New York Mets assistant general manager John Ricco met with the team’s press corps after Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline had passed without the team making a move.
From Tim Britton of The Athletic, Ricco, naturally, touched on the Mets choosing to stand pat, specifically on arguably their most sought-after asset, starting pitcher Zack Wheeler.
“We had a lot of dialogue with potential deals. It was going to take a team to step up and pay a premium,” he said. “We were not going to move those players unless it involved considerable talent coming back.”
“We were open to making a deal if it was the type of deal that was going to improve the club,” Ricco continued. “At the end of the day, we decided to hold onto [Wheeler]”.
Obviously, the bar that the Mets front office set for Wheeler, or Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard for that matter, were not met.
Again to Britton, Ricco would not say whether the team has “committed one way or the other going into the offseason”, but did insinuate that him, J.P. Ricciardi, and Omar Minaya “were empowered by ownership to be creative and open to all opportunities”
He also added that the Mets still have “several players” that they can still trade beyond Tuesday’s non-waiver deadline.
On Monday, Jon Heyman of FanCred noted that catcher Devin Mesoraco “will clear waivers” so could eventually be moved and also reported that the Phillies had interest in outfielder Jose Bautista, who would also likely pass through waivers unclaimed.
