As the title says, the R.A. Dickey deal just keeps looking better and better for Sandy Alderson and the Mets – and that’s with the signature piece to the deal, Travis d’Arnaud, idling on the disabled list for nearly a month.

A post by Josh Chapdelaine of Around Citi brought to my attention just how bad things are going for the reigning Cy Young this season.

“The knuckleballer racked up his fifth loss of the year”, writes Chapdelaine. “Dickey allowed seven earned runs on six hits while allowing a staggering three home runs – including a leadoff home run to Michael Saunders and a Dustin Ackley grand slam – to balloon his ERA to 5.36 in 2013.”

That’s too bad for Dickey, but it just makes the decision to trade him one of the best moves this front office has made since taking over.

Making the deal even sweeter for the Mets has been the incredible production from catcher John Buck who hit his 10th homer of the season last night. That tied Buck with Carlos Delgado (2006) and Dave Kingman (1982) for the second-fastest (25 games) to double digits in franchise history to start a season. Kingman also holds the franchise record when he clouted 10 homers in his 23 games in 1976. Buck now leads the National League with 29 RBI.

“I can’t begin to tell you where we would be if Buck did not get off to the start he got off to,” manager Terry Collins said. “We could be five-and-whatever.”

What’s most remarkable about Buck, is that he was looked upon as the throw-in when the Mets initially acquired Travis D’Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard and Wuilmer Becerra in exchange for Dickey, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas. Buck only came the Mets way because the Jays wanted him and his $6 million dollar contract included in the deal. I bet they regret that decision now.

Meanwhile, while D’Arnaud is still out with a foot injury, Syndergaard is having a sensational season so far for Advanced-A St. Lucie. The young right-hander now has 2.90 ERA in six starts, but has really turned it on lately posting a 0.47 ERA and allowing just one earned run in his last three starts while striking out 16 and walking 5 in 19.0 innings pitched.

No word yet on when D’Arnaud will begin baseball activities, but there’s no need to rush as Buck has got things well under control and may just be on his way to an All Star Game berth later this season at Citi Field.

“You spend all spring thinking you’re only going to be here a little while until d’Arnaud is ready,” Collins said. “Maybe Buck is saying, I will show everybody that I’m going to be here a little longer than that!”

This is so incredibly wild…

As most of the readers here know, 19-year old righthander Michael Fulmer injured his knee two weeks ago while working out at PSL.

The Mets’ supplemental pick from the 2011 First year Player Draft, had to undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Meniscus injuries can be tricky sometimes especially for pitchers and even more so when it’s on the leg you land on after you deliver a pitch. Recovery times can range from three to six to ten weeks, and every case is unique.

While there has been no official update from the team, I saw Michael Fulmer today and I’m happy to report that by all accounts, the surgery went well.

As Fulmer walked around the team’s complex this afternoon, the stitches on his leg were still very visible, but it looks as though he’s doing fine and I’m hearing a timetable for his return is about a month and a half. That sounds about right, and there’s no point to rushing him back.

Fulmer posted a 2.74 ERA in 21 starts for Low-A Savannah last season and showed great confidence in his pitches and good command. In 108 innings pitched he struck out 101, while walking 38. It was good to see such a top talent in good spirits and recovering just fine.

Notes:

There were two games on the backfields yesterday, both A-Ball teams, Groups 3 & 4 were playing games right alongside each other so I had the opportunity to watch both games, and key in on some of the players that I really wanted to get a closer look at.

For Group 4 (Savannah), I watched Miller Diaz throw today. Diaz had great poise on the mound, and his pitches looked great. Also playing for Savannah today were Vicente Lupo who everyone is very curious about, but come away impressed. Wuilmer Becerra, who was the other prospect the Mets got back for R.A. Dickey got an at-bat and grounded out. Branden Kaupe looked solid defensively at second, but didn’t get to see Gavin Cecchini. All of these players are unlikely to start at Savannah, except for possibly Cecchini.

I also caught a glimpse of Rainy Lara who pitched for Group 3 (St. Lucie) and I liked what I saw, this kid is solid.

There was some nice buzz and excitement during that game as it drew to an end. The score was tied at 1-1 in the 8th and Phillip Evans came to the plate with the bases loaded. Evans slashed a single which brought home one run to break the deadlock. Brandon Brown followed Evans with a bases-clearing triple that he laced into the left field corner. With the score now 5-1, heavy rains suddenly poured down and both games were called.

I hope you enjoyed the update and you can look forward to more updates like these in the coming days. I’m hoping to make some time for a few exclusive interviews as well…

Update 3/23

I’m actually watching Zack Wheeler right now as all four minor league groups are playing a pair of intrasquad games today. Groups 1 vs 2, and Groups 3 vs 4.

They’re clocking Wheeler at 94-98 and he’s already broken two bats. Two of the MLB scouts who are here told Adam Rubin the following:

Scout 1 said: “He’s got four pitches.”

Scout 2 said: “And they’re all plus, plus, plus, plus.”

“He’s really good … and we’re not getting him,” one scout said with a laugh, noting the Mets would never trade the future ace.

Full recap later, heading to major league camp now…

No, it sure wasn’t easy to give up the reigning Cy Young award winner. How often do these special players come around, especially in the Mets organization? Plus, he was signed for just $5 million next season. Seems like a no-brainer — for a conventional pitcher perhaps. However, the situation the Mets and Dickey were in was one that no one has ever seen before. Not only was Dickey a knuckle ball pitcher (and those are a rarity now), but he had a completely different career path than most, one that made his future uncertain. Maybe with a “regular” knuckle ball pitcher at 38 years old, it would be safe to assume that they can continue at the same level of production for another four or five years. But with Dickey having spent most of his career as a conventional pitcher and missing his UCL (a ligament in his right elbow) nobody is sure how his arm will wear down as his career progresses. My guess, considering the fact that he throws a very hard knuckle ball, is that Dickey can be very good for another two years, and decent after that. With his value so high at the moment — the highest it will ever be — trading him to a team willing to take the risk made sense. It only takes one organization that thinks he can go another five years pitching as well as he has to make a deal worthwhile. Giving up a reigning Cy Young award winner will leave a bad taste in the mouth of some Mets fans, but the uncertainty and quality of the package the Blue Jays offered made it more than bearable.

One thing that must be considered is the window of winning. Dickey, at best will likely be dominant through 2014. The window the Mets have to make a run at the division is 2014 and beyond. The two time periods don’t match up well. Dickey would be on the decline as the rest of the team was improving. The added fleibility the Mets will get in those years by having young players in their pre-arbitration years making the minimum instead of $12 million or more for Dickey is another point to be considered.

Now let’s take a look at the trade itself. Along with Dickey, the Mets cleared Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas from the roster, two of the worst (at least last year) hitting catchers in baseball. Here’s how they compare to the rest of the league:

Sandy Alderson didn’t really give up anything of value here. Without Dickey, they no longer needed catchers who could catch the knuckle ball. The Blue Jays almost did the Mets a favor by taking those two.

The Blue Jays’ package is where this trade gets interesting. Toronto dealt the Mets three prospects — Travis d’Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, and Wuilmer Becerra – as well as John Buck. Two of these prospects (d’Arnaud and Syndergaard) are now easily considered two of the three best Mets prospects. Let’s take a look at what to expect from the two of them.

Travis d’Arnaud

d’Arnaud was the centerpiece of the deal, and rightfully so. The 6’2″ catcher has the potential to be the next great Mets catcher. He has the ability to hit for average, as well as power. He’s also athletic behind the plate. Here’s what Baseball America says about him:

He’s a rare catching prospect that projects to hit in the middle of a lineup. He is an above-average hitter who should hit for at least average power. He doesn’t walk much but makes consistent hard contact, getting hits even when his timing is off or he gets off balance. He has the bat speed and strength to hit plenty of homers and lets his power come naturally, employing a short stroke and all-fields approach.

Speaking of Baseball America, d’Arnaud was ranked 17th overall last year, and will surely be higher in this year’s list. Since 2000, there have only been eight catchers ranked 17th or better: Devin Masoraco (has had minimal MLB playing time with the Reds), Jesus Montero, Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer, Matt, Wieters, Buster Posey, and Carlos Santana. When a catcher is ranked this high, they are probably going to be very successful.

d’Arnaud, in my opinion, will be at worst, a serviceable catcher who hits ten home runs and bats .260. At best, he is a 25 home run hitter who can bat .300. He’s not quite Mike Piazza at the plate (not as much power) but he can certainly be a dominant force in the middle of the Mets’ lineup.

Noah Syndergaard

The Mets managed to snag another top prospect from the Blue Jays: pitcher Noah Syndergaard. Syndergaard is a big 6’5″ righty who has a mid-90s fastball and very good control. Last year in the Low-A Midwest League, he went 8-5 with a 2.60 ERA in 103.2 innings, striking out 10.6 batters per nine innings while walking only 2.7.

The former first-round pick was ranked by MLB.com as the 83rd best prospect in baseball. In an e-mail exchange with Eric Simon of Amazin’ Avenue, Assistant GM Paul DePodesta had this to say about Syndergaard:

We see a big, physical presence who is athletic and a strike thrower. You just don’t see many guys his size at his age command the strike zone the way he has as a professional, especially with big velocity. In addition to the power, there’s also deception to what he does. As with D’arnaud, we’ll refrain from making any predictions as to where Noah will be next here until we have a better feel for him in spring training.

Ther have been comparisons here to Zack Wheeler. Both are tall, lanky right-handers with fastballs in the mid to high 90s. While Syndergaard doesn’t have the fantastic breaking ball that Wheeler does, he has much better control, even at a much younger age. Whoever you compare him to, he immediately becomes the third best prospect in the system without question. He has a bright future ahead of him, as does d’Arnaud.

——————–

As a whole, this deal is quite a bargain for Sandy Alderson and the Mets. I have to applaud them for holding out for two top 100 prospects, even though very few people thought they could actually get that kind of return. Fans were dismayed by the trade the Royals proposed, asking for Dickey and Zack Wheeler in exchange for just Wil Myers. That gave me a bad feeling that teams weren’t going to put much value in Dickey, but it turns out I was wrong and thankfully so. The team got two high-profile prospect, and a third one who could be very significant down the road who I have only mentioned briefly. To reiterate: it is tough to part with Dickey, but for the package that the Mets got, it may very well look like a huge steal down the road.

Check out more of my work at Up Along First.