Andy Martino of the Daily News is reporting that a source told him the Mets do not intend to trade Bobby Parnell as the trade deadline approaches and consider him to be a “valuable” piece for the team.
Martino says this supports Alderson’s claim that he could be a buyer at the trade deadline and not a seller which many expected to be the case.
The GM’s decision not to shop the closer speaks to the difference in his approach this year. Despite the team’s ghastly play, Alderson is shooting for contention as soon as possible, and is ready to build the big league team; as we have reported, the Mets are far more likely to trade prospects next month than acquire them. Alderson is looking for outfielders under control beyond this season, among other major leaguers.
“What I’d like to be able to do is maybe acquire a player or two who will not only be with us this year but into the future,” Alderson told the fans. “That makes sense and is consistent with what we’ve been trying to do longer term. We’re going to keep working at it and I’m sure you’ll see some different faces between now and say the end of July or the All-Star break.”
Parnell is 5-3 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in 29 games this season. He has 26 strikeouts in 28.2 innings. He has nine saves in 12 opportunities this season.
Before the weekend, MetsBlog posted something on trading Daniel Murphy and Bobby Parnell. I found the thought of that difficult to believe and discussed it with SNY editorial producer Andrew Vazzano, who told me it was being discussed by the team. “We’re not just pulling this stuff out of thin air. These are things that are being discussed by the team.”
My problem with trading either player is that it purges the team of two more major league talents. After listening to Sandy Alderson this weekend, it’s clear that he’s done trading established talent and has shifted gears.
He is now intent on adding the players he needs to build around David Wright, Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler.
And you can bet your bottom dollar that unlike Lucas Duda and Ruben Tejada, he DOES consider Daniel Murphy and Bobby Parnell as part of the future of this team – as well he should.
Murphy is putting up numbers at second base that we haven’t seen in a long time, and Parnell is the first homegrown closer we’ve developed since… Randy Myers perhaps?
I’m not saying nobody is untouchable, because when you’re this bad nobody should be untouchable. But let’s be real here, and lets stop creating storylines based on speculation or flimsy evidence.
Who would replace Murphy and Parnell if we were to move them? And how do you then rebuild a team around one position player in Wright and three starting pitchers in Harvey, Niese and Wheeler? That would take another five years on top of the five losing seasons we’ve already endured. Does anybody want that?
