The Mets are highly reluctant to trade any of their young pitchers this winter, despite an urgent need to upgrade the offense, writes Andy Martino of the Daily News.
However it’s not impossible to imagine Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and to some extent Rafael Montero playing for different teams next year, he says.
This offseason will be filled with lots of Mets trade rumors and buzz, and unlike last year when Sandy Alderson suggested he would trade a young pitcher to acquire a bat and ultimately stood pat, I believe this time the Mets will actually go through with it.
That said, Martino writes that over the past 12 months, Wheeler went from sort of available, with some in the organization pushing hard to move him, to virtually untouchable. And as for deGrom, with the young righthander soon to be named the National League rookie of the year award, he isn’t going anywhere either.
That leaves Noah Syndergaard and Montero. Sure there’s Dillon Gee, Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon. But nobody believes the Mets could get the kind of bat they need for one of them. Along with either Montero or Syndergaard, one of them might go to acquire that piece they’re looking for.
This should make for lots of interesting debate and conversation as the Hot Stove season begins to warm up. When all is said and done, I have a hunch that Montero and Gee will be the ones to go. I just hope it’s all worth it in the end.
