Could The Mets Be Thinking: Trade Young Talent?

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• eraff May 25, 2012 at 5:15 pm

  OY…. That’s nuts!!!
• trs86 May 25, 2012 at 5:48 pm

  No way because you don’t know what you have yet in the big three. We can’t afford to trade the wrong one.
  • Petey Pete May 25, 2012 at 5:53 pm

    Who said anything about any big three? You did trs, not me. You think there is no one else in the farm system? Please!
    • trs86 May 25, 2012 at 6:51 pm

      That is not my point. My point is that being that we don’t know what we have in those three we may need that depth and trading away young pitchers right now is too early. Once you see you don’t need them as much…
      • Metsie May 25, 2012 at 7:11 pm

        Well you do pretty much know a lot about what you might need.

        Santana, Dickey and Niese are your starters atleast until 2014.

        That leaves two slots left…With Harvey, Familia and Wheeler to fill them. (Not even counting Gee!)

        Harvey and Wheeler they are pretty sure of as starters. Familia they still are on the fence.
        So that makes familia the more expendable option of those three and since he is a BA lister is one of those prospects everyone seems to think you need to get an A List talent in trade…

        You have Beato and Mejia, both of whom could be converted to starters in a pinch if needed but more likely will take up two of the Pen spaces from guys we currently have. Between those two and Parnel ONE will become a closer unless we trade for one.

        There is your 7th, 8th and 9th inning pen arms.
        Gee is middle and long relief if pushed off the rotation or traded for something else.

        That makes every other young arm in the Minors thats left and can not beat out Harvey, Wheeler, Niese, Dickey and Santana as Pen arms or maybe a 5th starter (if not Gee) for whenever Santana finally leaves.

        Our IF is pretty much set, Ike 1B, Murphy 2B, Tejada SS and Wright 3B.

        OF is almost set as well. Duda, RF, Kirk CF or RF and we might need some kid once we find a way to dump Bay.

        That leaves the needs at Catcher and maybe CF for 2013 and maybe a SP until Wheeler is promoted.
        But by trading for a good young starter this year you buy yourself time from having to rush Wheeler should he stumble, Shore up the rotation for the end run in 2012, and your starting 9 on any given day is pretty well set!
        You have the Baxters and or valdespins for your bench, and you have enough of a young core to build on for the next decade!

        Thats when making good draft selections comes into play!

        So while you may not know Sandy SHOULD know pretty much what he has, what confidence he has in it’s ability to fill a hole and anyone who thinks hoarding any more kids we have no room to play is just not thinking or caring about the MLB just the Minor league roster!
    • Bayonne Mets Fan May 25, 2012 at 6:58 pm

      Good post Petey,

      And I get a kick out of the guy saying “once we see we don’t need them as much…”

      That’s a classic! Yeah let’s make a trade involving only players that we know are not gonna be what we want them to be. Yeah the other teams are not going to notice that either. Incredible.

      But anyway very good post and someone finally realizing if you want to WIN it’s not just about growing your own but it’s also about taking risks to get what you need. It’s about making bold moves in order to fill the spots you feel you need will make you win. It’s always about doing what you can to win and let’s not forget that Pete is talking about getting major league ready youn arms so what’s the difference if u get young major league ready arms for prospects. At least with the major league or closer to major league ready arms you know can perform at this level while lower level propects can still bust.

      it’s always a risk and you may win some or lose some but you will never, ever be able to get around it. You will always have to give to get. It is never convenient and it’s never easy. It’s a chance to take but that’s the way it goes if you feel another team has something that will help you win with your current situation.
• Des May 25, 2012 at 5:51 pm

  Speaking of nutty transactions. . .

  Maybe they’ll trade Robert Carson!!!

  Buyers are likely scarce.
• Metsie May 25, 2012 at 6:00 pm

  LOL Pete glad to inspire…

  I do think the ovewhelming lack of trades to date suggest Sandy has been in a longer than usual evaluation mode both from the MLB side and the Minors….

  You would expect a new GM coming in to make a few more Minor League moves than we have to date.
  Some have used that lack of movement as rationale for saying no one wants our Minors. But I doubt highly that is the case.
  Could be because Sandy was not in the team building business when he started and didn’t have a bunch of players he had to build his want list or wasn’t sure what the MLB team needed and could be used to fill those needs.

  But he has to have a handle on that by now.

  I can definitly see some moves as a buyer if we are still in the race at the deadline.
  And it would not surprise me at all to hear familia’s name mentioned in them either.
  They seem to be on the fence about his starter/reliever usefulness and it makes a ton more sense to trade him while he is developing as a starter than a reliever because you will get more for him in that sense.

  Maybe we are buyers for a good closer (though can’t think of anyone who fits that bill.)
  Perhaps a front line Starter is available where Familia can be the centerpiece plus some other combination of prospects/MLB in the mix.

  We have a lot of good pitchers but we also have a glut of infielders too!
  Valdespin, Flores, Havens could all be included in mid season deals that would not drastically impact our future considering Murphy has seemingly become the 2B, Tejada (while injured) has been one of our better hitters and will get better at the young age of 22.
  Ike has had his struggles but Sandy was pretty clear last night that they think Ike is the man at 1st and will overcome his current issues.

  Mejia and Beato will both be viable options to fix the pen which makes the ability to break into the Majors for many of the arms in the Minors much more difficult so why not turn them into something else that can easily fill some role?

  I definitly see some moves ahead and we will be surprised to see we have a bunch of good trade chips GMs actually want but it’s just that because they don’t get mentioned in top 100 Prospects lists the laymen fans devalue them.

  It will be a very interesting July if we find ourselves only 3 or 4 games out of the division and fully in the thick of a Wildcard race!

  And then we will see just how much anyone wants the Kids everyone said we didn’t have or weren’t worth it just 6 months ago!
• Metsie May 25, 2012 at 6:18 pm

  If you are looking for someone to be a trade partner, lets not forget that Theo is running the show over at the last place Cubbies and looking to rebuild that franchise.

  Guys like Dolis and Samardzija would not require major prospects in return (not sure what kids they have in the Cubbie Den)

  Minnie has Scott Diamond and are desperate for some better hitting from their Middle infield. They have a 38 year old SS (Carrol) hitting .231 and their 2B (Casilla) is hitting .243 So they might make a good fit.

  Seattle has Felix Hernandez (.280 ERA) Thier 2B and SS are hitting .247 and .180 respectively.

  And the guys who are in town now could use some hitting. Hell Jason Bay would be considered a good hitter to them! LOL
  Bass and or Thayer would be targets there…

  Lost of stuff potentially available that can be a help solve the Pelfrey problem this year and move to the pen if Harvey familia and Wheeler get here that would not cost a lot of money and not cost us any players in a position of great need!
  • Petey Pete May 25, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    Remember what the Mets gave up to get David Cone?
    • Metsie May 25, 2012 at 6:53 pm

      NO! and I think that was your Point! LOL
    • Metsie May 26, 2012 at 10:36 am

      I did have to look it up but we got Cone and some guy named Jelic for Rick Anderson, Mauro Gozzo and Ed Hearn!
      Pretty much gave up nothing for him!
• Travers May 25, 2012 at 6:31 pm

  I can see that. A lower scale Gio Gonzalez or Trevor Cahill type deal. We certainly have a surplus of B-grade prospects in Gorski, McHugh, Huchingson and even more relief or outfield prospects. With the draft coming up and 40-50 warm bodies still unassigned in extended spring training Kingsport and Brooklyn wont be able to contain all of them. Usually the Mets only have 15-20 players in XST but since the closed their other affiliate they are exploding at the seams with bodies and in 11 days 50 more will be drafted.
• eraff May 25, 2012 at 6:34 pm

  Mets are far more likely to ACQUIRE young talent than trade it.
  • any May 25, 2012 at 7:12 pm

    the point is to get young, controllable talent back. Just slightly more developed, and in say a 3 (out) for 1 (back). And getting a guy that can be part of the core to build around, not an aging 1-2 year tops guy.
• kevin May 25, 2012 at 6:44 pm

  If we could bundle a few decent prospects for an elite prospect I say go for it. Our top prospect Nimmo is far from elite and he isn’t even playing yet, WTF?
  • any May 25, 2012 at 7:14 pm

    he is in PSL in extended spring, and will be getting sent to a team shortly (either added to a full season team after promotions, or SS ball in Brooklyn).

    nothing wrong with taking a very young guy and keeping him at the complex for extensive tutoring before releasing him to a team where you have much less control over what goes on.
• any May 25, 2012 at 7:19 pm

  this year, they are pretty much going to have to trade some volume (quantity for quality?). the flip side to hoarding your MiL talent to develop/evaluate, is that you run into a major bottleneck with rule 5/40 man issues. So, they won’t be able to keep all the guys they may want to keep. And a good way of resolving the clog is to trade a few for 1 piece back.

  the other option (short of just losing guys for nothing) is to trade “backwards”, which is what Omar had to do that one year when he traded a couple of older RPs for younger SPs (henry Owens, and that other dude). If they have the service time to require being protected, and you don’t have room, that at least converts them into a player that you can keep.

  the pending clog also makes it a lot easier to trade away a guy for a rental if needed 9say, BP help?_
• Joey D. May 25, 2012 at 9:35 pm

  I agree trading a trio of minor league players in areas that a team appears to be overloaded with talent for an established player should always be an option – that’s why the Giants were able to afford to lose Wheeler – however, I do have my doubts we will see this happening with the Mets this summer due to the mindset of the front office that nobody has touched upon – money. This would encompass taking over the remaining portion of a major league contract and that could easily be more than two million depending upon the quality of the one acquired.

  This might prevent the Mets from being buyers even if it involved claiming one off the waver list or signing a player released by somebody else rather than parting with some from our minor league system.
• eraff May 26, 2012 at 10:51 am

  The Giants Trade of Wheeler is an example of a move to avoid….IF YOU’RE NOT THINKING WORLD SERIES.

  If you’re thinking World Series………. oh boy