I’ll be posting reactions from the major media outlets as they begin to weigh in on the trade between the Mets and Blue Jays I tired making some calls to get some information on who the unknown prospect is that that the Mets are also including in the trade, but mum’s the word. But although all the pieces have yet to be confirmed, here are a few excerpts from this morning’s edition’s of the major papers.
New York Daily News
Even if Travis d’Arnaud turns out to be an All-Star catcher for years to come, the Mets aren’t going to be better in 2013 and likely ’14 for trading R.A. Dickey, a development that appeared all but certain as of Saturday afternoon. So there is always going to be an argument for keeping the National League Cy Young winner, and a good one at that, no matter what the final pieces of the trade with the Blue Jays turn out to be.
But if that means winning 74 games again next season rather than 80, does it really matter? The Mets still aren’t spending significant money on free agents this winter, after all, and it’s rather difficult to consider them a legitimate contender without a bona fide major-league outfielder anywhere to be found.
So with that in mind, I can’t knock what Sandy Alderson is doing here. For starters, the Mets have huge position-player holes to fill, and the inclusion of d’Arnaud makes good on the GM’s declaration that he would deal his 20-game winner only in return for a “difference-maker.’’ – John Harper, Daily News
New York Times
By trading Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays, pending the negotiation of a contract extension, the Mets essentially told their fans that they do not expect to contend for the next three years. The Mets have already staggered through four consecutive losing seasons, three shy of the franchise record. Now the wait to be relevant drags on.
This is a pitcher who went 20-6 for a team that was 74-88, becoming the first Met to win the Cy Young Award since 1985. He was a beacon on a dreary team, and he has earned the right to be trusted that he will be prepared for the season.
To the Mets, apparently, it is fine for David Wright, their new $138 million player, to visit David Letterman and Jon Stewart, as he has done in the past. Yet when Dickey appears on the same shows, as he has this off-season, he’s full of himself. Please. – Tyler Kepner, New York Times
Wall Street Journal
This is a franchise that has now lost a batting champion, in Jose Reyes, and a Cy Young winner in the 38-year-old Dickey in the last two winters. The Mets have finished in fourth place, below .500, each of the last four seasons, and it would be a shock if they climbed out of those depths in 2013.
Despite signing third baseman David Wright, their franchise player, to a long-term extension this winter, the Mets are clearly looking down the road, rebuilding around youth and prospects gleaned in trades of Dickey and Carlos Beltran.
The trade would close the book on Dickey’s remarkable time in New York, three seasons in which he emerged from obscurity to become one of baseball’s best pitchers, mastering the knuckleball in his mid-30s and using it to carve through the National League. – Daniel Barbarisi, Wall Street Journal
The Record
The trade would send Dickey, catcher Josh Thole and a lesser prospect to Toronto in exchange for 23-year-old catcher Travis d’Arnaud, 20-year-old pitcher Noah Syndergaard, veteran catcher John Buck and another lesser prospect.
The move would position the Blue Jays as a potential World Series contender. It would set the Mets up for what they hope will be a run a few seasons down the road when young pitchers Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey are perched atop the starting rotation.
While d’Arnaud — one of the top catching prospects in baseball – may not start the season with the Mets, he was the linchpin to this deal. Baseball America had him at No. 17 on its list of prospects heading into the 2012 season. He hit .333 with 16 homers and 52 RBI last season for Class AAA Las Vegas. – Mike Kerwick, The Record
New York Post
Dickey joins a team that already has an icon, slugger Jose Bautista, and a roster filled with talent, including his former Mets teammate Jose Reyes. He’ll share starting rotation turns with exported Marlins Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson; Toronto skipper John Gibbons has an array of options for an Opening Day starter.
The chatty knuckleballer enjoyed his fame in New York, irking some teammates along the way. Perhaps the Blue Jays fans will latch onto Dickey the same way their Mets brethren did, but for sure, the context has changed. Toronto baseball enthusiasts haven’t seen their club qualify for the playoffs since 1993, and now that seems quite possible to change. There’s no need for exciting distractions up in Ontario. There’s just the desire for contributors to the cause.
However much Dickey occasionally annoyed Mets folks, there was never any accusation that his extracurricular activities took away from his pitching. Now, though, Dickey should have fewer events on his calendar and more help to reach his first World Series. What better epilogue to his Mets years could he write than building on his Cy Young Award with a ring? – Ken Davidoff, New York Post
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That Post seems to want to continue taking shots at Dickey and I wish I knew why. And it’s not just Davidoff, Puma has been doing it too.
Later today, I want to see what the national main stream media is saying and I’ll dig up some reactions from CBS Sports, FOX Sports, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and Yahoo.
