MLB Trade Deadline Rumors: Mets
By Parker White
The New York Mets expected to be adding at the trade deadline after all the offseason additions they made to be in the thick of the playoff hunt, but they are well below .500 and appear to be out of the hunt.
Oh, and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen all but waived the white flag in his post All-Star break press conference.
The most obvious trade piece that is very much available is right-handed starter Zack Wheeler, who is a free agent at season's end. However, being placed on the injured list with shoulder fatigue will certainly hurt his trade market.
Breaking: Zack Wheeler is being placed on the injured list with right shoulder fatigue, a source says.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) July 15, 2019
The IL move is retroactive to Friday, so the soonest he can return is July 23. That leaves Wheeler with two starts max before the trade deadline.
If it's nothing serious and he comes back as soon as he's eligible to return, Wheeler will have a couple starts before the deadline to prove he's healthy and can help a contender out.
The one way Van Wagenen and the Mets can bring in some exciting young talent is if they seriously consider moving right-hander Noah Syndergaard, which according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com is gaining plenty of interest.
Noah Syndergaard could be dealt this month, albeit at a high cost. The #Brewers are among the teams monitoring him. My story on where things stand: https://t.co/Zb8OI5MjSQ @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 10, 2019
It would take a lot from the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros or any other team interested in acquiring Syndergaard, but we've see his ace potential in spurts and he's still under team control for several years, making him very valuable to any club.
Upcoming free agents like Todd Frazier and Jason Vargas will most likely be dangled out in the open and moved if a team is interested, but to make a splash and add more young talent, the Mets should have serious discussions about moving Dominic Smith.
The Mets have a broken roster, and just shipping out Vargas & Frazier isn't going to fix it. Let's look back to look forward. Let's get weird.https://t.co/NMoyKGk5sy
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) July 16, 2019
Smith is a first baseman by trade and the Mets already have Pete Alonso, who is their franchise cornerstone. Smith has done an admirable job in the outfield, but that's not his every day spot and they should take advantage of his good season and move him.
Of course, Van Wagenen should tear this team down to the studs and move everyone not named Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Jacob deGrom, but that is probably unlikely to happen.
The Mets have the pieces to be aggressive at the deadline. We'll just have to wait and see what Van Wagenen and Co. feels about admitting defeat and starting over.