24
2012
There’s Only One Way The Mets Lose With Dickey
An article by 
The Mets find themselves with two critical decisions to make this offseason. The easier of the two appears to be resigning home grown altar boy, David Wright, to an expensive yet semi-reasonable contract which keeps him at the hot corner for the remainder of his career. This negotiation, while complicated, is aided by the fact that both sides seem to be on the same page. The same can’t necessarily be said for the future of RA Dickey.
With the news that the Mets and Dickey appear to be some distance apart on both years and dollars, something will have to give for this to work itself out before spring training. That ‘something’ will likely have to be the Mets’ front office if Dickey is to continue hurling his knuckleball in Queens past the 2013 season. In reality, as long as he doesn’t experience a significant fall from grace, Dickey is almost assured to receive a deal of three years or more from another team come this time next year. So how should the Mets proceed?
Whether or not RA has earned a three year extension in excess of $30 million dollars can be debated, but that’s not my point. The Cy Young hopeful is the definition of why teams take flyers on journeyman pitchers each year. On the off chance that a player can finally piece it together, an organization can find itself with a diamond in the rough, as the Mets do with Dickey right now.
Entering the final year of his current contract, the Mets have only three possible avenues from here. Stroke the eclectic knuckler the extension he so desires, trade him away at the height of his value or bring him back for the final year of his career and hope he eases his stance on mid-season negotiations. Only the latter of the three would be a loss for the Mets.
You see if the team signs Dickey to another extension, they retain not only a Cy Young Award caliber pitcher, but also a personality that transcends the game. That personality, as much as his talent drives fans into the ballpark and provides the organization with a unique opportunity on a roster devoid of most other star power. If the team were to trade RA, they’d be doing so at the perfect moment. Coming off the best season of his now storied career, the Mets could likely demand, and receive, a king’s ransom that would go a long way in repairing the rest of the roster next season and beyond.
Yes, the only way the Mets lose here is if there is no finality to Dickey’s situation when the team reassembles in Port St. Lucie in five months time. As they should have learned with Jose Reyes’ departure, the uncertainty of what lies ahead can snowball out of control, grip the fan base, and drive yet another rift between the team and its fans. Move forward, with or without Dickey, but do so with conviction. Either lock up the front of your rotation for a few more years, or bring in the talent to make the “team” better by trade and use the $10 million plus elsewhere. Either way, do it now, and avoid the proverbial no win situation the team seems to always worm it’s way into.
Follow me on twitter at @RobPatterson83.
About the Author: Rob Patterson
Ultimately, I owe nearly thirty years of Mets related torture to my mother, who is the reason I became a fan. I was too young to remember the 86 run, but hope to see one I'll be able to recall much sooner than later. I enjoy writing about the team and welcome your feedback on my posts. Oh..and I am not with 28!
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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Agree 100% with this assessment.
If the Mets can’t come to an agreement with Dickey on a contract extension, they have to sell high on him. There is really no point in just picking up his 5 MIL contract and letting him walk in FA end of next season. Well…no good baseball sense anyway.
There was plenty of things that was wrong about Minaya but he also did a lot of good for this franchise. Finding Dickey was one, and we haven’t reached the tip of the iceberg yet with Davis, Niese, Harvey and Flores. When the Yankees dominated it was with a 4-man core from the farm. The same might one day be said of the Mets. I would love to know what players are on the scrap heap now that would be worth taking a shot on and could have a big payoff? But as to your point, trading Dickey might be best for a team that is still rebuilding and if we can get a legit outfielder, one with power and defense, we really need to consider it.
The 1994 Yankees had the BEST record in baseball…and only had Bernie Williams of their core 4…
1995 they made the playoffs and barely missed the ALCS
they still only had Bernie….
1996…they add Jeter and Andy to a monster squad…they had one of the best records in baseball the previous 2 seasons WITHOUT Jeter
2000 – Jorge Posada comes on to a monster squad…
….and thats its…
the Yankees were able to keep afloat by trading for guys in their late 20′s and resigning them…or just flat-out signing them as free-agents
the free-agent pool is dwindling every year…
personallly i look forward to the yankee collapse almost as much as I do the mets selling..
although a part of me feels that they will have an auditior reasses the team…and then sell another minority stake….and keep controlling interest in the club :-/
Good analysis. I am leaning toward trying to cash out and sell high on him if they can get a really good offer for some bats. They need a lot of hitters.
Would anybody like to propose some realistic and specific trade offers for which you would move Dickey? Agreed, the Mets need a catcher, righthanded-hitting outfielder, and a closer. Promising young players at any position would help too, of course. What teams would want Dickey enough to give up what it would take ?
TRS likes Dickey for Andrus, straight up.
I like d’Arnaud & an OF player/prospect from Toronto for Dickey.
Trumbo and someone else ex. the Angels (considering Haren and Santana are most likely gone).
“TRS likes Dickey for Andrus, straight up.”
That could work, but I feel it would be imperative for the Mets to work out a 3 way swap involving the Rangers & D-Backs. We could net a big return from those teams (I.E. Olt, Bauer, etc.) also involving Wright, Tejada (only if the Mets indulge in a followup trade with Boston getting Dustin Pedroia), and prospects.
I think that becomes to complicated. Dickey for Andrus allows us to slide Tejada over. Then make a decision to either trade Wright for outfield and catching or trade Murphy for a similar player at catcher or Of.
How could it be complicated when Dickey & Wright combined could net us 5-6 top prospects (AA to MLB ready)? I get that with Andrus, you can easily slide over Tejada but for one, Arizona’s biggest need right now is a shortstop, making Tejada a key player in such a blockbuster 3 way swap. It seems imminent that Boston will dangle Pedroia later this winter and to obtain a true leadership in Pedroia would be big for us, as well as getting Ellsbury. An infield of Olt, Andrus, Pedroia and Davis would have us set for years. As far as catching goes, see what Cleveland wants for Carlos Santana.
Outfield: The only person I want to take a chance on right now that’s on the Mets is Jordany Valdespin for CF. Also, acquire Hunter to be that OF leadership presence for the younger guys.
funny u mention that…i was advocating trading Beltran in a 3-way trade for Hunter Pence last year
Beltran for Pence? Ehh….I don’t know. Pence leaves something to be desired with me.
I think he meant Tori Hunter
Thanks for clarifying.
Pedroia, Ellsbury, and Carlos Santana? Aim your target lower – MUCH lower. Especially with this front office.
It’s a shame that the higher ups could never think of something like this, isn’t it?
Yes it is a shame. Good job.
And for those who think working out these kind of deals/3-way deals are too complicated that is exactly the point. The Mets will have to do a lot of research, feel for other teams, all kinds of things should be explored that we as fans are not privvy to but GMs are, and try to work these kinds of deals out to get better.
It’s extra work but it applies to this type of team. But you’re right. This HORRENDOUS front office won’t do that. They’ll spend plenty of hours though going through USELESS data like PPPA, F12, B12, and ISO though
No that’s not complicated at all. Lol
At least it’s a gameplan going into the winter. What is theirs exactly? Oh right, being undecided whether or not to bring back Andres Torres -_-
I prefer Jurickson Profur over Andrus…if only b/c he will be in his pre-arb years for the next 3 years and wont cost much til year 5…
I think the Yankees are going to punt on Robinson Cano…I would offer Reese Havens, Phil Evans and Duda for Mason Williams
Of course you like Profar better which is why they may move Andrus.
Well u may have to include Murphy, Havens, or Valdespin…and maybe a couple of other prospects
to get a top prospect like Jurickson, I think its worth it
he can hit, field and runs…and most of all…moves Tejada to 2B, DRASTICALLY improving the defense there and allowing Davis to play closer to the line…
Having a SS with range allows a 3B to play closer to the line and cheat…
just one player in the infield can have that domino effect…
if we can move Dickey and Wright and get a top SS, C and or CF, in their pre-arb years…I build a chocolate statue of Sandy in front of my house
My targets would be Machado, Profur, Gary Sanchez, Travis from Toronto, Mason Williams
we need up-the-middle defense in the worst way…
They have no reason to trade Profar, they would trade Andrus instead. No one is talking about them trading the kid.
BTW—Signing him NOW also adds to his trade value.,,,,NOW, He’ll be a bit more reasonable on cach and terms now.
there is a personal side to the business too. maybe one of the “unwritten rules”, but it is bad form to negotiate with a guy to be part of the team, then turn right around and trade hi, proving you negotiated in bad faith. Just doesn’t happen.
picking up an option to turn around and trade him? Sure. Or down the road when things have fallen apart. But not right after you extend the guy.
I would love to see Dickey stay. His knuckler mixed in with the hard throwing youngsters would really mess up the opponents timing. That said I am resigned to him being dealt. A good trading partner would be the Dbacks. They need pitching and have a glut of outfielders with upton still being mentioned in trade rumors. They also have a very good catcher in montero who they probably wont trade but he may be blocking a good catching prospect in thier system.
Excellent article and I agree 100%. I also believe trading him now is a no brainer. If you carefully start analyzing the pros and cons of trade versus extension, you will clearly start seeing way more reasons to trade than to extend. Here’s just some…….
Reasons to Trade:
- his very reasonable option year salary of $5 mil coming off a Cy Young caliber year could very well get us that kings ransom as the author states.
- the need for position players far outweighs our need for starting pitching right now.
- a trade could make the team stronger for many years past what a Dickey extension would
- money saved on a Dickey extension could be spent more wisely on other components of the team
- the effectiveness of a knuckleball pitcher can be like a candle in the wind – - – the probability of Dickey being as effective as his 2012 season is not good, making an extension somewhat risky
Reasons to Extend:
- keep the fan base happy and avoid a possible negative impact on attendance
- keep his great clubhouse presence
- perhaps keep a better chance of being competetive in 2013
Not only do the reasons to trade outweight reasons to extend, the reasons to extend him are clearly all near sighted. If this FO truly wants to stockpile prospects and field a team full of pre-arb talent, then trading him is a must. Lets see how committed to the future this FO really is. Should be very interesting.
This is one of the situations where I call shenanigans on Sandy.
He said that He wanted to have RAD and Wright taken care of by the end of the WS…while the WS is about to start and last I heard, they haven’t even met with either player yet.
How are you going to work out million dollar extensions for your two best players in a weeks time?
Why do I get the feeling that neither player is going to be taken care of and we’ll be stuck with the extensions and nothing else and Sandy saying that he “really wanted to do something” but they couldn’t get it done in time so he’ll have to move on to working on the rest of the roster and “try to work out a deal during the season”, which neither player will do and then they’ll either be traded or signed by someone else and Sandy will fall back on his “we tried, but we couldn’t get it done and it’s all their fault because they want to get paid more than their worth”
If we trade Dickey imagine all the pressure this puts on Niese and Harvey. This reminds me of when Mike Pelfrey was first named the #1 opening day starter. He went downhill after that and never recovered. And no, I’m not calling his first 19 innings of 2012 a recovery. Trade Dickey and add three more years to this so called plan we have until we are contenders. Every year we keep losing our best players, why are so many people okay with this? Our worst nightmares have been realized. We are now the Pittsburgh Pirates.
You still have Santana to pitch in the #1 slot. Is he ‘that’ guy any more? probably not, but he certainly can take the pressure of that spot. Pelf wasn’t/isn’t mentally strong enough to fill that role. Maybe Niese could (and I would think Harvey could in a year or so), but Santana as a buffer would be OK, at least from the pressure perspective.
I think Santana is finished. And if he’s not finished, I’m not sure he’ll be ready to pitch opening day. And if he does pitch opening day he’ll be somewhere between April Johan and July Johan which is still bad. The onus will be on the two young arms, and they shouldn’t be concerned with that type of pressure. It takes them out of their norms, they stop developing, they alter mechanics on the fly after a bad start and it leads to injuries, think Generation K.
I think you are overthinking this just a bit.
Pelfrey was pitching with a strained rotator cuff for 2 years…the F.O. knew it…back in 2010, sports ill did an article on the medication Pelf was taking, supposed to cause cancer
…and shockingly, they still offered him 5 mil in 2011…
this front office is horrifically unreal…
no money to spend and the lil they do spend, they do terrible in
If you thought not being buyers hurt the psyche of this team in July just imagine what selling on Dickey now would do to it?
If they sell off Dickey then attendance will drop even more than it did this year for letting Reyes and Beltran go!
And Poof goes all that financial flexability we think they may get once bay and Santana come off the books.
So they had better sign Dickey and to hell with the money it’s Wilpon money and if he can’t afford it then let him sell the the team!
it needs to be about rebuilding the talent base on the team, and if Dickey can do that via trade, then the smart play is to make the deal.
You can’t rebuild the talent base by trading your talent!
Not unless you find the dumbest GM in recorded baseball history who is going to give you more than you should get!
The key to rebuilding talent is to increase the performance to Roster spot ratio and getting as much as you can from as many roster spots as you can get!
Trading one REALLY GOOD player for two mediocre players doesn’t rebuild your talent base it just makes a hole in the name of finding two other players you need to find improved replacements for!
Jeff Bagwell to traded Astros for Larry Andersen 37 years old.
John Smoltz traded to Braves for Doyle Alexander also 37 years old.
These trades look like busts which they were. However for the Red Sox and Tigers the trade helped both respective teams make the playoffs.
Can’t forgot Nolan Ryan was traded to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi only 29 years old.
Metsie no disrespect but I am waiting for a reply.
Wright age 29 for Nolan Ryan (Wheeler doesn’t count)
Dickey age 38 (close to 37) for either Bagwell or Smoltz.
Hey you never know what rebuilding can bring.
if you Metsie are correct and ask “what did SA do to rebuild them” and we all say “He did not rebuild them” he extened Wright and Dickey to appease the fans ala Minya. Then I will be driving SA to the airport and send him out of here.
Which of those deals were One Talent for Multiples pray tell?
They were both at best Wheeler type deals thats all! One for One…
So your examples really do not fit what everyone seems to think should happen with Dickey and Wright…
And does NOTHING to fill “All the Holes” people seem to think they are going to fill by trading Wright and Dickey…
All that really does is create a hole at 3B or SP to fill a hole someplace else!
WHACK A MOLE!
Now lets just run through a Hypothetical here and follow your logic to it’s conclusion…
Say you trade Wright for a really good Power Hitting RF, Does he hit 25+ HRs or does he hit about as many as Wright does?
Who pays third? Murphy? Flores? What if they are no good at all? What then? did you improve the team or did you just move your Power Hitting 3B to RF when it comes right down to it?
Not saying doing that is not sometimes a great move but I AM saying don’t fool yourself into thinking your actually rebulding anything by doing that!
I am going to fool you and give you the best argument for your case but it is still flawed. The Seaver trade for multiple prospects including for ROY. But that is flawed because Seaver demanded a trade.
From Wikipedia by 1971 Ryan had become increasingly frustrated and was considering retiring from baseball. His record for the season was 10–14. He told Mets management that he was not happy in New York and requested a trade.: On December 10, 1971, Ryan was traded to the California Angels along with pitcher Don Rose, catcher Francisco Estrada and outfielder Leroy Stanton for shortstop Jim Fregosi who had been an All-Star in six of seven seasons between 1964 and 1970, and was only 29 years old. But Fregosi who is rated by Bill James as the 15th best shortstop in MLB history, played fewer than 150 games for the Mets, and never had a good season again.
These trades were multiple trades. Hey you never know with prospects that is a plus and a minus. Yes Bagwell and Smoltz were a prospect for a star pithcer like Dickey.
Dickey for Torontos sud catching prospect bloggers here and on metsblog say is a fair deal for both. Dickey can put the Jays into stong contention in tough AL East. They are set at catching. Yes Texas will try to get him too. We have to make the deal to rebuild.
Is that catcher going to win as many games for you as Dickey?
As for Fregosi I will counter with Piazza….
Sure there are examples of bad deals all over….
The Majority of the time the team that gets the ONE gets more and wins while the team that gets the Many gets a lot of guys they can’t use because none of them are as good as what they gave away even when combined because three roster sport were wasted to get what you used to get from ONE roster spot!
Selling off Dickey is a bad sign yes, but at 38 he’s just not worth a huge gamble. I’d see a two yr 25 mill w/ a option for a third. If he demands to be paid like Sabathia then you trade him and get as much as possible that could help the team this year.
Maybe we should just get rid of both Wright and Dickey and continue along with this plan where we divest ourselves of our best players and then argue over hitting and pitching philosophies as if that’s why this team is so bad. SMH
Maybe the Wilpons should open up a Sonic, Cheesecake Factory and a Macaroni Grill at Citi Field because it now appears the main attraction at Citi Field are the eateries.
Manaic, they should.. the problem is they are rebuilding yet they want people in the seat at the same time.. they should come out publicly and admit to the fans that the plan is rebuilding and move forward. There’s no sense in keeping wright and dickey then noone else around them to help them. why pay top $ to wright when he’s obviously not a franchise player. Just because you’re the best player on a team doesn’t make you a franchise player, just the best player on a bad team, trade them both, admit to the fanbase you’re rebuilding and move forward. Punt 2013 accordingly, and sell 2014 with Harvey and Wheeler to the fanbase as the guys moving forward with to try and content every year instead of selling bs to the fan base about how keeping a guy like hairston was a good idea to keep fannies in the seat… Sell High while we have the opporunity.
I personally want him to stay a Met and though I think the same holds true for R.A., it’s also a matter of the direction he sees the organization headed. Nevertheless, what the veteran pitcher can do for the young ones in terms of character building especially when they are struggling and full of doubt (based on his own long struggles to get back to the majors) is pricesless. That unique leadership quality will help the young pitchers tremendously – just like Carlos Beltran did with the young hitters. That alone is worth the investment – or the risk – of a multi-year contract. The young players who have been around for two or three years are already down on this front office (showing no faith in the players and feeling kicked in the teeth) so how would ridding one’s self of a potential Cy Young award winner affect the clubhouse, let alone the fan base?
So that is a problem that the Mets created for themselves.
Like it or not, we are now indeed in a re-building stage and the objectively thought out move would be to trade R.A. now and get some good young talent in return. But the moves of the past two seasons would only further continue to haunt the front office. Had Wilpon/Alderson tried to field a competitive team the past two seasons and it didn’t work out, they would not have to contend with both the players and the fan base questioning the sincerity of their motives
That is why the organization itself is in a no-win situation with R.A. They will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t and quite frankly, I think they deserve it.
Three years after losing 119 games, the Detroit Tigers went 95–67 and won the American League pennant, before losing the World Series to the St. Louis. Dombraski had the you know what to rip the team apart and put it back together. Smart draft picks, trade for raw talent and then player development are the layers with FA the cherry on the top. Yes we have Niese, Ike , Harvey and Wheeler as our raw core still developing a.k. a. Niese.
A good part of that was Pudge handling the stafff…i detailed how he helped the Marlins in 2003, the Tigers from 04-07
each year with Pudge on the staff the Tigers lowered their ERA and improved on defense.
A Catcher is the QB of the team. You cant win w/ bad catching.
Robert, I think you hit the nail on the head, but let add another route the Mets could take. Lets pick up the option and let him play out the 2013 season. He’ll pitch his best in his walk year. At the end of the season we give him a qualifying offer of $13 million, he either accepts or he signs somewhere else and we get a first round pick. Either way we win and no long term commitment.
I’d still consider that a loss… Here’s why. First round picks are great in theory, but they don’t always work out. Plus your probably looking four to five years away before you’ll know that answer. That’s not the type of help the Mets need.
If they’re not going to resign him.. Trade him and get as close to a sure thing as you can. If its not a legit major leaguer, it had better be prospect such as Wheeler who’s almost a can’t miss.
I would gamble with a first rounder when you have this even of talent to trade away.
Metsie,
In response to your post, why does the return have to be 2 mediocre players? My Scenario has Upton and a solid prospect coming back. Preferably a catcher. you trade from your strength if you have excess. Right now the Mets are one of the very few teams that can trade pitching which almost every team needs. Its time to cash in on the pitching excess. They could fill 2 holes and still have enough SP depth to be competitive in the near future.
Because GMs are not in the habit of giving you two good players for ONE good player…
You might get one good player who is slightly lesser value than the guy you gave away PLUS a scrub thrown in to make up the difference but you are not going to get TWO players that are worth much more than the guy you gave away unless the OTHER side is dumb!
Does it happen sometimes? Sure Dumb GMs get hired all the time…
But 99% of the time you never get more than what you gave and the truth of the matter is spreading performance out over Two roster spots is not as good as keeping it all in one so there is one more roster spot to improve as opposed to two.
If you want a special team you have to keep the guys that make you special, If we keep on trading for multiples all we will accomplish is making the team more average.
And what happens when you ruin out of those good players to trade?
Reverse course and start trading multiples to get good ones and totally wasting all those years you did the reverse.
If they can’t extend Dickey then trade him, I have no issue with that.
But lets stop pretending we are going to get more than we gave out of it.
And lets stop pretending that letting him go helps this team get better more than keeping him does.
Cause it really doesn’t.
Same could be said for Wright.
I’m inclined to agree with Metsie here. The Mets may get two solid prospects for Dickey, but they’re not going to get a premiere major league ready talent…and then some. The Mets need a lot of Major League caliber help. So two solid additions may actually be better than one allstar level player. The team can go about it however they want, but lets not forget that Dickey isn’t Santana in his prime. He is an almost 40 year old knuckler who has finally found his touch. This is rare air for him and who knows how long it lasts. Other clubs will feel the same…
Not for nothing but I think you are disagreeing, not agreeing.
Personally I am still torn on Wright and Dickey. It depends on how much they want and what the trade offers are.
He is agreeing that Dickey is not going to get back more than he gives you already….
Every teams situation is different. A good example was the Mets in the 1984 offseason. The Mets were one Player away and had a stacked farm system. The expos were in a rebuilding mode the expos had the mets missing piece, Gary Carter. The mets traded young Hubie Brooks and Mike Fitzgerald with some promising minor leaguers and both sides got what they wanted, nobody was stupid or got ripped off. Now the dback feel they are close and need an ace pitcher. their minor leagues are stacked, especially with outfielder who are mlb ready now. Upton is excess for them and they have plenty of other players in thier system we could use. I say its a win win situation which does happen occasionally.
Yes Ray that was us doing the reverse, sending multiples for one…
Did the Expos build a winner around those guys we gave them?
NOPE!
Those deals almost never work out better or wind up in a better build situation for the team getting the multiples.
The few that do manage to get one of of three players they got in return doing well never really gets one as good as they gave and the others are just AAAA fodder in most cases.
metsie,
just because that trade didnt end with an expos pennant doesnt mean it didnt help them. they got an all-star shortstop and a very good defensive catcher who was a starter for years. Carter was near the end. after 2 great years as a met he declined quickly, He was also going to cost them alot of money which also factored in of course.
How did it help them Ray?
Did they start winning more games per year? No they were pretty much the same team!
In 1981 (with Carter) they made the NLCS and lost….
They did not make the playoffs at all after the trade in fact many say that was the trade that killed the Expos. After that trade they never broke 2Mil in attendance again!
I love RA Dickey. I’d hate like hell to give him up. But given the choice between dealing RA or Niese, which, I believe is the only way for the team to substantially improve, I’d deal RA.
You have to admit to yourself as a Met fan that the team is way more than a few players away, and that the talent on the farm won’t be ready for RA to substatiate giving him 3/40 or so contract. (just a guess as to his open market value) Niese will have blossomed by the, but will be cost effective and have cost certainty and still young enough to lead a young pitching staff and be that young veteran number 3 starter that stabilizes the group…So…
Identify trade partners that are ready to step forward for WS contention now…Anaheim…Texas…or teams who’s rebuilding or farm talent and current roster dictate making a move…KC…Arizona…that match up well with us via trade, and rip the band aid off. It hurts terribly, and the sting and stink from the healing cut both smells and hurts, but you either admit we are rebuilding and do it, or you continue half-assing it and stop bitching about the mediocrity…
If it comes down to Niese or Dickey? Hell yeah I am keeping Niese.
If the farm is not good enough to make having Dickey worth it then the solution really should be fix the farm, Trade away multiple Kids for BETTER kids not trade away the one guy who CAN make your team better if you only had a little help for him.
Letting Dickey go is not going to help stock those minors. As I said the best you get is a younger Dickey and what good is that if the rest of the Minors is still not enough to make that equivilent work either.
If we want to REBUILD then we should stop looking for the BLOCKBUSTER trade our talent for multiple maybes and start trading packages of kids (multiples) for one kid who can help us get a Ring for Dickey while he is here.
The big issue here is Dickey was the big attendance draw this year.
If we trade him or Wright and if you thought we had financial difficulties before just wait to see how bad finances get after those trades.
And then poof goes all the money you think is coming off the books after Santana and Bay are done!
ALL that money will go to paying the bills attendance couldn’t cover and we could even go back to losing 50 Mil in a season.
How will you rebuild the team then?
Reality dictates that the Mets are still a ways away. If we could get a corner/outside slugger and a top line reliever for RA, I say go for it. Who doesn,t love this guy! With payroll not increasing in 2013, RA is our only way way to the promised land!
Johnny boy you seem to be a bit conflicted in your thinking….
You say:
“Reality dictates that the Mets are still a ways away”
Yet end with:
“RA is our only way way to the promised land!”
If reality says we are a way away WITH Dickey, then reality also says there is no “Promised land” no matter what you do with him.
R.A. is a one of a kind player/person. Trade him to a contender. Bring him back as a coach. I would love to see him as a pitching coach in Kingsport.