It has been close to two years since the New York Mets’ blockbuster trade that sent NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for a package that included prospects Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard.
Such deals always take years to truly measure which team came out on top and with two complete MLB seasons played since the December trade that got fans on both sides of the border talking about baseball at Christmas, the short and long term impacts are now coming into focus.
Following a brutal 2012 MLB season in which they finished with just 73 wins, good for fourth place in the American League East, 22 games back of the New York Yankees, the Blue Jays appeared to be lost in the wilderness. With just 19 wins total in the months of August and September, Toronto appeared to be years away from competing for their first World Series title since winning back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1993.
Indeed, five straight fourth-place finishes had started to take their toll, with attendance showing signs of tailing off in the wake of a 20-year playoff drought.
Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos, feeling the pressure to quickly turn around the Jays fortunes shook the baseball world with a November 2012 blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins that brought all-star shortstop Jose Reyes and pitchers Mark Buerhle and Josh Johnson to Toronto in exchange for young hurler Henderson Alvarez and several other young prospects.
However, the Jays remained in desperate need of another big arm in the rotation, setting the stage for the deal for Dickey.
Following the acquisition of Dickey, the Jays’ immediately emerged as strong favorites to capture the 2013 World Series in MLB online betting at sportsbooks available through bettingsports.com/.
But to the horror of Blue Jays fans and quiet delight of Mets fans, the Jays’ rapid rebuild failed to produce wins, with Toronto finishing dead last in the AL East, while Dickey posted a 14-13 record with a 4.21 ERA, his worst numbers since becoming a full-time starter in 2010.
Things got no better for Dickey and the Blue Jays in 2014. After posting a 21-9 record in May, the Jays flirted with the best record in baseball and were once again World Series betting favorites. But an 11-23 run in the five weeks prior to the All-Star Break once again doomed the Jays to a third-place finish, well out of contention.
Dickey once again finished with a 14-13 record and improved ERA of 3.71, but at age 40 and with the Blue Jays now at a crossroads following their failed experiment, Dickey’s future is uncertain.
The deal has also produced some interesting early results for the Mets. Top catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud has developed into a solid major league catcher, hitting .242 with 13 home runs in 108 games before missing the end of the regular season due to bone spurs in his right elbow.
However, the major concern for the Mets is the 25 year old’s history of concussions that has led to speculation that the club could transition d’Arnaud to the outfield in the future, but that’s not an immediate concern. If d’Arnaud can produce the same near .800 OPS as he did in the second half over a full season, the Mets will have themselves a potential All Star caliber catcher.
The future appears even brighter for Syndergaard, whose rapid development has been watched with chagrin from afar by Jays fans. The 22 year old struggled with injury early on in 2014, pushing back his much anticipated major league debut. But upon his return, Syndergaard unveiled his 100 mph fastball while emerging as one of baseball’s top prospects, and appears destined for a spot high in the Mets’ rotation as early as next season.
Syndergaard more than held his own in a hitter’s paradise where he was almost six years younger than the average Pacific Coast League player and more often dominated than not. What issues he did have were mostly with consistency and not due to a lack of an overpowering arsenal. He’s the first prospect often mentioned by opposing scouts or teams looking to trade with the Mets. That right there, speaks volumes.
The throw-in to the deal Wuilmer Becerra is often forgotten and yet this young outfielder is quickly garnering some major attention from the scouting community. Only 19, this right-handed slugger made some noise in Kingsport this season where he batted .300/.351/.469 with seven home runs, 29 RBI, 37 runs scored and seven stolen bases in just 205 at-bats.
Given all this immense potential that still has to play out for the Mets, and the fact that Dickey is at or near the end of his career, what appeared apparent two years ago still holds true today; the Mets were huge winners in this trade.
