco an attractive trade piece at a somewhat nominal salary.
Spending on starting pitching has indeed been surpassing expectations. MLBTR predicted deGrom to get $135MM over three years but he got $185MM over five. Jameson Taillon and Walker were each projected for four years at $56MM and $52MM, respectively. They did get four years but Taillon got $68MM and Walker got $72MM. Sean Manaea and Andrew Heaney came in under expectations but they each secured opt-outs that allow them to return to free agency a year from now. Though if they disappoint or get hurt, their signings clubs will be on the hook for a second season.
Carrasco comes with just a one year commitment, as he’s set to reach to reach free agency after 2023. Finding a quality free agent pitcher willing to sign a modest one-year deal is tough to do. Kyle Gibson secured himself a one-year pact with a $10MM salary from the Orioles despite being 35 years old and posting a 5.05 ERA in 2022. Carrasco has a more impressive track record than someone like Gibson and could be appealing to clubs that want to steer clear of the open market.
Carrasco is turning 36 in March but is coming off a strong campaign. He made 29 starts and tossed 152 innings with a 3.97 ERA, 23.6% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. Most advanced metrics thought he deserved even better, with Carrasco pegged at a 3.53 FIP, 3.45 xFIP and 3.60 SIERA. A .337 batting average on balls in play likely helped push his ERA up a bit. Most teams could fit a pitcher of this quality in their rotation, especially at the back end. Carrasco has some health concerns, as he’s gone to the IL for oblique and hamstring strains in recent seasons and had elbow surgery between 2021 and 2022. Nonetheless, he still proved valuable in 2022 and would certainly garner interest.
For the Mets, the calculus would likely come down to how much they value their depth. With Scherzer, Verlander, Senga and Quintana in the front four, they could rely on pitchers like David Peterson and Tylor Megill to take the final spot while using a trade of Carrasco to bolster another area of the roster. However, doing so would come with risk, given that their rotation is on the older side. Verlander turns 40 in February, Scherzer will be 39 in July, Quintana 34 in January and Carrasco 36 in March. The youngest of the bunch is Senga, who turns 30 in January. However, he will be coming over from Japan, where pitchers typically throw once a week instead of every five days in MLB. It’s unknown how his arm and body will respond to that adjustment.
Every baseball team will deal with rotation injuries throughout a lengthy season, even if it’s primarily built of young hurlers in their prime. This group will certainly have ailments from time to time as the campaign rolls along, meaning the Mets will surely have to rely on guys like Peterson and Megill even if they hang onto Carrasco. Subtracting him from the mix makes it more likely that they will have to reach deeper into their farm at some point.
The Mets still have areas they could upgrade, particularly a bullpen that lost a number of pitchers to free agency. Sherman suggests that the ideal return would actually be a young starter to plug into the farm and help them down the line. Addressing those areas could make sense but it would also deal a blow to the rotation security they have worked so hard to strengthen.
Lol wut?
The Mets are listening to trade offers on right-hander Carlos Carrasco, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. There’s nothing to indicate that a deal is particularly close or that the Mets are actively shopping him, but the fact that they are open to a deal is noteworthy.
The Mets’ rotation has been in a constant state of flux over the past couple of months. Once the 2022 season ended, Max Scherzer was the only member of the group locked in for 2023. Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker all reached free agency, while the club had an option on Carrasco’s services. Given all of that uncertainty, it wasn’t shocking that the Mets went for Carrasco’s $14MM option instead of the $3MM buyout. They still had plenty of work to do, but they at least went into the offseason with two rotation spots spoken for instead of just one.
Much has changed since that time, with deGrom, Bassitt and Walker signing with the Rangers, Blue Jays and Phillies, respectively. The Mets gave a qualifying offer to deGrom and Bassitt, meaning they will receive draft picks as compensation. To make up for those departures, the club replaced them by giving Justin Verlander $86.66MM (plus a potential player option), giving Kodai Senga $75MM and José Quintana $26MM.
Despite throwing all that money around to add to their rotation, it appears the club is now willing to consider a subtraction. Per Sherman’s report, trading Carrasco wouldn’t be about the money, which makes sense. The wild spending has shot up to record heights, with Roster Resource putting their payroll at $335MM and their competitive balance tax figure at $350MM. It wouldn’t have been likely that the club would have inflated the payroll to such a degree just to start pinching pennies after the fact. The logic is that the rising price of starting pitching this winter now makes Carrasco an attractive trade piece at a somewhat nominal salary.
Spending on starting pitching has indeed been surpassing expectations. MLBTR predicted deGrom to get $135MM over three years but he got $185MM over five. Jameson Taillon and Walker were each projected for four years at $56MM and $52MM, respectively. They did get four years but Taillon got $68MM and Walker got $72MM. Sean Manaea and Andrew Heaney came in under expectations but they each secured opt-outs that allow them to return to free agency a year from now. Though if they disappoint or get hurt, their signings clubs will be on the hook for a second season.
Carrasco comes with just a one year commitment, as he’s set to reach to reach free agency after 2023. Finding a quality free agent pitcher willing to sign a modest one-year deal is tough to do. Kyle Gibson secured himself a one-year pact with a $10MM salary from the Orioles despite being 35 years old and posting a 5.05 ERA in 2022. Carrasco has a more impressive track record than someone like Gibson and could be appealing to clubs that want to steer clear of the open market.
Carrasco is turning 36 in March but is coming off a strong campaign. He made 29 starts and tossed 152 innings with a 3.97 ERA, 23.6% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. Most advanced metrics thought he deserved even better, with Carrasco pegged at a 3.53 FIP, 3.45 xFIP and 3.60 SIERA. A .337 batting average on balls in play likely helped push his ERA up a bit. Most teams could fit a pitcher of this quality in their rotation, especially at the back end. Carrasco has some health concerns, as he’s gone to the IL for oblique and hamstring strains in recent seasons and had elbow surgery between 2021 and 2022. Nonetheless, he still proved valuable in 2022 and would certainly garner interest.
For the Mets, the calculus would likely come down to how much they value their depth. With Scherzer, Verlander, Senga and Quintana in the front four, they could rely on pitchers like David Peterson and Tylor Megill to take the final spot while using a trade of Carrasco to bolster another area of the roster. However, doing so would come with risk, given that their rotation is on the older side. Verlander turns 40 in February, Scherzer will be 39 in July, Quintana 34 in January and Carrasco 36 in March. The youngest of the bunch is Senga, who turns 30 in January. However, he will be coming over from Japan, where pitchers typically throw once a week instead of every five days in MLB. It’s unknown how his arm and body will respond to that adjustment.
Every baseball team will deal with rotation injuries throughout a lengthy season, even if it’s primarily built of young hurlers in their prime. This group will certainly have ailments from time to time as the campaign rolls along, meaning the Mets will surely have to rely on guys like Peterson and Megill even if they hang onto Carrasco. Subtracting him from the mix makes it more likely that they will have to reach deeper into their farm at some point.
The Mets still have areas they could upgrade, particularly a bullpen that lost a number of pitchers to free agency. Sherman suggests that the ideal return would actually be a young starter to plug into the farm and help them down the line. Addressing those areas could make sense but it would also deal a blow to the rotation security they have worked so hard to strengthen.
hope that helps!
Wouldn’t know – I don’t read posts longer than the initial article. From your previous posts in various threads I’m certain its spot on as you tend to know what you’re talking about.
Actually, if you include the title, Jock’s post is shorter than the actual article by the length of that title.
HAHAHA!
Are you going by paragraph? words? # of keystrokes used? Please tell me you didn’t count the words
Not quite. He copied the entire body of the article in response to the “WUT?” comment.
I honestly did not know that since I really did not bother to read the post
Article Count:
914
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5,269
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4,338
Characters without space
1,325
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Paragraphs
You my hero as well for allowing my Sox to win in 2004 & 2013. Lets have a beer & go save the world.
regurgitation of the same stuff won’t help
It helps mother birds feed their young so there’s a chance it can help.
LOL!
I’m trying very hard not to crack up on the train.. it’s only morning in Australia but this made my day already @Jockstrap
what a chad
You can say that again.
Starting to realize those bills aren’t gonna pay themselves, eh?
My thinking exactly, GRG. Facing the 90% luxury tax, the Mets are effectively paying Carrasco $26.6 mill. while almost all other teams would be paying him the list price of $14 mill. That is a big umbrella under which to do some sort of deal. Kind of makes the Mets motivated sellers unless Cohen has completely lost his mind.
I doubt that bothers Cohen at all. The penalty to him is lunch money.
Cohen loves lunch money. He killed the Gamestop boom over his lunch money. The idea that he’d be willing to lose money consistently just to make the Mets better seems false to me. He still has a 3 year plan then he’ll reset like the Dodgers are doing now.
Lol Gamestop. A company that does not make money but its Cohen’s fault that the stock wasnt worth 30 Billion for a 1990s business model…
Cohen “killed the Gamestop scam over his lunch money.”
Fixed it for ya.
He took offense that other people were gaming the system and put a stop to it. Only he and his pals are allowed to do that apparently.
I mean, lots of Company’s don’t make money; Uber, Tesla, Door dash.
Losing 100’s of millions, to make future billions.
Seems you’re using 1990’s economics.
Check the price action on those stocks, and its just the 3rd inning of a rout. Tech bubble 2.0. There are only 2 ways a company can return money to shareholders, dividends and buybacks. Otherwise you are just selling your shares to a different person and they are giving you the profit.
Yeah, no disagreement on that.
But there is the “other” way to buy stock for the Steve Cohen’s of the world. Buy them for discounts from the Co directly. That’s how the real money is made in stockes.
GONNA need him. 2 ancients and an unknown ahead of him in the rotation.
Yeah, what Cohen should do is just unload that albatross Lindor contract……to the Yankees
@clipper. I like that idea. How about if we take Carrasco off their hands, and they give us lindor. But seriously, Carrasco looks like the type of picture that Cashman would be enamored with, a back and cheap starter.
This is really your takeaway? After all they’ve done the past week+? Lmao
Lol come on
Nah. Has nothing to do with money. Mets don’t have much pitching at the upper levels and Carracco has just one year on his contract. It’s a good time to deal him for a quality AA or AAA starter for young depth at pitcher.
With all those older pitchers around, they better hang on to all the arms they have.
Besides the marquee signings, the Mets made a bunch of smaller moves to accumulate depth to their pitching staff and had a few holdovers. A few of the pickups will probably spend time in Syracuse. They have a few 5th starter/spot starter/long relief types that could spend time there if they have options in Megill, Peterson, Lucchesi and Hernandez. For the pen, they signed Curtiss from the Brewers last season while he was recovering from surgery and picked up his option for a little more than the minimum. They also just re-signed Tommy Hunter to a minor league deal. He was fairly effective when he got the opportunity last season. The other three pitchers they got through trades and Rule 5 are Raley from the Rays, Brigham from the Marlins, and Z. Greene from the Yankees. With the five starters, I count 14, so Hunter or Brigham will probably start the season in Syracuse. It’s unlikely they’ll re-sign Ottavino after signing Robertson, but it’s possible so one of the younger starters could start there as well.
Oh, I forgot Drew Smith, David Robertson and Sugar in the pen list. *slaps self* Robertson and Diaz didn’t fit the “minor acquisition” category. So it’s pretty much a definite that some of those starter/long relief will begin in Syracuse and come up during double headers.
Thank god. Carrasco gets shelled by any team with a record over .500. Peterson is much better than him. Smart move to trade him, get some relief help since our bullpen is one of the worst in the league right now. Watching Carrasco pitch is like watching Kenley Jansen pitch 5 innings
“Smart move to trade him”
You can’t just say that without seeing what the return is, if any.
@VonPurpleHayes I dont like Carrasco, I didnt even want the Mets to except his option. As long as he isnt on the team anymore I’ll be happy
Except his option was accepted
Which is exceptable.
@LFG, understood you don’t like him, but he would be the #5 in 2023 (was #3 in 2022). As number 5 starters go, if he repeats 2022, he will be among the very top 5th starters in the game.
of course, the exception to their acceptance is……oh, forget it!
And expectable
Not sure why my comment posted twice.
@Von
Spot on as usual. Way better to make smart business decisions than dumb emotional decisions.
Hey, I’ve had two perfectly fine marriages based around dumb emotional decisions!
The Mets bullpen is actually pretty good. Not the Astros bullpen but top ten with best closer in the game.
@Mets6986?? Top 10? Other than Diaz, they have no one. Robertson is 38 years old, im not expecting anything from him. Brooks Raley was terrible till last season and hes going to be 35 years old to start the season. Drew Smith is a Triple A pitcher. Not quite sure where you are getting top 10 from. Braves, Astros, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, Indians, Blue Jays, Mariners, Brewers, Cardinals, Red Sox, Giants, all have better bullpens then the Mets
Robertson is basically Ottavino. So similar in their strengths and weaknesses.
I’m expecting a lot from raley.. since he got back from Korea and Houston and TB taught him their magical techniques to “optimize” spin rate, he gives up really soft contact and misses bats. I have high hopes there.
Rangers coup de gras
Rangers all in this coming season. They have plenty of minor league depth that is locked. Go balls in on this!
Except that that they have the Astros in their division. And Seattle. And two of the best players in the World if the freakin org ever figures out how to surround them with actual talent. It’s going to be a bumpy road for the Rangers.
It isn’t about the money, but it IS about the money.
Cohen doesn’t mind spending but he’s no dummy. Reallocating salary is a smart move.
“they could rely on pitchers like Peterson and Megill”. I would think Peterson would have earned a spot in the rotation. He said this like they were essentially the same but one is totally unproven and the other has succeeded in MLB, albeit briefly.
As a starter Peterson had a below league average ERA in 2022 and still doesn’t average 5 innings per start. He’s just not the guy.
Need to reset that tax penalty in 3 years. Maybe even Cohen has his limits, but who knows?
Smells like they see potential to either acquire a prospect (and go with Peterson who pitched quite well last year and is another lefty in the rotation) or apply the $14M to a Rodon contract and go after him.
I say trade Carrasco and reallocate the $14M to signing two more relievers. Peterson or Megill can be a #5 starter.
What are you giving up to offload his 14 mil? No one will willingly take on that salary.
Taijuan Walker just got 4 years 72 million, the market is so high right now, a team getting Carrasco for $14M is getting a deal.
Half the league would take him on a one year deal for 14 mil.
Only about a third of the league could probably afford it with other obligations.
I’ve seen this movie before: The Red Sox are interested, but ultimately won’t obtain him.
Both Verlander and Senga are used to a 6-man rotation. Scherzer could probably use that extra rest as well. I understand why they would want to trade Carrasco, but I think the Mets need a 6-man. They can technically still do this without Carrasco, but that rotation, while elite, is full of more question marks than most.
Good point.
Was about to post this exact thought. I’m not generally a fan of 6 man rotations, but I would endorse it for the Mets due to Senga, the need to keep Verlander/Scherzer fresh, and in my opinion, the emergence of David Peterson as a trustworthy back end option.
They have about ten arms that can spot start as needed. Peterson is better then Carraasco.
The one edge that Peterson has is that he has become Max’s protege. I like Cookie and am fine with keeping him, but I could understand if they move him to shore up other areas. One under the radar thing the Mets have done is accumulating seven picks in the first four rounds next year. As a result of the luxury tax penalty, their first pick will drop ten spots, but they get two extra fourth rounders from Bassitt and deGrom signing elsewhere and an extra third rounder from one refusing to sign last year.
I actually like Peterson over Carrasco this coming year. If you watched the games, especially later in the year, Peterson’s stuff just had so much more action on it.
Going to be hard for the Mets to find somebody who wants to pay a injured prone starter that much money unless they take back a chunk of the money or a under performing player.
Yes. They would have to eat a big portion of the contract.
14 million is market for Carracci. They won’t half to eat any of his contract.
Might reproach this after spring training. See where the injury bug bites and what teams have a need for SP.
Exactly what I was thinking. Hold onto him until he’s injured. THEN insert Peterson or Megill into the rotation …
… meaning Peterson.
Not sure I’d call 15-7, 3.97 ERA and 1:1 K per inning “underperforming.” At $14M with only 1 year attached, he’s quite marketable and doubt the Mets would pay any of his salary. They certainly don’t need to dump his salary.
Yes his underlying metrics were still solid, and w the price of very iffy sp this offseason, 1 year 14m is nothing
Based on how things are going for the SP market in free agency.. I don’t think it is far-fetched that other teams would be willing to take that contract. The Mets may not get much/any trade value in return but they should be able to move the contract, if they wanted to.
Lot of teams that are missing out on FA SP will be interested. Megill or Peterson need to be #5 a la Falter for PHI. Have to balance vets with your future. And NYM remaining holes are – additional high leverage reliever, 4th outfielder, RH DH with pop. All of those are readily available on market or via trade. They will find a taker for Ruf, McCann et al but will likely have to throw in a prospect and/or eat some $. Ruf salary isn’t prohibitive but McCann’s is. They are building a complete team just as PHI is and just as ATL has consistently done for years
Well not quite “just as ATL.” Mets are going nuts on FA veterans. Braves are relying on their young core. Both valid strategies, but completely different.
Both are trying to cope with penalties to the farm. I believe Atlanta was penalized for violations a couple years ago, but they’ve signed some of their young stars to long term extension to blunt that effect. As I wrote in a separate comment, the Mets are accumulating some picks to offset the penalties they’ll have from the luxury tax.
They don’t need the DH with pop. They have that with Alvarez and Vientos.
@Mets6986: My thoughts exactly. Alvarez will DH and catch (along with Nido and McCann), Vientos can also DH and fill in at 3B or 1B as needed. No need to acquire anyone else.
Jim Callis reporting not to be “shocked” if ATL trades Fried this offseason b/c of inability to extend him and rising payroll. That would be shocking.
I said that weeks ago. I would not be surprised either. He would easily get the biggest contract in braves history.
It shows where the game is going if teams like Atlanta are trading guys because they can’t afford them.
I don’t necessarily think it’s because the Braves can’t afford him. It’s because they value locking up positional players instead. Strider is a special case because he’s so young and they locked him into a good deal by buying out pre-Arb and Arb deals. Fried is beyond that and the Braves don’t want to spend that much on an arm for a long term.
I don’t think it ‘shows where the game is going’. I think it just shows the organizational philosophy of the Braves.
Interesting that they made the decision to give the big extensions to Riley and Olson and not fried. Must have faith in the depth of their sp
They also extended Strider – who was the only SP they’ve extended. The FO has seemingly tried to avoid overpaying for SP by relying internally on it from drafting/trading for pitching heavy for years. I’d imagine they’ve probably tried a reasonable extension.
That being said, it was just a few short years ago that we had a bunch of good young SP, but no true ace, like Fried has come to be.
That’s right, Strider, forgot they extended him. Yes, their SP was a lot of potential and promise, but nobody consistently stepping up or staying healthy (Soroka). Then Fried separated himself from the pack.
Curious to me they have that much faith in Strider, who’s always battled control issues. They must feel confident they’ve straightened that out for the most part. He’s obviously got a ton of swing and miss in his stuff.
I think they have tried with Fried but he knows he gets insane money as a free agent. Not every player is willing to sign an extension.
Very true… and after seeing how this offseason has gone, even less of a chance of “team friendly” extensions
He knows one of the eight teams with big money will probably spend it on him.
It’ll be interesting though how LAD approach a similar situation with Urias, their own homegrown southpaw. They’ve avoided big extensions since Kershaw’s intial one, getting a lot of production from Buehler, Urias, Gonsolin and retreads (Wood, Anderson, Stripling, etc.).
Well to be honest. Kershaw is the best pitcher of this generation. Hard to compare him contractually to anyone else.
Then it’s quite telling that one of the richest teams in MLB is only paying out SP for generational talent.
I’m not disagreeing that the Dodgers know what they are doing.
Bring him home to CLE
I would love to see Cookie back in Cleveland. That is probably a longshot though.. the Mets are probably trying to clear all his salary from the books. Cleveland has a lot of younger, less-expensive internal options to round-out their rotation.
Not for $14M. Guardians are allergic to that kind of figure especially when you’re talking about a SP that will likely give you a .500 record at best.
Don’t care, I’ll buy $14 million worth of Carrasco Guardians jerseys.
My guess is he goes to the Red Sox for Houck, Mata, and another prospect or two.
Is Cohen running out of money? He did pretty good in 2022. I’m not really sure what kind of a return you get back on him at a 14 million salary at age 36 considering he has had plenty of health issues. I think they keep Cookie.
Cohen is worth $17Billion
I think they’ll get something of value back, even if it’s just a solid BP piece or another prospect to add to their system.
Cohan himself will not be running out of money but the Mets organization may have reached their limits.
They are not the same thing. That’s how business works.
If he wants to cover any losses with his own money, that’s his decision. But billionaires don’t become billionaires by having their businesses lose money.
You keep saying that but Cohen has put a couple hundred mil in the Mets coffers to cover expenses. He will keep spending his money until he gets his casinos and developments he wants around citi field and the Mets are set up to contend year in and year out.
Mark my words, Carrasco won’t be the last salary the Mets organization tries to unload.
6 man rotation makes more sense. Manages Verlander and Scherzer in terms of work load. Keeps Senga in a familiar environment to what he had in Japan. Quintana isn’t exactly a horse. Whole group more likely to stay fresh through the whole year.
1. Verlander
2. Scherzer
3. Senga
4. Quintana
5. Carrasco
6. Peterson/Megill
Well that’s seven starters. Don’t need Carraasco to complete that plan.
Mets6986??:
Peterson/Megill is an either or. 6 starters.
As scary a thought as it is, I think that’s why they traded for Hernandez, plus have Luchesi and then milb guys like butto there. They prob feel between Peterson megill and these lower level guys, they can cover time missed like they did last year using Peterson Williams etc.
@Wagner>Cobb totally agree. I like Peterson and Megill but their innings don’t even total a starting pitcher so until one or both of them do they can not be counted on as 2 starters. Soon as Carrasco is traded a Met starter will go down; count on it.
Makes no sense to me to trade him now.
Based on the inflated FA pitching market, Carrasco is well-worth his ’23 salary. For the other 20 “budget-minded” teams, Mets can take on a decent chunk of money to further increase their returns on a trade. They also don’t need to trade him yet until the FA pitching market thins down even more.
@bleacher. Looks like the type of deal the Yankees would be interested in making. Back in store that wouldn’t cost too much, their specialty.
@Dr2022 If I’m the Mets absorbing salary at a 90% tax rate, I’m going to ask for Peraza and King to start discussions.
We are talking 6th starter innings. That’s probably 100-125 inning pitched. It’s not much to ask of either or both of them. The Mets have about ten other spot starters that can fill in.
@Mets6986?? “The Mets have about ten other spot starters that can fill in
Fill in? some DFA’d? Pitch to what a 6 -7 ERA? not what a champion needs to be
Every team has spot starters. No one goes through the season unscathed.
@Wagner>Cobb I agree, but the Mets won’t have 6 starters from that group on anything like a regular basis.
I just did a statistical sketch and it’s unlikely all of the front five even stay healthy through the end of Opening Day week. Worse, the Mets only have two days off (iirc) during the first 21 games of their season.
They have to do something smarter than last season, where the FO seemed to feel that praying old pitchers would be remain healthy and effective through October was an actual strategy—but so far they haven’t gone out and gotten that quality of 6th starter that makes all this work.
I suppose given how infrequently the front five of the oldest rotation in baseball (history?) will be intact there must be worse things than hoping two of Peterson, Megill, and Lucchesi can go at least 4 innings for every turn of the rotation, but that’s optimistic while giving up those two as multi-inning options out of the bullpen.
They needed at least one Trevor Williams-caliber pitcher, and probably should have preferred Ross Stripling if they were going to go the 6-starters route. Ross is actually a guy you want in the rotation if he’s healthy.
I’d imagine they’re trying to move his salary, but if they pick up part of the tab then he’d be a solid fit back in Cleveland. Civale or Plesac could bounce back, but it’s risky going into the season with the two of them in the rotation.
Clevelanders love their Cookie! And certainly have the assets to make a deal.
Straight up deal for Trevor Stephan.
I love Cookie, but asking for Stephan in return would get you immediately hung up on
It’s not a salary dump. Peterson is a young good pitcher that needs to start. This is a move to make the team better.
Could the Mets and Yanks make a deal, the Yanks need. a SP and Catcher, how about Carrasco and McCann for ? Torres or Loiasiga the Mets can put Torres at 2b , McNeil in LF and Canha can DH. Or Loiasiga can go in the bullpen or fight Peterson and Megill for the 5th SP spot
I think something like that would make sense for both clubs.
Yankees don’t need a catcher as they already have three in Trevino, Higashioka, and Rortvedt. I don’t see a trade match for Cookie.
Hold on now. Let’s not get to hasty. The Yankees taking $26 million off the Mets books and giving something of value back sounds great to me.
They should work out another deal with the Giants, sure they’d want him. Or the Orioles should offer something decent.
yeah ineptler should trade with the Giants again they fleeced him for Darin Duff
ineptler can package Carrasco, Baty, Peterson for Brett Wisely
How about the Red Sox offer Devers for Carrasco and Baty? Devers is out the door sooner rather than later I believe.
Only if Devers signs an extension, can’t lose Baty for 1 year of Devers
I wonder if some teams aren’t a little bit leary of dealing with the Mets?
Hell, if you take Carrasco off their hands they might turn around and sign Rondon.
So teams wouldn’t make themselves better to spite the ‘Mets?
Yes.
It’s not like it’s some shocking thing. Teams that are selling off a pending free agent won’t trade within their own division because they don’t want to help a rival team win, even though they have given up on the season and that team might make the best offer.
The Mets and Yankees basically don’t trade with each other, even though they might happen to match up.
Teams absolutely will forgo the best possible deal out of spite, if that’s the right word.
The Mets and Yankees have traded last off-season. The whole league is not stopping trading with them because they think the Mets spend to much money. A GM is going to do whatever they deem will make their team better within the constraints the owner gives them.
Nah…Rodon is too big of a risk bc he’ll get 6-7 years. The Mets have a clear plan to sign 1-2yr contracts bc they want to make a run at Ohtani next off-season, and they’ll get $35m+ off of the books; I can’t wait for them to stop paying that cheating bum Cano. Even more $$ off after ’24, and another chunk in ’25…so they really don’t have a ton of long-term commitments besides Lindor, Nimmo, and a couple/few others.
They’d go after Correa before Rodon. I don’t want Correa bc of his cost, but clearing Cookie, McCann, and then if they can move Escobar….that could cover Correa’s 1st year.
Carrasco for Loup.
That might happen.
Straight swap with Detroit, E rod for Carrasco.
Won’t get much for Cookie.
Angels should make an offer
Carrasco to Angels? Time to get rid of Jo Adell lol.
Carrasco and a minor leaguer to the Angels for Renfroe & Loup. Renfroe can DH for the Mets
The angels just got Renfroe. The Mets aren’t trading away minor league talent right now and don’t want Renfroe.
Adell and Stasi then.
The Mets don’t need a Catcher and they have some young OF’s don’t need those guys
I, for one, would be thrilled if they trade Carlos and pin even more of their hopes on the Japanese pitcher making it all season in a 5 man rotation while then also counting on Megill or Peterson. Megill rocking that career 4.73 ERA and all.
Imagine if the Braves had that same thought process with Kyle Wright after his first four seasons?
Any chance the Mets could trade Carrasco to the Orioles for either Mullins or Santander?
Probably not as he has only one year remaining.
metsgolf;
LOL
Are you a former Yankees fan?
Why would you ask that.? Never was on the dark side.
Sure, they’d either need to add prospects to the deal or have something to blackmail Elias with
Carracso, Thomas Szapucki, and Alex Rameriz to Pittsburgh for Reynolds and PTBNL (pending if Szapucki and Carrasco are both in the majors to start the 2023 season and Carrasco stock during 2023). It is roughly what Pirates are looking for and I am adding PTBNL to make the deal. It gives Mets a corner OF option with Marte, Nimmo, and Reynolds, it would give them a pretty solid OF offensively and defensively.
I really would like that trade if Ramirez was swapped out for someone else….but that is the kind of package it’d take for Reynolds…pretty fair actually.
@PiratesFan1981 Are the Giants giving Szapucki back so the Mets can make this deal?
I’ve alluded to this before that Cohen has a NYC casino license bid for Flushing, right next to Citifield. The Mets are his Siegfeld & Roy to the MGM and supporting properties he wants to build.
That’s his goal. The man knows how to make money.
Ridiculous.
The Mets will be fools to deal pitching from the oldest rotation in baseball, not much in the way of starting pitching after Carrasco (assuming he’s currently in the 5-slot), and a thin bullpen that can use multi-inning appearances from Peterson, Megill, and Lucchesi.
A quick statistical sketch suggests the Mets are favorites not to make it through Opening Day week with an intact rotation of Max, JV, Senga, Quintana, and CC. They have something like two days off during their first 21 games of the regular season. I don’t expect Cookie to be quite league average this year, but he was durable in 2022 and betting on Peterson in his stead when DP averages about 4-1/2 innings per start isn’t a smart move.
Anyway, it’s hardly clear the Mets know what they’re doing. Getting Senga, after which they still had interest in adding Correa, means Rodon was easily affordable. I doubt there’s a combination of Rodon + (Correa’s salary minus $12m towards a position of need) that isn’t superior to Senga + Correa, given how dicey Mets pitching rates to be by September.
Dealing Carrasco only makes sense if you’re replacing him with a better pitcher—since that’s not David Peterson, is it Carlos Rodon?