The story keeps changing on the dead in the water Carlos Gomez deal. This is why I’ve been imploring everyone to stop taking sides when both teams are trying feverishly to save face and nobody knows the truth.
Tim Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is now reporting that the Mets killed the deal because of financial limitations and fear they couldn’t fit Gomez into their payroll.
Both Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and agent Scott Boras disputed there was a hip issue Thursday morning.
“Carlos never had any issue with his hip,” Scott Boras said in a telephone interview Thursday morning.
“He had an abductor and groin issue a few weeks ago and just to make sure he was OK, we requested the team do an MRI that showed his abductor had healed with medication. The doctor just happened to throw in, ‘By the way, his hip structurally and tissue-wise is clean.”
Here is the timeline of events according to Haudricourt:
1. The Brewers thought they had a deal with the Mets on Wednesday evening to send Gomez to New York in exchange for injured pitcher Zack Wheeler and infielder Wilmer Flores.
2. The Mets wanted the Brewers to take centerfielder Juan Lagares in the trade. The Brewers said no, in part because Lagares has an elbow issue but also because he has a four-year, $23 million contract extension that kicks in next year and they didn’t want to pick up the money.
3. The Mets then asked the Brewers to throw in the 2016 Competitive Balance Round B pick they were recently awarded and the Brewers said no.
4. The Brewers then were asked to put some money in the trade to cover part of what’s remaining on Gomez’s contract, including a $9 million salary next year. The Brewers said no.
5. It was only then that the Mets came back and said they were calling off the deal because of concerns over Gomez’s medical records.
Again, we may never know the truth, after all the Mets are swimming in cash and have no payroll restrictions, right Fred?
The deal is dead, that’s the only truth. That and whatever you want to convince yourself happened.
July 29
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Milwaukee Brewers rejected the trade with the New York Mets because of concerns they had with the medical reports on Zack Wheeler and his physical.
Tom Haudricourt of the Journal-Sentinel reported the Brewers apparently were not satisfied with medical reports on Wheeler and that the reconstructive elbow surgery performed in March was more complicated than normal because of separately torn tendon that had to be repaired.
However Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports says it was the Mets who backed out over concerns about a degenerative hip condition that Carlos Gomez has.
“Whatever has been speculated over the course of the evening has not and will not transpire,” Sandy Alderson told reporters. “There’s no trade. … It’s an unfortunate situation.”
It’s a bizarre story that continues to get even more murky, and we may never know the real truth as to what actually transpired.
Initially when the deal was first reported by Andy Martino, Ken Rosenthal and Joel Sherman, all three said the deal was pending a physical on Zack Wheeler.
After examining their twitter timelines, neither of them mentioned anything about a pending physical for Carlos Gomez.
All I know is that all the baseball insiders had no problem reporting this was a done deal, but now they’re all scrambling to try and distance themselves from the land mine they created.
I’m sure the last thing either team wants out there right now, is that Wheeler and Gomez have serious injury concerns.
